Singapore - Clean, Green, and just like America

Singapore skyline from the Esplanade

Singapore's very first impression was the immense similarity to America. As we drove from the airport on a wide, open highway, we listened to the english radio station, read the english street signs, and looked at the vast lawns of the modern high rise condos. Often comparisons are made between Singapore and HK, but truly there are many more differences than similarities. They are both very highly developed countries with strong economies and a thriving expat community. In addition, there is quite a bit of foreign capital in both places. Besides those similarities, Singapore shares much more in common with America. The organization of Singapore is very clear and they didn't just throw up buildings anywhere like how they did in Macau. They purposely preserved the greenery native to Singapore and thus maintaining it's somewhat tropical feel. With the hot and humid weather and lush greenery, Singapore feels very very similar to Florida with of course a bunch of Asian people. The prevalence of English is absolutely astonishing. Probably the same amount of English is used in Singapore as is used in the Bay Area. Needless to say with countless similarities, there is virtually no culture shock when travelling to Singapore. It's like a watered down, sugar coated version of a real Asian experience.

Thian Hock Keng Temple in Chinatown

Sri Mariamman (Hindi) Temple

Buildings in Little India from the British Colonization of Singapore
Beautifully restored details on a British colonial building

Wondering the street markets of Little India

What is striking about this small country is the amazing Asian diversity, which brings back feelings of home and the bay area. There are Chinese, Indians, Filipinos, Malays, Vietnamese, and many other Asian groups and ex-pats. The diversity of the country is reflected on the number of national languages - English, Chinese, Malay, and Hindi. I found the ethnic diversity to be refreshing from all Chinese people in Macau. On the other hand, with this great diversity I had trouble identifying what a true Singaporean experience is like because the societal culture isn't readily apparent; similar to how the Bay Area is a melting pot of cultures from the around the world. Sometimes with all the cultural confusion, you end up just having a very westernized/american experience, which for me was slightly annoying. I don't want to experience something american when I'm in Asia. I want something that is different and a new cultural experience...in singapore its just so damn hard to figure out what the culture is...at least in HK you can still get a pretty authentic chinese experience despite all the westernization and modernity. You know that chinese culture is the culture of their society. So this leaves the question does ethnic diversity lead to no 'real' cultural viewpoint and thus leaving the society to break off into their own specific ethnicities to find what they are looking for; maybe their looking for their heritage or a piece of their homeland or culture of which to belong that reflects who they are...which then poses another question does cultural diversity within a country actually encourage more ethnic segregation???

The one thing that clearly separates Singapore from America is the social repression of its people. America thrives on the freedom of its people. Singapore is infamous for its strict government policies. The country has stripped their people of many social freedoms that many Americans take for granted. The complete lack of freedom of speech is quite shocking. The government has a straggle hold on any anti-government sentiments. Many of the newspapers are garnered towards a pro government stance. My friend from grad school, who was born and raised in Singapore, greatly misses the the freedom of speech she had while studying in the states; the freedom to be who you are without fear of governmental reprecussions.

In addition, the countless rules were incredibly annoying. Stuffing coffees and snacks into our bags on the subway, carefully crossing the street in the crosswalk, secretly chewing gum...all of this done so we wouldn't get caught by the police and be fined some absurd fine. By the end of the four days, I was sick of all the rules and I already felt suffocated. I feel that the government has carefully planned every single thing about this country to make it soooo organized and orderly...it just leaves no room to breathe. I believe the most amazing thing is that everyone just conforms to all these rules without question...in reality though singapore is a parliamentary government it's restrictions on its own people are more severe than communist china.

I do feel the BEST part about singapore is how incredibly nice and helpful the people are to tourists. The prevalence of English makes it quite easy to ask directions. On several occasions on the bus, the bus driver would guide me to get off at the right stop. Several locals helped me order my food at the hawker centres, which are open air food courts. Though the city does have quite a bit of hustle and bustle, people still take the time to be polite, which is great for lost tourists:) Their mannerisms are very similar to American sytle etiquette, which is quite a refreshing change from the pushy people of HK and Macau. As a whole, Singporean people are probably one of the nicest people I've met.