The Fine City

March 10-13

My next stop was Singapore to visit Sandy, another flatmate from the University of Warwick. I had Thursday and Friday to myself since Sandy was working, so I spent most of the time walking around Singapore to explore the different areas. It’s also easy to get around town on foot. There are a number of neighborhoods to explore like Little India and Chinatown. You can walk two blocks in any direction and feel like you’re in a completely different city. It’s interesting to note that this country is about the same size, in terms of population size, as the “small town” of Huai’an in China.

I suffered a bit of culture shock. After spending so much time in China and other developing countries, it was almost odd to be in a developed country. Here people actually obey the traffic laws. In China the lights had very little to do with traffic, so I had to be alert anytime that I crossed the street. You can see the wealth in Singapore simply by visiting the Marina Sands Hotel. Attached to the hotel is a casino, as well as a mall with luxury stores. When I have money to burn, I would love to stay there! You can visit the top of the hotel (for a fee) and see an amazing view of the city.

The country is full of laws with large fines. Coming from a developed country, it seems crazy that they need to have laws like no spitting with a $500 fine or no urinating in the elevator. However, they are surrounded by developing countries that don’t have the same cultural norms. I think one reason the government has implemented all these strict rules to communicate that this country is different than the surrounding countries. It’s a way to show power and teach cultural norms to visitors and citizens very quickly. After all, Singapore is a new country since it gained sovereignty in 1965. I didn’t know that you couldn’t eat on the train. However when I got off the plane from Manila, I was hungry, so I may (or may not) have eaten on my way to downtown area. I was also stopped from leaving a Starbucks with a drink and was told that I could not walk around with it outside.