Who’s Your Favorite Urban Planning Team? (Singapore)

We’re back home and struggling mightily to catch up on some unfinished blogging as we settle back into work, so we hope this post provides the same exciting distraction for you as writing it did for us… We visited Singapore back in April, so only half a year late!

As perhaps the most pragmatically designed and run society in the history of the world, Singapore was a destination we were excited about from the very beginning of the trip. One of our goals of this trip has been to understand more clearly the different ways that the world can work, and Singapore looms large as an example of what a planned community can be. We were keen to sample the many distinctive dishes in the managed chaos of the hawker markets, experience the interactions of the many cultures squashed together in close confines, taste the luxury of this most first world of places, and finally, to see what a country feels like that matches the finest of Western cities in luxury and commerce, but largely lacks the democratic protections and civil society that we consider core elements of our Western societies.

While Jess had previously visited the city for work, both of us couldn’t wait to dive in deeply, learn some history, gluttonize, and find out if Singapore really was “Disney World with the death penalty.” We were absolutely not disappointed, and thoroughly enjoyed every day we had there. Things just worked. Directions were straightforward. Foods were delicious. And many times per day we found ourselves remarking to each other: “they even thought of that?!”

The prototypical city-state, Singapore is all about the city, although a variety of initiatives sprinkle a fair amount of greenery among the glass and concrete

With good enough vision on a clear day, you can see both Malaysia to the north and some Indonesian islands to the south from here – Singapore is really, really tiny!

The Summary City

Singapore packs in an awful lot for a country less than half the size of London. A multicultural society long before it became a nation state, Singapore has nurtured and promoted its diversity of backgrounds, languages, and traditions, and continued to welcome immigrants with open arms – a policy that’s increasingly necessary in the context of a rapidly shrinking population. Estimates vary, but it’s thought that around half of the current population was born elsewhere. This makes for a fantastic tourist experience, with the whole of Asia and much of the rest of the world laid out before you, only an MRT ride away (naturally signposted in several languages).

When you have a lot of different groups and not a lot of space, churches each need to support many different services!

Throughout the city, completely dissimilar buildings are all carefully slotted together, like an advanced game of Tetris – only with more planning. 

The historic Chinatown abuts the commercial center, and several venerable Chinese temples flank the skyscrapers

Despite the occasional surge of inter-community hostility, for the most part the system works breathtakingly well.  While prejudice and rivalries certainly exist, it seems to us like there a couple of critical factors at play in preserving harmony (at least superficially). First, there is a strong sense of shared ambition. This has deep roots in Singapore’s challenged history, through decades of toil and sacrifice which drove the nation’s meteoric rise.  Despite today’s significant wealth, this feeling persists, bolstered by threats of hostile neighbors and global economic crises. Second, the government has gone to extreme lengths to ensure equality of opportunity, and has often deployed blunt measures to stamp out discrimination. Quotas are in place throughout the economy,  including public housing, schools, and politics, to prevent segregation or favoritism – even the presidency has a racial quota. Every major ethnicity has its own museum, its own festivals and holidays, access to information in its own language, and of course an ample selection of super-authentic food.

When cultures collide – these eyes were installed as a compromise measure, since the building directly overlooks a Buddhist temple

One of the best Sichuan meals we’ve ever had, as if we needed any further convincing that our next trip needs to include China

Having seen a fair chunk of the world already on this trip, it was fascinating for us to see echoes of our previous adventures scattered throughout this steamy, urban outpost.  We were able to (rather smugly) deploy our encyclopedic knowledge of Indian fried snacks and play “name that religious figure” as we walked past temples of all origins, all the while feeling strangely at home in a city where we were never more than 100 yards from a big-name coffee shop.

Little India felt a lot like Mumbai on the streets – with a smattering of Chinese signage thrown in for good measure

The Durian came back to haunt us – this time with better marketing, and in a variety of cake forms

Finally, an opportunity presented itself for Jess to address the raging chaat withdrawal that had plagued her for several months

Managed Chaos

Hawker markets seem to represent Singapore in microcosm. A long time ago, hawkers sold a vast variety of meals and snacks all over the city, reflecting the street-food-obsessed cultures that comprise the island’s population. Street food is delicious, exciting, economical, and efficient, but it’s also messy and at times perhaps a wee bit unsanitary… And most importantly from the perspective of the government of Singapore, roving street food vendors can be tough to regulate and disruptive to the areas where they set up (cronut lines, anyone?).

So naturally this most pragmatic of pragmatic societies arrived at a practical middle ground: street food vendors must set up in designated hawker markets, which are basically super-intense versions of mall food courts. Within the confines of these bright, well-lit, well-ventilated areas, hawkers are free to messily eject all manner of spicy, fragrant, sloppy victuals to their eager patrons. Most food has pictures for those who don’t speak the stall’s primary language, and prices are surprisingly low for a modern, industrialized city. In addition, authorities can easily inspect vendors, foot traffic can be managed and kept sufficiently clear of congested areas, and a crack team of janitorial gods basically hoses down the place as soon as each table is vacated, keeping everything pretty pristine. One final Singapore touch is that stalls provide no napkins – instead, the role of selling packets of napkins is a job reserved specifically for those with disabilities.

In the morning, before the rush

Diving into some sort of sloppy, saucy, fried meat pile that really outdid expectations

 

The long, long awaited Singaporean chicken rice, a dish Ethan had been fantasizing about for over a decade

We suspect that the prevalence of food pictures on menus and signs has led the organ for describing these same items to atrophy – who’s up for some “millet mush”? At least it’s seasoned…

While the food may be cheap, Singapore imposes massive sin taxes, and even a casual beer can set you back twice the cost of your food. Small sips!

Biryani meets nasi goreng – brilliant in concept, although execution was a tad soggy

Indian food – authentically un-photogenic but authentically super-tasty

DIY Indonesian rice – fried egg, meats, fish paste, chili oil, and fried fishy morsels – all to be gloriously smushed together into a melange of or spicy extravagance

Some familiar elements by this point: ribbon-like wheat noodles similar to those in Chiang Mai and meatballs that wouldn’t have been out of place in Hanoi. With another year or two in Asia we could probably begin to assemble the full taxonomy of noodle dishes, but that will have to be a future project

Singapore’s famous char kway teow – more oil than anything else, it slithered in the most tantalizing of ways

A Breathtaking Success Story

By nature of its geography, Singapore has always been a trade hub of some form, but it played a pretty minor role in world history until  the 19th century. From 1509 onward, European powers had been battling over the Malay Archipelago, beginning with the arrival of the Portuguese (who, we had not fully realized until we traveled, were absolutely everywhere in the 16th century), and continuing with the dominance of the Dutch. The British badly needed a port along the trade route from India to China, and they eventually managed to take advantage of a rift in the family of the ruling Sultanite and essentially create it for themselves, leading to the founding of the “free port” of modern Singapore in 1819.

Before the British arrived, the island of Singapore was inhabited by no more than a thousand people. Almost overnight, the population ballooned, as workers from China, Malaysia, and India flooded in. In 1869 the opening of the Suez Canal led to a massive uptick in trade, and by the late 19th century the city was handling 1.5 million tons of goods each year and had a population exceeding 100,000. Many immigrants came voluntarily, seeking jobs as traders, fishermen, or unskilled laborers – but many were also driven to Singapore due to hardship at home (namely the Chinese, through the First and Second Opium Wars) or brought there as convicts by the British. Needless to say, the city was chaotic, overcrowded, and rife with crime and disease.

Spotted at the National Museum – a trunk which came all the way from Jess’ home port of Southampton

A merchant’s house in China Town, along what used to be the waterfront – tall doorsteps guard against flooding, but also force those who enter to bow in submission – a neat trick!

British colonial rule left plenty of impressive buildings in its wake – unlike in many of our other destinations, although they’re beautifully preserved they’re now rather outshone by the gleaming structures all around them

Things fell apart for the British in Singapore in a dramatic way during World War II, when they were forced to concede  to the advancing Japanese army in the largest surrender of British-led forces in history. The Japanese went on to occupy the island for three years, during which time they dealt out harsh punishments to those considered to be anti-Japanese, while attempting to impose Japanese culture on the local population (even switching school textbooks to all-Japanese). As a small island-city, Singapore suffered from a severe lack of resources during the war – hunger was omnipresent and infrastructure was decimated. When the British regained control they struggled to rescue Singapore’s flailing economy, and to restore their own credibility as leaders.

As in many of Britain’s colonies, the path to eventual independence was clear. During the decades following the end of the War, Singapore gradually took control of its own government. A brief unification with Malaysia ended disastrously in widespread ethnic and economic conflict, and Singapore was ultimately expelled from Malaysia in 1965, a very rare example of a sovereign nation giving up territory. The situation was intimidating to say the least – Singapore was a tiny, ethnically-divided island, marooned off the coast of a hostile giant with another potential attacker to the south. It had little in the way of natural resources or human capital, and there wasn’t enough agricultural capacity – or even water – to allow for self-sufficiency.

What followed was an absolutely incredible growth story. The country’s Economic Development Board, established by visionary leader Lee Kuan Yew, created a manufacturing sector almost from scratch, invested heavily in English-language education, and gradually sought to resolve the litany of problems with housing, sanitation, healthcare etc. from the top down. Over successive decades, simple manufacturing evolved to incorporate complex, value-add processes, and a service economy sprang up around visiting ships. Living standards rose to be comparable with many advanced nations – and then eclipsed them. On a PPP basis, Singaporeans in 2016 enjoyed a GDP per capita of around $90,000, vs. around $57,000 in the US. It’s easy to forget that most over-40s can still vividly remember real hardship.

These narrow alleys are pristine now, but only a few decades ago the sewage system consisted of collection of buckets and a truck…

China Town, a hub for commerce until very recently, now looks startlingly out of place amidst the gleaming cars and shiny buildings, and caters primarily to tourists 

Authoritarianism’s Supporting Example

As part of its near-universal approach to planning during this challenging period, the government of Singapore extended itself into nearly every facet of peoples’ lives, including family planning, housing, and public speech. Remarkably,  and unlike nearly all other examples of this across history, the government avoided corruption and remained stunningly competent in tackling the plethora of challenges the small nation faced. However, some of the measures the government took were – and still are – shockingly intrusive.

During the early years of independent Singapore, rapid population growth stretched infrastructure and housing to their limits. Government policy and propaganda sought to control the birth rate, and succeeded. Ironically, today the problem is not enough births, a problem that has been much less amenable to solutions

The government’s high profile role in daily life means that civil service jobs are highly coveted, and none more so than those in the urban planning department. There is an entire museum dedicated to this function, and for good reason – the meticulous thought that goes into providing for residents’ every need within an inadequate, poorly-resourced amount of land is quite something to behold

Sim City becomes reality…

Public housing provides a good example of the depth, and the efficacy, of state control over everyday life in Singapore. Whereas in most countries, public housing is generally of low quality, Singapore administers an extremely successful program that houses roughly four out of five citizens. To secure a great apartment, though, residents must conform to various restrictions and demands put in place to achieve the state’s social goals. For example, applicants for new apartments generally have to be in a long-term relationship with a member of the opposite sex in order to further the state’s goal of maximizing the share of citizens living in nuclear families. And in the several year period from when the down payment is paid until the apartment is ready for move in, couples that split up forfeit their payment – so no breaking up!

The Singapore version of public housing, valued on the market starting at $440,000/unit…

Another example is that each housing project has a quota for each of the major races. If one race’s proportion of units drifts too far from the quota, owners selling an apartment will be forced to find a buyer of the “correct” race to rebalance things. So, for example, an Indian family that’s trying to sell their unit in a housing project that has seen its share of Chinese flat owners hit the quota won’t be allowed to sell to a Chinese buyer, which can seriously impair the resale value. Rules like these seem to have succeeded in the case of Singapore in creating a stable and prosperous society amidst massive challenges, but we often found ourselves deeply surprised by the lengths the state was willing to go to maintain order.

In one slogan, the Singapore approach to life’s obstacles

Hand-in-hand with the state’s all-encompassing paternalism comes an infamously harsh approach to law enforcement. While we, like many visitors, had been forewarned about the strictly-maintained chewing gum ban, and the zero tolerance drug laws, we were surprised by the location- and time-specific bans on alcohol sales, apparently owing to some past bad behavior. We were also somewhat alarmed to learn that Airbnb had recently been outlawed in the country, and that hosts attempting to flout the rules could face a year in prison (although thankfully some digging revealed that this particular law wouldn’t be formally in place for another few months). As with the never-ending list of rules and restrictions, the intense approach to law enforcement is widely tolerated by residents, since thus far it seems to be justified by the miraculous results. The question remains whether, as growth inevitably slows for the country, and memories of past national challenges are lost, popular support for such a system will also disappear.

Upon entering the country, one is faced with a rather startling warning…one which prompted us to irrationally check and re-check our bags, just in case…

If you walk into a construction site, you will die. But not by accident…

Singing Singapore’s Praises

The fruits of all of this meticulous planning are indisputably awesome. For us, shuffling off the plane a little shabby and road weary, the contrast with the rest of Southeast Asia was particularly apparent. We were awestruck by the glitzy malls, the rooftop bars, and the supercars. But more than that, we reveled in the simple things: the abundance of air conditioning, the total lack of mosquitoes, and the ability to eat with abandon, safe in the knowledge that we would not be struck down by some hideous parasite. In spite of our best efforts to resist, we found ourselves easing into Singapore life all too quickly – as our decimated budget shows.

About to drink the first tap water in 6 months!

Outdoor fans – incredibly wasteful, but they do make for a pleasant transition from AC to sticky heat and back again

Singapore is one of a few countries that have really nailed luxury living (UAE, we’re looking at you), but here it’s a kind of luxury that’s designed to fit neatly around a thriving career and a busy schedule. Everything is readily accessible and designed to be quick and efficient. Even the parks feel like they are geared towards being maximally enjoyed at all times – whether you’re running at top speed around the smoothly tarmacked track, power-relaxing in the reflexology area, or taking a fun-yet-educational stroll through the pre-historic foliage display, you’re always making the most of your time. Everywhere you go, service is quick and straight-forward, directions are clear, and things just – work. In the evening, top-end bars and restaurants are full of people eating and drinking like they have a point to prove.

One of a monstrous series of interconnected malls, in which Jess quickly lost both her sense of direction and her sense of time

One of the greatest subway signs we have ever seen (goes without saying, the rest were also in Singapore). So much information conveyed, so idiot proof, and in three languages!

As you might expect, Singapore’s botanical gardens are more verdant, varied, and well-designed than any we’ve seen before

Kids in Singapore are far too advanced for mere ducks – here, you feed the monitor lizards

Singapore is Asia’s energy and trade hub, and Ethan got way too excited looking at the silhouettes of ports and refineries that he’d studied from Google Earth during previous jobs. They’re neatly tucked away in their own commercial estates or built on separate islands, but still a central part of the fabric of the country

Of course, within a few days of arriving we felt shamefully lazy. Keen to get the full Singapore experience of gainful employment, we endeavored to find some work to do – which translated into attending an Amazon Web Services conference. It felt good

Post-conference, is Ethan having his most intense “light bulb moment” ever?… Or is this just a painfully expensive speakeasy hipster bar? You decide

OK, it was a hipster bar…observe the matcha-style cucumber skin, thyme, and sake cocktail

It might have been foreseeable that we would have a pretty great walking tour experience in Singapore. People are smart, up on their history, and generally very professional. What we encountered was the most stunning display of utter competence either of us could ever dream of. Let us introduce you to Darren:

Darren, geography student extraordinaire

Although a full-time student still in his early 20’s, Darren had already set up his own, highly successful tour company. As he explained to us, he’d single-handedly set about scouring  the internet for the best factoids about the city, and carefully critiqued his competitors’ offerings, all in the pursuit of the ultimate city tour. And he had left no stone unturned. During the course of our three-hour tour, he produced interactive maps, laminated pictures, snacks, and even rain ponchos – for when it started to drizzle. His content was entertaining, clear, and memorable – and just in case we wanted any more detail, he’d set up a mobile library on the back of a bike which we were free to access during our stay, stocked with books on the history and politics of Singapore. Never have we seen a tour guide crush expectations more thoroughly.

The mobile library in all its glory – so simple, so practical, and yet this was the first time anyone had thought of it

In response to a casual question about the Singaporean health system, Darren whipped out a pre-prepared slide that would have slotted right into a consultant presentation. Not pictured: our jaws on the floor…

What’s Next?

As a nation that’s reinvented itself with great regularity every decade or so, we heard a fair amount of discussion of what the future holds for Singapore. It moved from low-end manufacturing to advanced manufacturing, petrochemicals, and biotechnology, and along the way became Asia’s nexus of commodity trading, and one of the world’s larger financial centers. There’s now a concerted push into the technology sector, with the hope that this will prove the future dynamo of growth, but many of the most pressing questions are now around what people ultimately want for themselves.

We found overwhelming pride in the ability of the government and businesses to get things done and bring prosperity, but now that people are prosperous, other issues have risen to the fore. Mostly, we found, people are interested in being a culturally-relevant society on the world stage, and the government has invested considerably in museums, artists, and cultural outreach around the world. It remains to be seen whether this can be driven from the top down, but if there’s a place to do this successfully, Singapore is probably it.

One of the most pressing needs has been and remains space – as a tiny island, Singapore has done a lot of land reclamation to enlarge itself by purchasing sand from Indonesian islands and depositing it in the shallower areas of the bay to create new territory. It’s also done this to enlarge several of the smaller islands in the harbor, but further opportunities to do the same are limited. Thus further growth will require ever-improving management of space, something that all are well aware of.

A typical alleyway – in order to prevent air conditioning units from marring building facades, all AC units must be in the backs of buildings – you can see here how cramped it gets!

A series of vast investments in public parks, along with strict regulations around the amount of green spaces on all new buildings, have made Singapore into one of the greenest cities we’re aware of. Due to the extremely limited size of the island, and the very limited natural resources, there’s a practical environmentalism to public policy

This view has it all – greenery, government housing flats, the distant city, a bustling port, a few far away refinery stacks