Duality

When I told people I was moving to Singapore, the general comments were that it's clean, it's conservative, and there isn't much to do.  These comments were from people that did not live here.  Others that either knew people living here or connected me with those living here had other things to say, like, you'll love it there, there's so much to do, and it's a hub for travel. 

Most expats I've met or heard about are either single, married without kids, or married with young children.  And this is the place to be if you are child-less or have young children!  The night life is terrific, the entertainment scene is colorful and always happening, and the whole country is dedicated to children - malls have children's play areas, there are family washrooms everywhere, condos have several areas for children, kids shopping is probably as good as it gets in the world, there are learning centres for children everywhere, and kids activities are plentiful.  Parents are also very dedicated to their childrens' growth and development.  There is a swimming centre for infants here.  You can peer in through a window to see the tiny babies about 2 or 3 months old floating and kicking in 2 feet of water in a big sink-like pool.  It unnerved me to see it to be honest, but maybe one of those babies will be an Olympian swimmer some day.

We haven't quite figured out what teens do here other than hang out in coffee shops, smoke sheesha, go to school, hang out at restaurants, hang out in malls, hang out.... I'm sure there are other things, we just haven't found them yet.  Teens are given a lot of social freedom because it's incredibly safe here. 

True to everyone's word, Singapore is also very clean for a big city.  There is garbage around, though, which amazes my daughter and me because everyone raved about Singapore's cleanliness.  It's hard to find a garbage can, but you can usually find one next to an escalator in a mall.  And I have yet to see a recycling bin in public.  Bathrooms in touristy places can be pristine to fairly clean.  Bathrooms in more local places can be fairly clean to downright dirty.  You won't find toilet tissue in most bathrooms.  There's lots of squatting here too... and as you sit in some stalls with a toilet (you can go to the squat stall if you like of course), you read the sign that says, 'Do not put feet on toilet seats.'  Terry jokes that he's going to be so local soon that I'll find foot marks on our toilet seat at home.  A pub we visited last weekend had a bathroom for men, which was disgustingly smelly and dirty, and a bathroom for women, which was through a private door into a hotel and was clean and 'fit for tourists'.... and no footprints on the seats!

Like other areas of the world, Singapore's birth rate is declining.  So the government has organized dating events.  Only singles are allowed to attend them, and the purpose of them is for men and women to meet, fall in love, get married, and have children.  Yep, I'm serious.  And it's working!  I read an article yesterday in the paper about one couple's success.  Their advice for successful dating was to be open minded, be friends first, and dress well.  I was also advised to dress well for interviews and you can attend workshops on how to dress well.  It's important here.

There are plenty of reasons for the decline in birth rates.... one of which is the desire for the 5 C's.  Singaporean men tell us that women won't marry you unless you have Career, Cash, Credit Card, Car, and Condo.  A 2-3 bedroom condo is around S$800,000 and a cars are around 3x more expensive here than in Canada.  It's not easy on those men!  Of course, there are some very highly paid positions here and I read in the paper that the percentage of high net worth individuals rose by 32.7% last year.  I was also advised that most positions in Singapore are generally paid lower than an equivalent position in Canada or the U.S. so expect to be paid less.

It is true - Singapore is relatively clean and structured - yes, somewhat like the utopia in Brave New World (a must read).  However, it is far from boring.  There are extremes to almost every situation, and the duality of Singapore makes it interesting to study.