Our week in Singapore

At the time of writing we are in Chiang Mai, a lovely northern city in Thailand-- really a darling among western budget travelers. Being here does give me a perspective on Singapore and the differences are striking!

Some factual info: Singapore is a small wealthy independent country on the southern Malaysian peninsula. It is essentially comprised of a port city with some less densely populated areas and nature reserves on the northern periphery.

Source: http://mawar-perawan.blogspot.com

In terms of area, Singapore occupies 710 sq km, compared to Winnipeg with 450 sq km and City of Toronto with 630. Thus in area and population, Singapore compares well with Toronto except for the fact that, unknown to many from TO, only Singapore is its own country.

The population is very international with about 40% of the 5 million people being expats (mostly from Asia, Australia, Europe and NorthAmerica). English, Manderin, Malay, and Tamil are the 4 official languages with English as a strong first. (much signage is only in English).

Chewing gum is illegal in Singapore because my God--what a mess it would cause. (Not unreasonable given the equatorial heat) This chewing gum law reflects the general orderly neatness that characterizes the city in general. (littering= $500 fine) I must admit, I used to think Germany was the epitome of order and über- regulation but Germany is now second to Singapore. Not once did I see graffiti in Singapore except carved initials into some bamboo trunks on a lovely jungle park walkway. It is verboten not only to eat or drink on the subway but per signage at the subway station you cannot carry with you a particularly stinky tropical fruit called durian (apparently it smells like stinky socks and In fairness to our current Thai hosts, this fruit is also not allowed in our hotel rooms here in Thailand).

If you are caught importing or selling drugs in Singapore you will be executed. (no joke) I don't think I've ever seen as many video cameras in public spaces. There is no need for bug spray as the flying insect population is managed and controlled. This is not to say that Singapore does not value its greenspace. There are some incredible public parks and spaces which we enjoyed.

Subway signage

Note the continuous line of ships offshore of East Coast Park.

Max and his cousin Fischer enjoying the park

There are no (few?) homeless and unemployed people and the public washrooms could rival those in a five star hotel ( i admit, i don't think i've ever stayed in a 5 star hotel but I kid you not there were some beautiful public bathrooms, often with considerate options of regular or squatter style toilets) Most middle class residents including expats (my brother and sister in-law notwithstanding) have live-in nannies, often imported from the Philipines. Life for the large wealthy middle class is pretty good--the wages are high but so is the cost of living.

We were happy with $5 price of a large bottle at the hawker stall

I must admit that in our short week there I did come to admire and appreciate the clean and beautiful city of Singapore. Of course, the fact that I'm English speaking and have time and money for leisure activities might have something to do with it. (A migrant worker on a Singaporean construction site in 35 degree heat just might have another view...but then again a migrant worker in Canada would have their own view as well! )

This MRT (subway) station is breathtaking

Bathroom notice reflecting Singapore as melting pot

Our boys' favourite day in SG

It was hard for us to leave the comfort and safety of Singapore. Rob and Anjali, my brother and sister-in-law, were generous hosts and we felt spoiled in their lovely condo. Admittedly, we had a soft landing into Asia-- things were, well, less foreign and less "Asian" then they are here in Thailand. We're finally stepping out.

Next on the agenda: jungle trekking and mud-bathing with elephants! We depart on a 2 day excursion tomorrow am.

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