We met our guide after breakfast for a city tour. Like many of the places we have seen there is a mix of religions and cultures all living happily together.
As our guide put it, Singapore is very much a rule based country. There are many rules, most of which are just common sense / courtesy e.g. don’t litter, be polite, clear your table if you’re at a fast food place or street side eating area. The difference between Singapore and many Western countries, that also have rules, is that Singapore will enforce them, either through fines, jail time or caning. It works; the place is clean and safe. We need to bring back some discipline in the West, regardless of the views of the tree huggers and others of their ilk. Ok, rant off!!
We started in Little Arabia. Again, mostly pictures!
These bottles were collected from the poorer Muslims in the area. The gold ball represents the wealth of the rich, the soy bottles the poor. They are both incorporated in the design to try and show equality among the people, if not the wealth.
As we were walking along the car above parked. It was a 1983 Panther Kallista made by Westwinds Panther in Surrey UK.
In Singapore they believe all people should have the right to a decent lifestyle. Above is a poor shot of a high rise apartment block. About 80% of the population live in this type of dwelling. The size of the apartment is determined by the size of the family,the cost of the apartment will never be more than 35% of the family income. This lifestyle has come a long way in stopping violence and vandalism within the country. Beneath the apartment buildings are markets and food stalls, so the whole complex is like a small town. Again it seems to work very well.
After driving around a few more areas of the city, we were off to the botanical gardens. I took many photos here, if I was “templed” out before, I was “flowered” out after this. If you need more info on the flowers, I suggest you consult google lens!!
There’s still about 50 more to show, but I’ll spare you.
Singapore is a mix of the old and the new, as we saw from visits to little Arabia and India. In those areas life is very similar to what we have seen in other countries on this trip. On the other hand, the majority of Singapore is the complete opposite, very modern, well maintained and interesting in it’s own right. In my mind you could class some of the places 3rd world compared to Singapore, but likewise I would suggest many western (and North American) cities could rate as second world compared to Singapore (puts on flak jacket and standing by for incoming!!)
After getting back from the tour, we headed out to find a geocache, we were successful, it was the first one we had found for some time. We also decided to go up to the roof top to see the view. Disappointment followed! I thought we had done well getting the 30th floor; the elevator only went to 36 floors. This time we got a different elevator, it went to floor 70! Once there the area was closed for a private function, although from what we could see, the view wasn’t too much different from ours.
Tonight we’ll head back down for some more local food. Tomorrow is our last day, we’ll be visiting other parts of the city as well as going on a bumboat ride, whatever that is!