11 07 Singapore-It Preserves, Expands, and Projects

In June, 2001, while in London, my wife and I attended a musical comedy set in the British colony city of Singapore, in December, 1941. As part of the script, several of the British actors complained about their presence in "this mosquito-infested third world hellhole." Soon after, in August, 2001, we visited the real Singapore today. What a difference! I knew the musical was accurate for its time, but Singapore today is an integral part of the FIRST world, sometimes called the Pacific Rim. A few years later, in 2004, we returned to the island city/nation, and I was even more impressed. We will be returning to Singapore in the near future, and follow its progress very closely.

Its People

The island of Singapore has about 4.5 million population (including about 3.6 million full-time citizens), comprised of about 75% Chinese ethnicity, 17% Malaysian, and 8% Indian. A considerable portion of its land, around 20%, has been reclaimed from the ocean since the 1960s. Even so, space is tight. Most of the population live in apartments. However, it should be emphasized that these are modern, functional apartments-call it Western-style in the best sense.

Primarily, the business of Singapore is just that-business. It exists as a banking, finance, and high tech electronics and manufacturing center. In 2005, based on shipping tonnage, the port of Singapore was the world's busiest.

Its population is very well educated. Malay is the national language. However, English is the first language of administration and communication. There is a local colloquial dialect called Singlish, but it seems to contain many elements of American English. Drivers may use the left side of the road, but most citizens seem to understand the right side of many subtleties of the American vernacular. Depending on ethnicity, people choose Chinese (Mandarin), Malaysian, or Indian (Tamil) as a second language.

What to See

Many hotels in Singapore are recently built and rank as world class. Recently, the Ritz Carlton hotel in the city was considered to have the world's sexiest bathrooms. We toured those bathrooms and certainly agree with that assessment. The colonial ambiance of Raffles Hotel is still available as an alternative. Fine dining exists in many restaurants, including the well-preserved charm of Raffles' restaurant and bar. The very popular drink "Singapore Sling" originated right here at Raffles and

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