To be honest, I had no idea what to expect from this island city-state. I grew up with stories of Michael Fay, his post-modern artwork, and his subsequent punishment, so I knew to be on my best behavior. And I was right.
On the entry card in big red letters, it states with absolute authority ‘Death for drug traffickers under Singapore law. ʼ However, on my walk around town the next day, I noticed the narcotics wing of the police department took up an entire city block. Maybe it is because of the flooded shipping channels and the neighborhood (it takes an hour to go from one end of Singapore to the other by car, then youʼre in Malaysia or a short boat ride to Indonesia.) It reminded me of what Thucydides related in his History of the Peloponnesian War in that no matter the punishment, a lot of men are inclined towards danger. As such, apparently, on the subway or at a bar, if you bump into a young lady, she can cry out “molester!” and you are subject to arrest, fine, jail time and caning
Singapore is like traveling through Asia with English subtitles. It is safe but weary; pretty graphic terrorism videos in the subway like to remind people to be on guard. Frankly, I do not know how many people of so many backgrounds (Chinese, Malaysian, Hindi, European) get along so well. I then realized, it is all about money: Banks need workers, service industry needs workers, shipping needs workers, construction needs workers, home care needs workers, and the government needs taxes.
The locals have a saying that Singapore is a fine city, they fine you for littering, spitting, not flushing the toilet (really) and a host of other things. What they do not mention is the taxes that arenʼt taxes, but “rights.” For example, to buy a car in Singapore, you must submit a bid to the government starting at USD $50,000. Once you get your “Right of Entitlement,” you can then go buy your car. But you can only drive it for ten years before the process begins anew. That is why public transit is so cheap and clean. The government wants to keep the people happy and the roads clear.
Now, on to what I liked best about Singapore: the food. I ate my way through the city like Godzilla. A lot of restaurants and hawker stalls (giant food courts) are open at all hours of the night. When I arrived at three in the morning on my first day, some were still full of people slurping their noodles from communal tables. You can get an appetizer at one, entree at another, dessert at another, and drink at yet one more. Chinese, Malay, Indian, Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian, it does not matter your tastes. And all of them are excellent and cheap. Much like how the best actors come from the theatre, the best hawkers are the ones that deal with audience interaction best. If they are too slow, too pricey, or just rude, the elasticity of demand drives patrons elsewhere. That is why one hawker, in particular, Lio Fan, got a Michelin star.
Finally, with no natural resources, real estate is what makes Singapore unique in these separate yet linked categories: past, present, and future:
Singaporeʼs historical importance can be stated in three words: location, location, location. This comes from the fact it is located at the shipping nexus of East and West. Many empires staked claim to the area, but from the 19th Century on, a pivotal aspect to its history is that, unlike its neighbors, it did not mind its colonial shackles and reluctantly accepted its independence when the sun finally set upon the British Empire in the middle of the last century. They piggybacked on the Western principles and refined them with Asian adroitness.
At present, of the 5 million inhabitants of this modern nation-state, 80% live in “government” housing. A low end apartments costs $250,000 to $350,000. You do not own it but are leasing it for 99 years from the government. If you are buying it alone, without a family or a spouse, you need to be at least 35. That is why there are so many crazy rich Asians here (187,000 millionaires,) the government needs people to build.
Real estate will keep this country rich, and in time, possibly overtake what we consider the Western monoliths of today. Ask Eduardo Saverin, one of the co-founders of Facebook that renounced his citizenship for a Singapore one. Just down the street from the Marina Bay Sands, the most expensive casino complex ever built at USD $5.7 Billion, an expanded financial district is being constructed upon reclaimed land with imported sand. Now, before biblical irony sets in, the towers that have not even been built yet are already leased by significant concerns. As long as the Eastern countries continue to rise like the sun in the 21st Century and beyond, Singapore will have a very lucrative future.