55) Singapore - Asia's tiny model state

Asia » Singapore
August 7th 2005

Published: August 28th 2005

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Stephan and Klaudia

Singapore National Library

Singapore's latest architectural achievement impressed us a lot

We were definitely leaving Indonesia, our first Lion Air flight took us to Jakarta, whose airport we did not even leave, some hours later we boarded the following plane to Kuala Lumpur. Air Asia offers really cheap flights, according to the rules which apply to all no-frills airlines. The earlier you book, the cheaper the flights are (we got a flight Jakarta-Kuala Lumpur for only EUR 15), there is no food or drink of any kind served, except if you pay for it. This is all perfectly fine for us, we have never understood why meals absolutely have to be served on short flights. The really unusual feature of Air Asia, though, is the fact that the seats are not numbered, which results in people fighting for the best places, we only wanted to sit together, the rest did not matter. Anyway, we have not yet encountered this practice with no other airline so far. Furthermore, Air Asia has no selling counters, you can only buy tickets via the internet or some few authorized sellers. This means it is also completely ticket-less, you get a confirmation and a booking number by email, but should you forget to print this page out

View from the Singapore River

Typical Singaporean cityscape, where old and new stand happily side by side

(or not manage to), it suffices if you turn up at the check-in counter with your passport. And it does work - even in Indonesia - we were impressed!

Apart from again freezing (despite long sleeves) during the flight as well as at the airport, everything worked smoothly and we landed in Kuala Lumpur (for the second time, actually, the first time being on our transit from Macau to Indonesia). There, we immediately got a 90-day visa for free and without any hassle, then we took a bus and an the underground to the centre. We soon realized that literally everybody spoke English and were positively surprised how well everything worked - especially after our last adventures. We chose a hotel close to the bus terminal, because our plan was to get to Singapore as soon as possible. The guesthouse was a little off the main road and rather quiet for that reason and although the rooms did not have attached bathrooms, everything was squeaky clean and the staff was very friendly. In the end, we came to like the place and because it offered cheap in-house internet, we did not leave next day but the day after. This

Modern palaces of entertainment

Housing a theatre and a concert hall, these buildings have been given many names, like hedgehogs, but the locals tenderly call them 'durians' (=SE-Asian stink fruit)...

complete day in Kuala Lumpur we used to make up our minds about Indonesia and came to the conclusion that we wanted to go back in order to see nature on Sumatra and culture on Java and Bali. So we booked more flights with Air Asia (by now, we would merit the frequent flyer status if they offered this), also in order to produce a departure flight for the visa. The decision about Indonesia had not been easy, but in the end we hoped to make some positive experiences as well, we don't like seeing a country only with negative eyes. We did not see much of Malaysia's capital this time (also due to the haze which came from fires on Sumatra), but this does not matter, as our travel itinerary inevitably leads us there again in September.

After some minor problems we finally caught an air condition bus from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore, we would have preferred to avoid air condition, but this was impossible. It actually did not take very long to the border town of Johor Baru, driving all the way on impeccable motorways used by all kinds of modern western cars. The first glimpse we

Singapore skyline

Not exceedingly fascinating, but a good test for our new camera

caught of Malaysia quite impressed us, we saw a modern country, though a bit too americanised to our European taste. And rather efficient, too, which we appreciated even more after Indonesia's sluggishness. The border crossing was really special, even stricter than the border between Nepal and Tibet. First we had to leave the bus with all our luggage, go through Malaysian immigration (very quick, as we left the country and only got a departure stamp), then the same procedure with the Singapore immigration (filling in the entry card and the customs declaration, queue for the entry stamp), only this time our luggage was scanned and we were not allowed to linger in the immigration building. When we were granted the permission to enter the country, we boarded another bus (by the same company), one that was allowed to run in Singapore.

In Singapore we arrived at the bus terminal situated next to Little India, which suited us fine, as we had chosen to stay in this part of town. We walked the short distance to a street containing several hotels in the dark, but this was no problem at all in such a safe place. The first guesthouse we

Fullerton Hotel

It still looks good by night, but horribly kitschy at daylight with its mock Greek columns

went to had only two dorm beds left (in a dormitory of 30!) and we are slowly feeling too old for dormitories. The girl who showed us around was exceedingly friendly and helpful, we could leave our heavy bags there while we went checking other places to stay. We finally chose a good mid-range hotel (Perak Lodge), where we were immediately granted a discount and in the end paid S$ 70 (ca. EUR 35) breakfast included, not too bad for Singapore. The house was actually very beautiful the staff very very friendly. Singaporeans seem to be born with a smile on their face and never to lose it.

During our stay in Singapore we had chosen Little India as place of residence, as if we had not got enough of India. Actually we liked the quarter, it was very much like India, only much much cleaner (very Singaporean in this respect). The Indians of Singapore mostly had quite dark skin, they reminded us strongly of our first impressions of India in Tamil Nadu, they were Tamils indeed and we also recognized their writing. Once again the tiny crammed shops, the food stalls and restaurants with the typical Indian flavour

Raffles Hotel

The place to be in Singapore, named after Singapore's founding father

and spread out all over the pavement, which made walking a bit difficult and people gathered outside, practically living on the streets (although we are sure that they have nice little flats). This region of Singapore also turned out to be the centre for used computers and computer parts, monitors were piled on the pavement, deliveries were principally effected in the nighttime and several times a computer shop shared the place with another tiny shop, like a laundry or a carpet shop. Stephan found this very funny and we are sure that it would also have pleased our friend Markus. We loved the numerous colonial buildings from the beginning of last century, many of which are to be found in Little India, painted in bold colours and enhanced by doors, shutters and stucco in contrasting colours. As well as the kitschy Hindu temples with statues in even bolder colours decorating towering gopurams. If somebody uses Singapore as their entry gate into Asia, this is definitely a wise decision, they can find the essence of India without the filth and the malodour and also impressive Chinese temples as well as a high amount of authentic Chinese restaurants and a peculiar institution

Display of colour

Very neat shutters in all colours of the rainbow

called food court, where several small eating places are grouped around a central courtyard. Although Singapore is not a very cheap place to stay (public transport, for instance, or the entrance to the zoo have hefty prices), backpackers might not stretch their budget too much by sleeping and eating in Little India or Chinatown.

We not only made extensive walks in Singapore's most touristy parts, but also spent some time with internet (we had to catch up with our travelblog entries once again) and the decision-making for a new camera, which Stephan did not take lightly. After some shopping around in the famous Sim Lim Square notorious for all kinds of electronics goods, most of the trades being in Chinese hands (fortunately they were less aggressive and pushy than in Hong Kong), Stephan decided for an all-in-one camera, the Panasonic Lumix FZ5, a package with an additional battery and a 1 Gb memory card complementary to the initial 256 Mb card. What especially fascinated Stephan and made him choose this model, was the 12 time optical zoom with image stabiliser and the resolution of 5 megapixel (which will hopefully lead to even better pictures). Stephan would have loved to

Colonial house

Its bottom floor is occupied by shops selling all kinds of goods

buy himself a semi-professional camera, but their forbiddingly high prices deterred him, maybe his professional insight as a controller has taught him not to buy the most expensive items. When we later tried the newly acquired camera out, it turned out that it appealed to Klaudia very much, it is quite light and lies perfectly in her hands, while to Stephan it appears more like a toy than a serious optical instrument.

As soon as the new camera was ours, we of course were bound to try it out immediately. It was already dark, but no problem, it had to pass its first test, night pictures. We walked around rather aimlessly, trying a shot here and there, when finally we noticed a very nice modern building. This one had fascinated us so much that we came back during daylight, to find out it was the barely finished National Library. Curious as we are, we entered the building, strolled around for a long time access was never denied) until we stood on a small garden. Then somebody asked us about our impressions of the National Library, to which we could only respond in very positive terms. We wished Stephan's father

Nice old house

Example of wooden parts and stucco contrasting in terms of colour

had been with us! Then we talked about modern architecture, comparing Singapore to Hong Kong and remarked that Singapore's modern buildings appeared duller and less interesting to us (the National Library being the notable exception). Whereupon our interviewer explained to us that was actually a socialist state without this name-tag, that all the land belonged to the state, which definitely had a decisive impact on the architectural appearance. Many of the modern buildings we saw were actually blocks of flats, the paternalistic government strove to provide decent quality of living to every Singaporean. National identity plays an important role in this respect, too. We could observe this on the occasion of the celebrations for Singapore's 40th anniversary of Independence. We did not actually take part in these celebrations, but in the morning we lost some words about it to the hotel staff, whereupon they proudly announced that we should wish them happy birthday! It would never come into our minds to celebrate Austria's national holiday as our birthday! In the evening, we watched the celebrations on TV, the firework was mediocre, people were clad in red and white (the colours of Singapore's flag), but it all seemed tame and organised,

Illustration of Singapore's past

These statues are meant to represent Chinese labourers, but in front of this building don't they look a bit like bank robbers?

not a pinch of spontaneity visible. That day, we made a long walk along the Singapore River, propagated as the entertainment mile, with glitzy shopping malls, restaurants and bars and the latest attraction, a bungee jumping device, all very artificial, a bit like Disneyland.

We could not leave Singapore without visiting an attraction very appealing to Klaudia - the famous zoo. It is situated on a natural peninsula that is surrounded by a huge natural lake, and very far from the centre - it took us at least 1.5 hours by public transport, bus and underground. But we had no problems getting there, every detail is announced and as soon as a tourists hesitates only a second, a friendly Singaporean comes running, asking whether he can help. Amazing! We bought a combined ticket for the zoo and the night safari, which Klaudia was especially keen on. Due to its setting, the zoo is very beautiful, with many nice plants and flowers and frequent glimpses of the lake. The special thing about the Singapore Zoo, though, is the fact that it has hardly any cages in the strict sense (no iron bars). The animals' abodes are seperated from the visitors

Klaudia and her friends

She liked these life-size statues very much

by watercourses, into which thin, almost invisible live wire cables are set. The monkeys for example have huge terrains at their dispositions, with many branches and tree trunks, so that they can run and climb around at leisure. Usually, there is not only one animal, but always groups of up to 70 animals (the baboons), and their behaviour is very interesting to watch. We decided to walk all our way, but if the visitors are tired, they can book a ride on a mini train that runs through the whole compound. The night safari is a very special event, showing visitors nocturnal animals that they usually cannot see in a zoo, like many kinds of cats of prey (e.g. leopards and fishing cats), hyenas or a house of bats, where we could see the huge flying foxes more clearly than close to Rinca. We appreciated our visit to the zoo very much (especially the beautiful white tigers), but the night safari was a unique experience for us.

Singapore is a nice place, very clean and orderly, everything works well, but it also has a sterile aura. Some people call it a dictatorship, we cannot judge it, but if it

Chinese temple

One of many in a city where many gods are worshipped

is one, it is a very capitalistic one. Singapore is still one of the Tiger States and an important economic power in South Asia, which is clearly visible all over the place. But its effort to conserve its cultural heritage (the little that there is) is praiseworthy. What most impressed us about the tiny state is its multi-cutural and multi-religious population, the different groups seem to live together in harmony.

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