Located on the Equator, it is always warm and humid. I doubt
if a coat would ever be needed. The plant life is verdant and the landscaping
is tropical, of course.
The population is a heady mix of Malays, Chinese, Europeans,
and Indians (the India
variety, of course). And it is a “designer” city state, which makes it even
more unique.
It was at this point that location and architect came
together. Mr. Lee Kuan Yew returned from Europe, and took in hand the project that would
consume his life: making Singapore
the richest, best-run city in Asia .
His time in Europe taught
him what Europeans didn’t like about Asian cities – dirt, street crime, chaos,
and their inability to read the street signs. If Mr. Lee could make Singapore
a city Europeans liked, a place where they felt comfortable, they would come
and bring money, lots of money.
So … Singapore
is a place where the street signs are all in English, and maybe Mandarin too.
The streets are safe and clean, just about everybody one meets speaks
serviceable English, and the government simply doesn’t put up with hoodlum behavior
– for example drug dealers are executed.
It may be the only place in the world where people want to
live in government housing. Tenants in public housing who don’t keep up their
flats are evicted. Singapore ’s
public housing is not viewed as warehousing for the poor and dysfunctional, as
it so often is in other countries.
You will hear that human rights are not respected in Singapore . It
may be true. On the other hand nobody is keeping people from leaving, and I
would guess few do. Singapore
has managed to avoid many of the things about our governments that drive us
crazy. Its government operates for the benefit of productive citizens there,
not primarily for the benefit of the dysfunctional.
