Singapore

I have been in Singapore over a year now. That amazes me. A year.

I must admit the first few months were pretty much a blur of survival, but I realized I really knew very little about the city/state. So I have done a little reading, and am going to share it with you.

First, the location. If you look at a map, it really is this tiny island at the tip of the Malay Peninsula. It is teeny, tiny. 250 square miles. But ideally located in the past as a trade route (spices, silk, opium, tea, ebony, ivory). Now it serves as the economic hub of Asia.

It appears western, and is on the surface, but the Confusion philosophy runs deep. Freedom, respect of elders. Hence the strict laws; fines for littering, caning for vandalism. But the result is a very organized, efficient, safe, clean city.

The population is made up of Malay, Chinese, Indian, Eurasian, and Caucasian. The national language is Malay, in deference to the founding father, but the lingua franca is English, which is referred to as Singlish (very heavily accented English).

Singapore was a British colony and was heavily populated with Chinese indentured labourers. The  isolation of the Chinese here gave rise to secret societies, which played a role in the make-up of the society.

As ideal as it was as a trading centre, Singapore was very vulnerable to attack. (My history is embarrassing lacking, and mostly of Europe since the 19th Century.) Early 20th Century, Japan had conquered much of Asia, and pre WWII  invaded Singapore- having invaded Korea, China, Malaysia. The occupation of Singapore by the Japanese is very talked about here. It was a reign of terror. But upon the surrender of the Japanese after Pearl Harbour,  Singapore regained autonomy, and with the British Rule of Law, but a People's Action Party, (somewhat communist), modern Singapore was founded.

They had no natural resources. What they had was political stability and cheap labour,  and to encourage economic growth, very little restrictions on currency movement.  What they have done in 50 years is amazing. They have a compulsory savings program and that makes home ownership (apartments in HDB- Housing Development Buildings, government controlled housing) possible, and home ownership is 90%!

To cope with their vulnerable location, they have compulsory military service (2 years for males 18 years old, and two weeks every year after). They have a standby runway. When you drive in to the city from the airport, there is a stretch of the expressway that is very straight, and the centre boulevard is not planted, but it is all planters. They can be removed in an emergency, and the expressway is a runway!

Having read about Singapore, it has helped me to understand the nature of this place. Such a wonderful contrast of the respect for the forefathers, and the cutting edge economic stand they have today. It does make for a clean, safe, efficient, savvy, energetic city, with draconian laws, and enough rules to boggle the mind. But it works.