Taking the Leap

The most expensive city in Southeast Asia and one of the most financially lucrative places in the world. It is not on the traditional broke backpackers circuit.

It was my Dad, who encouraged me to visit. Reminiscing on his business travel there, he spoke of the architecture, the cleanliness and outrageous fines that would insure if caught littering or spitting gum on the ground. I was curious, so I set a budget and headed down for a long weekend.

What I found was an idealic society that represented constant self improvement. I returned to the idea that “Things are good, but they could be better.” Never arriving, always future focused and striving. A place that has also pulled itself up from the ashes of poverty and hopelessness in just one generation.

I found a beutiful mixture of Chinese, Muslims, and South Indian culture all living in cohesion.

After WW2, Singapore was liberated from the Japanese (who invaded the then British colony). They joined Malaysia, but it was only a few years until the cultural animosity between the predominantly muslim Malay and the majority Chinese’s Singaporeans created friction. In 1960s, Singapore was “kicked out” of Malaysia. No water supply, abject homelessness and poverty. I was curious to know how this small country of.. had risen from the ashes in on Generation.

Lee Quan Yu stepped up, as the countries first president. A true leader. His agenda of home ownership, minimizing corruption, creating community, celebrating cultural differences is visible on every block.

I took a 6 hour bus from Kuala Lampur down to Singapore. It was the cleanest, emptiest and most pleasant bus ride of my life. When I arrived, I was pleasantly surprised.

The clean streets. The cohesive city design, with tons of long and beutiful walking paths. The architecture; incorporating plant life into every corner. The foodie culture, born from the UNESCO and Michelin rated Hawker stalls. This is a place I could live.

I took a city tour of the Chinese, muslin and Indian districts. I attended a social Meetup on Friday and met a few locals. I even meditated in the sacred Buddha tooth temple.

The contrast from my experience in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka was dramatic. The temple had AC, and there was no long lines or admission fees.

People que up at the hawker stalls in a beutiful display of orders These are home to the most delicious food; from Hainaise chicken rice, curry mee, nanyang coffee and creamy tea Tarik.

This is where old meets new. The hawker stalls are a relic of the past, mostly run by an aging population, serving meals refined in generations of tradition for less than $8.

The place is beautiful, albeit with so much regulation and future focus it seems like there is never an arriving. It’s a bubble of growth and development where people have their nose down. A focus on improvement and efficiency.