David Shoulder - Isle of Wight: November 2016

So here we go - the last leg of the grand plan ha! - off to Singapore. As I mentioned before I originally planned to travel down the Thai Malay peninsula to tiny Singapore at its tip but in the end time and logistics were an issue. I flew from KL to Singapore with Tiger Air based in Singapore. The air time is only 50 minutes. ( a bus was an option I had not explored but apparently works.)

Anyway in no time I am walking through Singapore's massive and impressive Changi Airport.

OK - what did I know about Singapore BEFORE I arrived. Well that it is a small Island formerly part of the British Empire and a key trading post of The East India Company. (Of Raffles fame).That it was a very successful economic power house on the world stage and punching much beyond its size. That it was ultra modern and beautiful.

What do I know NOW having been here and looked around and done some more research? Well the answer is everything I knew before but with bells and whistles. It is an incredible place. Singapore's achievements are incredible. It is beautiful and stylish and manicured to a high level of OCD. As a place to be however it is not my cup of tea. It is too perfect to the point of sterility - but I fully understand why it is so popular. I will try and put some meat on the bones without downloading Wikipedia. (Just on that you don't have to travel from home to learn about places - you can learn and see online - but for me really seeing a place for myself brings it alive and drives to motivate and enthuse to find out more. It is why travel despite the oft frustrations and inconveniences and possibly even a degree of danger is so worthwhile and stimulating and satisfying - here ends the travel bug sermon - ha!).

Singapore is densely populated although you wouldn't really know it. It is an island of course and as well as the main island it apparently includes 62 other islands and islets. The population is under 6 million. It has no natural resources as such but what it does have is an unbeatable strategic geographical position. It also has had the same party in charge for decades. Apparently they are ruthlessly efficient and determined and strategic and clever but the down side is they are draconian and tough (if that is a down side.)

I was reading the world news today. Yet again Singapore has achieved the best education results for any country in the world.

Here are a few other statistics about this incredible global commerce, financial and transport hub :

it has been voted the most technologically ready nation, top international meetings city in the world and the world's best investment potential.
2nd most competitive country
3rd largest financial centre
3rd largest oil refinery in the world
2nd biggest container port in the world.
It is ranked highly in education, healthcare and life expectancy, quality of life and personal safety.
90% of homes are owner occupied and while the gap between richest and poorest is massive poverty's negligible.
It has the highest ratio of millionaires per head if population in the world.
It is the world's 3rd richest country per capita based on GDP.
It's Changi airport and Singapore Air are regularly voted the world's best airport and airline respectively.

The only index or ranking Singapore ranks badly is the democracy index. The other factor to bear in mind - with all that money sloshing around Singapore is expensive (particularly so if you have travelled from Malaysia or Thailand - ha!)

In my time here I stayed at The Five Stones Hostel on Beach Road. It is a slick operation in an excellent location but probably anywhere in Singapore is well located because of its comprehensive and efficient transport system.

I visited the glamorous Harbour Front and Marina Bay areas, the Arab Street area, Chinatown as well as too much time on Santosa (see below). I also had a lovely time (but it is an odd place too - piped music - everything in perfect clipped rows) in the Garden by the Bay (rated by Trip Advisor Reviews as the number 1 attraction in Singapore.) and a look around Clarke Quay (recommended by my brother Mike).

The skyline is spectacular. There are dozens of tower blocks and as tower blocks go they are of superior design and quality I would say. Every block is individual. Materials used and the finish is anything but utilitarian although I am sure they also function perfectly. The other thing I would say about their building - it is not brash - it is subtle quality - confident architecture - not garish or boastful.

Everything in Singapore seems managed perfectly - like I said like with OCD. Everywhere is clean, painted and clipped. And no mosquitos - they seem to exterminated all bugs some how. Everything works. No jay walking - you comply. In order to reduce car pollution a 10 year licence to drive on the road is 150% of the price of a car and there are congestion charges on top that change automatically as the number of vehicles in an area changes.

As Singapore developed most of the natural landscape was destroyed - forests cut down etc. To compensate Singapore has been planned as a "garden city". It wonderfully is - but an incredibly tidy garden. Every street, every verge is planted up and perfectly so. The trees are a feature. Singapore is only 1 degree above the equator so it has a tropical climate - pretty much consistent - non seasonal - and as a consequence their planting is exotic and perfumed. Amazing really.

Another outstanding feature is the shopping Malls. They are awash with designer label stores. it reeks money to spend. It is incredible they can all find enough customers to survive. They are enormous and common place. Shopping and eating and working of course seem to be the main activity if you live here and although it is populous you don't seem to see people on the streets in massive numbers. I think they go from the beautiful flats where they live to work on the MST and to the Malls for dinner without leaving the comfort of air conditioning!

I mentioned Santosa. Santosa is an island joined by a causeway and broadwalk to the mainland. Having been there I guess it is best described as a man made pleasure island. It consists of theme park attractions, hotels, shopping malls, literally hundreds of places to eat - a casino - a conference centre and 3 beaches, a ski type high wire ski lift and a monorail. It is incredible in a 21st century way and a major attraction for both tourist and locals. (On the way there you pass an absolutely massive container port - a forest of cranes and gantries. As Changi airport is one of the biggest hub airports in the world - people fly in to be distributed to countries all over southern Asia - I surmise this is why Singapore's container port is so large. A ship loaded with Rolls Royce's from the UK is unloaded at Singapore and then distributed to other ships to form part cargoes for individual countries.)

Back to Santosa. Anyway any one that knows me will understand Santosa was not my cup of tea. I resisted the various transport options and walked to the beaches of which there are three. Even the beaches are manicured - could possibly even be man made but I stretched out for an hour and had a doze - smiling to myself and thinking about the madness of it all. Here I am on a beach in Singapore - wow!

On my way back I see a modest sign to the most extreme southerly point on the continent of Asia. I follow the directions across a chain bridge to an islet with a viewing platform. I am asked to take a photograph for a Singapore family. The mum has perfect English. We talk about the spot and the claim. She says she doubts it as Singapore is an island detached from Asia and therefore the most southerly point must actually be in Malaysia somewhere. But the blurb argues Singapore is connected to Asia by a causeway and Santosa Island is connected to Singapore by a causeway and this little islet is connected to Santosa by a causeway - so yes - the most southerly point in Asia. A big smile. I am going to live with the shameful opportunism - ha!

So back to Singapore and how I feel about it. It is a major favourite with tourists - it is judged as one of the best (albeit expensive) places to live and has a massive ex pat community. It is safe, well ordered, well organised, clean and beautiful. However for me it lacks something - it is too perfect - almost sterile - like something out of The Prisoner episodes. (One observation the cleaning and maintenance standards are so high there is the constantly negative of contractors working and making noise. Cutters relaying perfect tiles. This is certainly the leaf blowing season. Gardeners are constantly blowing about leaves with their reverse noisy vacuum cleaners. I feel like the host has OCD and cannot relax in their own home - they are quietly becoming demented in the pursuit of perfection.) I certainly can see the attraction of Singapore and what has been achieved is incredible - but it is not how I want to live or for that matter - holiday - but for many people it is eutopia. Each to their own indeed - but thankfully I am escaping back to my muddled untidy world and my allotment with plenty of weeds no doubt!

I have attached a lot of mob photos. It is hard to capture scale but I have tried to give a flavour of what Singapore is all about. As usual best to see for yourself. (George and Laura they stage an international marathon here in early December - one to put on your list for a great few days).

Footnote - I talked to 2 ladies on the MRT. Everyone seems to speak English. She said it is drummed into them at school because it is the international business language. She said the shopping Malls I have referred to are mainly for tourists. (she says more and more locals are shopping in line.) Tourists like shopping in Singapore because there is zero tolerance of brand fakes. She also said the cost of living is too high and the Singapore economy is not having a good year. Usual reasons - fall in the oil price and a down turn in China!