The Singapore of a few years ago

[Alison]

Just to start things off!1

The first coupe of times we went to Singapore we really enjoyed Chinatown but it now seems to have been sanitised which has ripped the heart out of it.

Is this the way the city is going that it is trying to clean up everything and as a result is ripping the heart out of it?

[steveadmin]

Good work Alison! Thanks for getting the ball rolling.

I visited Singapore after spending months on end in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia, so after experiencing a fair old bit of earthy grot in those countries I found Singapore initially a pleasant surprise and then a bit of a letdown in some respects. I think it needs to be appreciated on its own terms rather than it being compared to the rest of South East Asia, which I found myself doing.

I'm as much of a sucker for gleaming chrome as anyone else, and I do find the Singapore skyscrapers and MRT to be fabulous creations. The aerial shot of the recent Grand Prix at night really showed off what Singapore had to offer as a beautiful modern destination. BUT I wish they wouldn't over-sanitise it at the expense of progress! Keep some of the tradition, the grot, the SOUL of the place!

[Geri]

We have only been to Singapore once and really didn't see much of the sanitized version everyone speaks about... why is that? it's because my husband walked the legs off me around the back streets and we got lost amongst the high rise housing estates complete with litter and fags ends. I was surprised given what I've read about Singapore.

We rested and sat on a wall with a group of elderly people (I'm very partial to the elderly) who were meeting their friends neighbours before the heat of the day kicked it. I had some lovely conversations in broken English with lots of smiles and nods. Eventually, we found our way to the city centre on the train where we did the usual touristy stuff up the river and Clarke Quay.

We had intended to go to Raffles, however, we met a couplet that Raffles wouldn't allow in because they weren't suitably dressed... our clothes weren't much better than theirs so we decided to give it a miss. I'm not keen on Singapore Slings anyway

Cheers Geri

[steveadmin]

Originally Posted by Geri

We had intended to go to Raffles, however, we met a couplet that Raffles wouldn't allow in because they weren't suitably dressed... our clothes weren't much better than theirs so we decided to give it a miss. I'm not keen on Singapore Slings anyway

Yeah, I didn't bother either for this reason. The clothes I had were best described as "tramp chique" Plus I'd heard from a couple I met in Malaysia that the Singapore Slings were pre-mixed and just poured from a plastic jug... sounded a bit lame

I spent my money in the Penny Black instead, on a couple of pints of Old Speckled Hen

[jyotirmoy]

I had visited Singapore a decade back. That year Delhi was totally engulfed in a very thick & dirty smog that had hung for over 3 weeks in December. We hadn't seen the sun at all during that period, visibility was a few meters at the most. In fact life had become intolarably difficult & depressing. Imagine driving under this kind of condition daily in the morning and evening.
Just like a ray of sun came the offer to speak at a conference organised by the technical institute of Singapore.
Took an Air India flight in the late afternoon and reached Singapore at night. This was my first trip to an Asian destination and the first thing that struck me was the level of efficiency and order at the airport. Immigration went off like a breeze and I was in a cab heading to my hotel in no time.
I think the hotel I stayed was Central Park or some thing, a highrise structure very close to the huge departmental shop Mustafa. The air was warm & humid so had to take off the coat. At the hotel reception I was handed the smart card key for my room. Before this I haven't come accross card key which now is a common thing all over. The door of my room opened without a fuss and the first thing I did was to start filling the bath tub. Got rid of my clothes, poured a drink from the duty free stuff that I had picked up and immersed myself in the huge tub. What a great feeling after weeks of bleak dirty winter. My contact at the unviersity called me & wanted to know what I am going to do tonight. I told him that I will take a real long bath, this confused him quite a bit I guess.
Air India had fed me well and the soothing bath combined with the golden elixir made me sleep like a log.
Woke up next day feeling very fresh. Out side was sunny and bright. The breakfast buffet was laiden with western fare mostly, so drank some juice and stepped out to see what locals are doing. Just a few paces away was a big eatery with tables on the pavement and a very busy kitchen. Locals were slurping steaming soups and picking up morsels from the soup bowl with their chop sticks. A young guy came up to take my order but didn't understand English. To avoid further complicacy I simply pointed at the soup that most of the customers were eating and hoped for the best. Never had soup for breakfast but who cares? Do as the Romans do in Rome had always been my mantra. The soup came with some things which were familiar and some things which were not. It was a wonderful seafood soup but since I can't use the chop sticks I was at a loss how to pick up the tiny bits of things in the soup. So I went up to the open kitchen and tried my best using sign language to request a spoon. One of the cooks went in & gave me a plastic spoon. When I went back to my table I found that my bowl of soup had been removed !!!! Damn efficient these Singaporians are. Imagine using sign language to complain about disappearing soup bowls. But I manged to do so and got another bowl of soup. Lucky begining I thought. Before coming I was warned by others who had visited Singapore before about throwing cigeratte butts. But I found that this was no longer valid as people were smoking and there were butts all over the pavement. Good, another hassle gone.
It was begining to get hot and I was to go to the university campus which was quite far from the city. I took the metro and in the cool comfort of the metro reached my destination.
My host offered to take me out for dinner that night. Around 8 PM he came over to my hotel along with his charming wife. We had a few drinks and went to the river side where there were a million eateries. Their staffs were out on the pavement to drag potential customers in. My host and his wife and me in their wake dribbled through these guys and went to a place which was a bit far from the scene. We started off with a glass of stout and satay, followed by king prawns. It was a great meal.
Next day went to the Santosa island, wasn't impressed by the so called beach but the underwater thing was great, missed my family. In the night went to a huge food court and in one stall found very succulent looking racks of pork chops. I ordered a portion of that and the lady in charge cut off 4 chops using a big pair of scissors. Shuddered at the thought of more sinister things that could be done with these scissors. The chops were good but that would fade after my visit to the china town next evening. The roasted pork bellies that I ate from a street vendor were simply out of the world. The only problem I encountered was buying tickets in the public buses. Most were accepting cards and not cash. Once a local young man paid my fare using his card.
On my last day went to the Mustafa’s shop and was completely lost. Took me some time to get my bearings. Oh my God, had never seen anything like this and the prices were unimaginably low. Bought a dozen VCR tapes(Yes VCR tapes, many of you might have forgotten what is VHS I am sure), a pair of Coss headphones, a watch for my wife and clothes and various gadgets for my daughters.
That evening my host drove me to the airport and I returned with happy memories.

[Geri]

What a great report jyotirmoy I really enjoyed it. I nearly missed it being tucked away further down the page.

Sadly our Singaporean experience was spoilt due to the travel agent stuffing up our return flights but then that's another story

Cheers Geri

[Emdee]

I have an ambivalent outlook regarding Singapore. I worked there for 11 months in 1969/70, which was only a few years after Singapore broke away from the Federation of Malaysian States.

I just couldn't see how this miniscule nation could survive. It had no natural resources, a small land space for a burgeoning population, it had experienced race riots a few years earlier, many of the older people couldn't speak English - in fact some of them had never had the benefit of a formal education.

There were open sewers in most of the areas with massive rats running down them, and along the upper reaches of the absolutely stinking Singapore River, there were ghastly ramshackle ghettos as a legacy of British rule.

Over succeeding years, on each subsequent visitation, I could see Singapore growing as a nation, using its only natural resource - its people.

In 1982 I took my family there for a holiday, and they couldn't believe it was the same place that I had described countless times to them during my short working stint there in 1969/70.

All that one now sees in Singapore has been achieved by careful Government planning, one five year plan, then another.

Now Singapore is a first world country, everyone is educated, world class health facilities, top class infrastructure, clean, modern transport and an order to the life of the nation that makes some conservative visitors wish they had similar in their countries.

For all of its achievements with so little to start with, it remains in the iron grip of the Yew clan, who have the final say on court appointments, military appointments, ministerial positions and indeed top business positions.

It is not a true democracy as any one foolish enough would soon find out. Those brave/foolish souls who have tried to oppose the ruling PAP have been bankrupted and the aspersions cast upon their reputation and integrity has resulted in them being regarded as outcasts by the rest of Singapore's population.

It has been called a "guided democracy", but I think the last word should be deleted as it really has no relevance in the island State.

Singapore is often described as sterile and mercantile. In many respects that view has many truths attached to it. Today young Singaporeans get around with T shirts with the slogans such as "Singa-bore" but my favourite is "Singapore is a fine place - you get fined for everything".

I got to know a couple of young chefs on my last visit there last year and they told me all they can think about is their next annual leave (a whole two weeks!), when they can't wait to get out of Singapore because they are so bored living there.

However, I wonder if a time capsule were to take them back to the late 1960s, would they find the lifestyle of their grandparents in that era preferable to today's comfortable existence?

I return to Singapore every year which is not a difficulty as I usually transit through Changi Airport, which surely has to be one of the best airports anywhere in the world.

Everytime that I walk through Changi Airport, I can't help but think of my first arrival in Singapore in 1969, by ship, and alighting by bum boat at the Jardine Steps.

Today, I can't believe that it is the same country that I first set foot upon four decades ago.

[jyotirmoy]

Thanks Geri.
I fully agree with you Emdee, as I wrote that the first thing to strike me was the airport.

[BobMac]

I first went to S'Pore by ship from Fremantle in 1966. It was the cesspool of the East at that time. Like emdee says - open sewers, rats, shanty shacks. Incredible when you consider how much it's changed over the decades. I haven't been there for a few years now but remember the best eating in Asia in my opinion. I'll be having a day there next April on my way to Perth so I'm really looking forward to that. Is the Cold Storage still there? Loved that place.

[Emdee]

BobMac, start crying! The Cold Storage went quite a few years ago. Also don't bother with Newton's Circus, it is full of touts and overpriced food. The locals never dine there, so that tells you something.

Try the East Coast Parkway. A little way out of town, a nice beach, full of locals, great food - particularly seafood - and very good value for money.