Amazing Singapore – No Messing Around

Our last stop in Indonesian was Nongsa Point Marina, just a single skinny degree north of the equator.  A convenient spot to complete the official paperwork required to exit the country.

The marina is part of a larger resort complex, and we were invited to avail ourselves of its various amenities.  The pool was a huge draw, offering welcome relief from the relentless heat of the day, as was the free laundry.

Unbeknownst to us, our arrival coincided with the start of Ramadan – a big deal in a country where over 90% of the population is Muslim.  The resort staff all but insisted we attend their Iftar – fast-breaking feast – that evening.  How could we refuse?  

Still, we had some lingering reservations. We’d never been to an Iftar. Would we, as obvious foreigners, be welcomed by the other guests?  Should Sharon cover her head?  We need not have worried.  Locals clad in traditional dress eagerly touted their favourite items, and encouraged us to give them a try.  And, we did, some of us to excess.

Our next pleasant surprise was discovering that the terminal for the fast ferry to Singapore was just minutes away, and the resort offered a free shuttle.  We’d been musing about how best to arrange a visit, particularly where to keep Turtlebones.  Now, the best possible option had, like magic, fallen into our laps.  Leave her safely docked, right here at the marina, and take the ferry.  As my father would say, ‘better to be lucky, than good’.

Having booked our accommodation and packed a few things, early the next morning, we jumped aboard the fast ferry, as its only two passengers.  Thirty minutes later, having crossed the Singapore Strait, we disembarked in a different country, and seemingly a different world – Singapore.  

Even before we arrived, we were gobsmacked by the endless vista of ships.  The Singapore Strait is, after all, the busiest waterway in the world.  Each day 2,000 ships make the 70-mile passage between the South China Sea and the Strait of Malacca.  So many ships, so tightly packed together in a channel of water a mere 12 miles wide.  As you might imagine, the thought that we’d soon be sailing in such close quarters among all those behemoths was more than a little intimidating.   

The Strait is why Singapore exists. Sitting at this choke-point of global trade, has helped make Singapore an economic powerhouse. Its residents enjoy one of the highest standards of living on the planet – average income is nearly double that of Canada.

Eager to delve into its diverse culture, and discover more about what makes the place tick, we booked a food tour with a local chef. Four fascinating, and delicious, hours spent sampling a wide range of local cuisine. All the while, learning about the interplay of history, migration, religion and other factors that are imprinted in each dish.

We Canadians know something of the challenges of living as a country with two official languages, and navigating the legacy of having two founding nations.  Now, imagine doubling that linguistic, religious and cultural complexity.  Indeed, Singapore has four official languages – Mandarin, Malay, Tamil, and English – reflecting the ethnic makeup of its 6 million residents.

It’s impossible not to be impressed by this place.  The wealth is obvious, but it’s the level of ambition coupled with a laser-like focus on setting goals and achieving results that make it so special.   

The whole place has a footprint only slightly larger than the City of Toronto.  But Singapore has double the population.  And yet, it doesn’t feel crammed.  Nor is it choked with traffic.  Plus, there’s an abundance of greenspace.  

I’m sure there are untamed problems, but as a visitor one marvels at Singapore’s livability. The ease of getting around.  How clean and tidy the streets are.  How everything just seems to work so darn well.  Such an anomaly in Southeast Asia where waste management and solutions to many civic challenges are so evidently elusive, or simply ignored.

I don’t pretend to know all the ingredients in Singapore’s secret sauce.  But I was struck by the pervasive no-nonsense attitude of the people we met, and the leadership of those that run this thriving city-state.  The latter certainly aren’t afraid to tackle minor and wicked problems alike.

Some may find Singapore’s solutions and rules heavy-handed, but they are effective.  Want a cleaner city; go after the the source of the problem – impose stiff fines for littering, for not flushing public toilets, for eating or drinking on the subway, and ban the sale of chewing gum.

Three examples of how Singapore does things differently – and very successfully – really jumped out during our visit.

Getting Around Made Easy

Transportation is a problem that bedevils every modern city of any size. Singapore analyzed and took decisive action.  Shortly after independence in 1965 they developed a vision for a subway system as the City’s transportation backbone.  The first section – five stations covering six kilometres – opened in 1987.  Today the system is massive, modern, clean and efficient – six lines with 164 stations, spanning 240 kilometres.

It’s absolutely brilliant!  Getting anywhere in the city is a breeze.  A tourist’s dream.  An MRT station is never more than a 15-minute walk away.  And, another 60 stations will come on stream over the next 14 years.  The contrast with the build-out and operations of our transit system in Toronto is, frankly, embarrassing.  

Traffic is another study in contrasts.  In Toronto, like in most big cities, people complain bitterly about traffic congestion.  Singapore took direct aim at the root problem – too many cars.  Their solution: a hard cap on the number of cars and trucks allowed on the road.  Want a car?  You can bid on a plate, as they come available.  The current price is just under $100k. That’s not the price of the car – it’s just for the right to buy a car.  And then the car itself is heavily taxed, adding 50% to the going price.  Finally, there’s electronic road pricing – cameras everywhere tracking your movements into congested areas at a hefty price.  Problem solved – no hand-wringing, no messing around.  Heavy-handed, yes, but traffic flows very smoothly.

Housing Everyone Well – Almost

Cities around the world struggle with housing affordability and homelessness.  Singapore may not have completely solved those challenges, but their unique, approach has produced very impressive results.  In most jurisdictions, the ‘free market’ dictates the price and supply of housing – it’s a commodity. The system generally rewards property owners, and puts the squeeze on renters and young people aspiring to homeownership.      

In Singapore, the market plays a lesser role, and government a much larger, more active, role. Eighty percent of people live in public housing.  And, it probably isn’t what you think.  Almost all of the residents – 90% – are owners, not renters.  What they buy, however, is a 99-year lease.  A government board owns the building, and the land it sits on.  The board, rather than the development industry, also controls the pace new apartments are built and brought to market.

Given the constraints of land, almost everyone, regardless of income, lives in apartments, not houses.  The apartments available in public housing estates and buildings runs the gambit from smaller apartments with limited amenities – mostly rented to people with very low incomes – all the way up to quite large units, with luxury amenities in super modern, and very stylish, buildings.  Older buildings are more modest and have fewer amenities.

The price of leases for new apartments is subsidised based on income. Leases can be resold after five years of occupancy. But restrictions keep prices in check – purchasers can’t be investors; they need to live in the apartment.   

Is it perfect? No. But the results are impressive. Toronto, with half the population, has 30 times more homeless people.  Rents are unaffordable for many, and homeownership is increasingly unattainable.

Garden City to City in Nature

Knowing Singapore occupies such a small patch of land for its 6 million plus inhabitants, we were expecting a cityscape dominated by concrete, tarmac, glass and steel. But it isn’t.  In fact, half of the land area is greenspace, including about 350 parks and four nature reserves. That’s more than four times as much greenspace as we have in Toronto.

Some, like Gardens by the Bay, are relatively new, and quite innovative, with whimsical elements like the huge, sculptural ‘Supertrees’. Others like the Botanic Garden, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, date from the 1800s. The later includes the National Orchard Garden, the world’s largest, with a dazzling collection of more than 1,200 species and countless hybrids.

Some parks are small, others are massive. But everywhere you look, there is greenery – tree-lined boulevards and waterways, a vast network of green corridors, and vertical gardens in residential and commercial towers.

Again, this didn’t just happen.  It’s part of a deliberate plan. The seeds were sown in Singapore’s ‘Garden City’ vision back in the 1960s. It aimed to bring more nature into the urban environment to improve air quality and overall livability. This has now evolved into a vision of a ‘City in Nature’. Along the way, it’s been expanded and enhanced through a series of initiatives, like the One Million Trees Movement, and Edible Gardens which mobilizes residents. As well as regulations requiring greenspace in all new developments.

The benefits to residents and visitors are many and varied.  Some have become major tourist attractions; others play host to large international festivals.  Mostly, they serve the local communities by providing a myriad of opportunities for recreation and leisure.  We thoroughly enjoyed our time exploring, and often marveling at, these jewels of greenery.

As you can probably tell we loved our visit to Singapore. But, beyond being enjoyable, it’s the amazing way this city blends commercial success with bold civic leadership in pursuit of the public good that’s so special. It’s one of the most thought-provoking places I’ve ever visited. This is a City that doesn’t shrink when confronted with challenges. It rises. Singapore’s government is unabashedly business-friendly.  But it’s also pragmatic enough to recognize that getting out of the way to let the market work its magic doesn’t solve every problem.  How refreshing – a government unafraid to lead in areas like transportation and housing. The result is a vastly better, more prosperous, city. 

A week later, as Turtlebones transited the Singapore Strait, we too experienced Singapore’s hyper-officious side.  First, we were shadowed by a police vessel for a few hours.  Later, a different police vessel hailed us to stop, while we were traveling inside the designated shipping lanes.  They were polite, but made it abundantly clear, Turtlebones was too close to their territorial waters, and needed to move further out immediately.  And, so we did – no messing around.

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