One of the things I love doing whenever I visit any city is to take long walks on its roads. While they are aimless and random, they give me an opportunity to observe - the little things - the faces, the expressions, the eyes - the bodies, the postures, the pace - the traffic, the rules, the compliance - the shops, the food, the architecture - the art, the dressing, the style, the life - the mood, the culture, the vibe. These walks help me uncover places in my own way. So, here's a little bit of what I uncovered about Singapore:
- Attention to detail: I noticed this everywhere. The design of roads along with signs like directions, crossings, foot-paths, etc. are well thought out with careful consideration of all means of commute. You'd be amazed to see how well defined walking routes are and how well the route guidance on google maps is even for walking. (I didn't see much scope of cycling in the regular roads, but for that there were dedicated places.) It is like everything has been built according to a template. Every country has such templates, but I was amazed to see the uncompromising adherence to them in Singapore. And it is not just about the roads and signs. It's visible in how all public amenities operate.
Truly secular: The peaceful co-existence of people with different religious faiths and races is truly admirable. I am sure the framework for such co-existence and the minimum acceptable code of conduct must have been laid out by the government. Singapore had its share of racial conflicts soon after it came into being, but the founding fathers meticulously and definitively set the agenda and path of the nation towards rapid development and prosperity, adopting English as the official language and made sure everyone was aligned.- Some serious undercurrents: It was difficult to figure out whether there was any bitterness deep down while different religious and racial communities coexisted. And how did the locals feel about the tourists? Once while I was walking past a group of people waiting for a bus, one elderly man's mobile phone slipped off his hand and fell down because my hand inadvertently brushed on his phone. I immediately said sorry and pretended to bend to pick up the phone. The man was quick to pick it up himself, but he looked into my eyes and said "fuck you".
- Cleanliness: This seemed ingrained in the way of life. People, including tourists, were careful. Public places were clean, no litter. Even little India was unlike India coz Indians behave better outside, as we know.
- Maximum Government: Government seems to be present everywhere, but probably in good ways (though I can't tell for sure). There's lot of regulation, yet extreme levels of efficiency. Sounds counterintuitive, but they somehow make it happen.
- Incentives to drive behavior: We met a colleague of my wife's who showed us a smart watch that she was wearing, which monitored her fitness routines. She told us that people were incentivized to maintain fitness levels through various rewarding mechanisms. The Netflix documentary on blue zones did highlight the incentives younger Singaporeans are offered to stay closer to their parents.
- Maximum technology & automation: We are often made to fear automation as the enemy of jobs and job creation. Singapore (and also China form what I've been hearing) made me realize that it's not how it works. By letting things be more manual or sub-tech, we compromise on efficiencies while creating disguised unemployment, which doesn't raise standard of living.
- Extreme addiction to mobile phones: We all are addicted to our screens to various degrees, but in Singapore it's much higher than in India.
- Little India is more like Little Chennai: India is vast and diverse, so it's difficult that any place becomes a true replica or representative of India. Little India felt more like Chennai, in fact just some part of Chennai perhaps. There was of course a lot of Tamil spoken and written everywhere.
The place gives Indian old-city vibes, just with better roads and traffic even in the lanes. - There is a Little everything there: Just walk around Little India into the lanes and you'll see blocks with different kinds of graffiti portraying different cultures around the world. I could feel that spirit everywhere in Singapore.
- Focused on natural preservation, Climate-aware, but high on energy consumption: The importance of preserving the natural beauty and ecology was communicated through various means - the amazing detail with which Gardens by the Bay was built, Zoo with animals from all over the world with artificially cultivated zones mimicking their natural habitats, the messaging on Palawan Beach, the all-out focus on public transportation and other amenities, and so on. However, what struck me was the high level of energy consumption - it was rampant in everything from excessive air conditioning (most of which was necessary because of the hot weather), to everything for tourists to watch and enjoy - like water shows, lights, rides, and so on.
Singapore has been carefully and beautifully designed to promote business, tourism and economy. And everything is held together with focus that doesn't digress more than necessary into conflicts arising from cultural, religious, ethnic and racial differences. Singapore is expensive, yet also encourages making money. All in all, a pretty complete city / country.
