“The tallest building in the world is now in Dubai, the
biggest factory in the world is in China, the largest oil refinery is in India,
the largest investment fund in the world is in Abu Dhabi, the largest Ferris
wheel in the world is in Singapore.” - Fareed Zakaria
Just about everything in Singapore screams out one thing:
“we meant to do things this way.”
This is a city that is also a nation; a nation that is also a city; a
garden that contains a city; and a city built in a garden. It is Asia’s second largest trading
port, and a major financial hub.
It has no natural resources of its own, and, sitting at the southern tip
of the Malaysian peninsula, has no place to expand other than into the
sea. And given its very visible
prosperity and lack of extreme poverty, it has made an art form of the pursuit
of happiness.
And it is planned.
Oh, boy, is it ever planned.
The planning started back in 1823 when Stamford Raffles, on
behalf of the British East India Company, purchased this well-situated swamp
from a local sultan. He then set
about to plan a city, dividing it into sections for the various ethnicities
that came to live here: Chinatown, Kampong Glam (the Malayan Muslims’ section), Little India, and the European
section. To a great extent, these
sectors exist to this day, though the years, intermarriage, and some official
policies have blurred the lines between the cultures. But all the sectors are vibrant and possessed of their own
characters, even as very modern skyscrapers tower over it all.
As a city-state of 267 square miles, all that the
country/city wants to do has to be done in a limited area. What they have been
doing is reclaiming land from the sea. Because the in-fill must sit and settle
for 30 years before building on it, these things must be planned in
advance. The most recent building
project was the Marina Center. This is a huge hotel, convention center,
shopping, casino, and entertainment complex built and operated by Las Vegas’
Sands casino group. Completed only
a few years ago, it has become a major playground for the wealthy from all over
Asia, and indeed the world.
More such building is planned, as in-fill is sitting now,
waiting for the 30 years to run.
But Singapore is also careful to ensure that it remains
green. Indeed, a whopping 47% of
the city is greenery. The parks
and massive botanical gardens are inter-woven throughout the city. The equivalent of one of our three days
here was spent in gardens of some sort.
First, the older botanical gardens, with their stunning and massive
orchid garden, and then the Gardens by the Bay, a weirdly beautiful modern
garden complex with two huge domes filled with plant life from all over the
world and an outdoor complex of plants that includes a group of “super
trees.”
The super trees are mad-made,
and meant to fulfill the function that large, old trees fill in a green
space.
But Singapore being Singapore, it also uses the super trees
for play. They are visible from
all the city’s main vistas (the top of the Marina Sands hotel; the Singapore Flyer
ferris wheel; just about any elevated spot in the city). An elevated walkway takes the visitor
from one “tree” to another, and provides an opportunity for a cup of tea on the
treetops. At night, the trees
become the source of a spectacular light show.
But the neighborhoods also are a part of the show that is
Singapore—a city with a thriving cultural life and a foodies’ dreamland. We were fortunate on our first day to
have a friend invite us to join her with her private guide, who showed us the
city he knows. He took us first to the Kampong Glam, which is a predominantly
Muslim section of the city.
Pointing out a row of illegally-parked taxis, he explained
that this is good evidence of where to find the best coffee. And, indeed, we got some coffee and tea
at a shop filled with taxi drivers.
The shop has no visible name; it is just known as the best place for
coffee.
Coffee in Singapore is unlike any I’ve had anywhere
else. The brewing coffee includes
not just coffee beans, but butter and sweetening. Probably some of the best coffee I’ve ever had. And not just the coffee is
different—the “go cup” was unlike any I’ve ever seen. Essentially, it was a plastic bag with a straw, but it held
the hot coffee quite well.
Within the Kampong Glam was a mosque (we were there during
prayer time, so could not go in), the old home of the sultan who had sold the
area to Raffles (it is now a community center), and streets of shops and
residences.
We then visited the old colonial section, which now is
comprised of modern office buildings and upscale shopping centers, interspersed
with colonial structures such as the storied Raffles Hotel, home of the Singapore
Sling and the site of many a novel set in the area and of rooms where the likes
of Somerset Maugham and Marilyn Monroe once stayed.
Little India was but a drive-by, but then we went for lunch
at one of the infamous hawker centers, and had a delicious meal of chicken rice
and lemon-flavored sugar cane water for less than $6. The hawkers were long a mainstay of Singapore, setting up
stands and hawking their food on the streets. But in the past couple of decades, as Singapore became
increasingly obsessed with cleanliness, the hawkers were cleared from the
streets and concentrated into hawker centers—rather like a local version of a
food court. Cleanliness and
sanitation inspections keep the standards high, so no fears of bacteria or
vermin.
The proprietress of the hawker stand we visited has acquired
some international fame, as she defeated Gordon Ramsey in a cook-off, and has
been touted by Anthony Bourdain as providing the best chicken rice he has ever
eaten. In fact, Bourdain tried to
cut a deal with her to open an outlet in New York, but it is said that, when
she heard about the planned high prices, she backed out, as such pricing is not
consistent with the whole philosophy behind hawking.
The last neighborhood was Chinatown, an area rich in character
and interest. It was the only place we saw litter (cigarette butts on the main
square), but also a place where some of the hawkers are still allowed on the
streets.
Given that nearly ¾ of the population of Singapore is ethnic
Chinese, this is also a large residential area. Close to 80% of the people of Singapore live in government
housing projects, but these are not what we think of in the U.S. as housing
projects. They are modern,
well-appointed structures, convenient to all services and needs. The government sells 99-year leases of
apartments, and people join a lottery to get into a new one. Points are assigned for certain
attributes (having children, living near your parents, lower income, etc), and
no more than 72.5% of buyers can be Chinese—in order to encourage more ethnic
inter-mixing. Leases can be
re-sold.
Entertainment venues are of great importance to the city,
for which tourism is second only to finance in importance to the economy. Sentosa Island is a giant theme park
within the city, and the place where our cruise ship held an after-hours party
at the aquarium there. Not
coincidently, Sentosa is owned by the same Hong Kong company that purchased
this cruise line a few months ago.
I could go on and on about Singapore, a fascinating and fun
city. I do hope to go back someday
and spend more time there.
Next up:
Thailand
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