In the airport, I met up with Okaasan (Japanese for "Mom"), who was my Singaporean friend Andy's host mom when he studied abroad in Japan. We got on a plane to Singapore to visit Andy together. Okaasan is 80 years old but very energetic.
Me, Andy, and Okaasan at the Singapore zoo:
I even convinced her to try riding a Segway. She did pretty well!
I was very surprised to ride the Singaporean subway and find out that there is not only a "Newton" in Singapore, but a Somerset also. I thought maybe I'm in Massachusetts, but then realized that the Newton I come from is not next to Toa Payoh.
Singapore was formerly a British colony. Interestingly, it's first prime minister, David Marshall, was Jewish. It became part of Malaysia for a while, but then broke off. I asked Andy lots of questions about Singapore and the surrounding countries. I asked him, "What's the best thing to come out of Malaysia?" He instantly responded, "Singapore." The ethnic majority in Singapore is Han Chinese, but the national language is English. Chinese is widely spoken on the street, but English is used in the schools and in business. Singapore is technically a democracy, but the opposition is very weak, and so the same party has been in power since independence 44 years ago. There are four main ethnic groups in Singapore; the Chinese, the Malay, the Indians (mostly Tamil), and the Europeans. For the most part they live together harmoniously, although there is certainly racism, which is widespread although low in intensity.
Singapore has developed extremely rapidly since Sir Stamford Raffles discovered it in 1819, when it was just a small Malay fishing village. Singapore's economic development should be seen as a model for other developing countries. When I was there, I saw an enormous amount of construction:
Singapore is famous for its strict, nearly draconian laws. When I got off the airplane, I was warned "The punishment for drug trafficking is DEATH." One of the more ridiculous laws is this one:
You're probably confused by the "No Durian" sign. Durian is a tropical fruit which is actually quite delicious, although extremely smelly.
That was one among a number of ridiculous signs in Singapore. Here are a few more:
Apparently, in Singapore, small ferries are called "Bumboats." Have you ever considered a promising career as a bumboat operator?
This is an advertisement, posted all around Singapore, for a canned food company known for its "Qaulity Management":
And this beverage is the pride of all Singapore, Kickapoo Joy Juice:
It wasn't as good as the name suggested.
We spent a lot of time in the Singapore zoo, and I took pictures of all the animals. There are very few cages at the zoo, and most of the animals live in wide open spaces, with only a moat separating them from the visitors.
Amazingly, the Orangutans are not separated from the visitors at all, and will climb around on ropes directly over your head.
We also went to the Singapore Botanical Gardens, which is very nice, but unfortunately not as exciting as the zoo because most of the things there don't kill things. But, there is this one carnivorous plant, that traps insects with is slippery walls and then drowns them in liquid:
And finally, a picture of me doing a ninja pose in the mist:
From Singapore I went on to Poland, and I'll write about that in a few days.
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