Singapore Sling

I added a quick pass through Singapore because of its World-class reputation. Its proven to be a bit of an enigma for me. On one hand; Its too over engineered, too clean, to self-absorbed, too pretentious, too accepting of government control. For an American; it feels like your in a fish bowl….with a camera waiting to catch you J-walking. Stifling. On the other hand – it’s a magnificent Utopia.

Singapore reminds me of the 1975 movie ‘Stepford Wives’ - where the human wives are replaced with perfect robots. Except, everyone is a robot here.

Or better yet - if your familiar with Atlas Shrugged; Ann Rand’s utopian town of Atlantis. Yes, Singapore proves it’s possible to build utopia on earth – as John Galt did in Colorado. But at the cost of abandoning the rest of the planet. The cost of personal freedoms. At the cost of the innocent and incapable people. It appears to be a society controlled by a few; a single party powerful elite group..…not to be crossed. Forget Biology – Logic rules.

( My options about Singapore might surprise some that know me well; being an Objectivist myself. But I describe my philosophy as Bio-Objectivist … A concept not comprehended by an utopian world…be-it Atlantis… or Singapore….or Star Trek ..but that’s a topic for another blog.)

The response from the Singapore people and government – if you don’t like it – leave. Or better yet…they’ll HELP you leave.

On the utopian side of Singapore. It’s incredible skyline, its zoo, its museums, the Marina Bay Sands Hotel decadence are all irresistible. I ultimately cave to these magnificent accomplishments…and after several days I begin to enjoy the City-State for what it is – Utopia. 80% Chinese, 5-10% Malay, 5-10% Indian…with a tiny 1-2% European mixed in. It’s a wonderful place if you have money to burn, and an ego that enjoys the ride. I’ll admit, some part of me can enjoy it also… but you can feed half of Africa for the price on one Singapore Sling at Raffles. The price model and venues are two-tier’ed: one for foreigners, another for locals. For example; Eating a huge bowl of Tom Yum at Republic Food court with the locals is $5 – epic, the best ever!! But dinner at any resort is $100 for 2 beers and an appetizer. The price of tourism in Singapore.

I spend 4 days, 3 nights here. Taking taxi’s about, and joining two pre-booked bus tours. I didn’t realize I had booked the bus-tours until I arrived…big mistake. I can’t stand the group tour event. It is like being at Disney World following the guy with the green umbrella. Oh well!!!

My independent exploration of the Zoo, and Museums and Botanical Garden, the Marina Bay Sands hotel … those were perfect. Easy to get around here, everyone speaks English. In-fact; while at the zoo I crossed path with 2 large groups of primary school children 2-3ed graders. All of them speaking English to each other…fluently. It appeared to be their first language…they where spot-on. English is all that is used at their schools. Amazing strategy.

I did add the tourist trap visit for an original Singapore Sling at Long’s bar in the Raffles hotel… Home to the original Sling. $32 for a single cocktail for the tourista. Wow.

The roads are perfect, little traffic even in the city center. They price auto’s out of most Singaporeans reach. If you don’t work, fit-in, obey the law…your gone. You’ll find yourself in Malaysia or Indonesia. No refugee’s are allowed in; yes, they have a ton of temp-worker permits of construction labor…but they are shipped out and separated from the population at-large – controlled, monitored.

A one-party democracy that is controlled by a few men. Benevolent men I guess. Reminds me of a ‘Democratic’ version of Vietnam. Capitalism full-out, but with control in the hands of a few. Maybe this is the Chinese version of Democracy….not sure - and a place for them to hide their money outside of China? Singapore is a Curious place. I’ll return one day. But to stay at the Marina Sands, spend thousands of dollars….and bask in the decadence of utopia. – Yes, I’m easy to corrupt. Guilty.