Seeing Singapore

Nearly two years in Malaysia and we have finally made our first trip to Singapore.  Singapore as we know it was established as a British trading post in 1819 by Stamford Raffles (for whom everything in the country is now named).  After years of British rule it was occupied by the Japanese in WWII - then went back to the Brits before it became part of an independent Malaysia in 1963.

 The union with Malaysia was a short, unhappy marriage.  Singapore was a wealthy city, lacking natural resources with an ethnic Chinese majority - the rest of Malaysia was Muslim-Malay dominated, significantly poorer but rich in natural resources - within two years Singapore was expelled from Malaysia and became an independent state.  Despite a relatively peaceful co-existence today the rivalry between Malaysian and Singapore remains palpable.

Although Malaysia has developed rapidly and is now at the top-end of second-world country status, Singapore and Malaysia are still complete opposites - where Singapore is clean, orderly and expensive - Malaysia is dirty, chaotic and cheap.

I wasn't overly-charmed with Singapore - don't get me wrong, the ability to safely cross the street, the lack of garbage, extreme regard for health and safety and the general efficiency of well, everything, was refreshing - but beyond that it's just like any other modern, first-world city.  I can see why the Brits enjoy it, they love to tour their former colonial stomping grounds and to European eyes Singapore is something completely different - but skyscrapers are less impressive to Americans; we have some pretty good ones at home.

 Also, having been to so many other Asian countries and cities, Singapore just feels like someone came in and cleaned it up for the tourists.  It lacks a certain sense of authenticity and it should be no surprise that Singapore does feel so 'unauthentic' - of over 5 million inhabitants only 3.25 are citizens - the other nearly 2 million people are foreign permanent residents and workers.

Despite great affluence (Singapore has the 3rd highest per capita income in the world) Singapore has a dark side.  Chewing gum is famously banned and canings for relatively petty crimes make the news regularly as do Singapore's draconian anti-drugs laws - but the lives poor migrant workers are particularly grim.

As of May of this year nine Indonesian maids had fallen to their death in Singapore (some accidental, some under investigation).  There are frequent stories of beatings, sexual abuse and even murder (last year the body of maid was found stuffed in the water-tank of a condomimium which was also contaminating the water supply) and only from 2013 will maids legally be required to be given one day a week off work.

I complain about Malaysia (sometimes a lot) but given a choice between the two, I'd still probably stick with Malaysia - but it's certainly nice to have Singapore just 200 miles down the road.  If you ask a Malaysian what do you think of Singapore they will say, 'Oh, it's so stressful! So organised and so many rules!' If you ask a longtime expat in Malaysia what they think of Singapore they say, 'Oh, it's so relaxing!  It's so organised and everyone follows the rules!'