Singapore – A Return Home.

Seated in the grass outside the Little India MRT on my last night.

Not far from our home in Singapore

Fourteen years ago, on or about June 10, I left Singapore for the states.  Fourteen years later, I’ve made my return.  A return to another old chapter of my life.  Ages 12-14, after three years in Tokyo, my family settled on Jervios Lane, in District 10, Singapore.  This being my first return, it was only fitting that I travel alone.  Traveling into your past is emotional, and not having to explain myself at each turn was how I needed to do this.  Every place, scent, sense, carried a hint of a memory stored deep in my mind, and from the moment I stepped off that plane at Changi, my entire world changed.  My Vision Quest taking me one more step forward, one more rung ahead, one more secret unlocked.

When you return “home” or back to a favourite vacation spot, you always run the risk of your memories being a little too grand, and your expectations going unfulfilled.  It had been so long since I lived in this place, that maybe it had changed, God knows I have.  But Singapore is a fascinating City/State/Country, that did anything but, let me down.  In fact, this little island nation thriving.  You’re met with smiles everywhere you go, and everyone I talked to, from my cab drivers to my waiter, was proud to be hosting me in their country.  It was as if every morning, the local townspeople go together, and practiced being nice and hospitable.  This differs from Japan, in that in Japan, people are scared shitless of letting you down.  Here, in Singapore, they’re simply confident that they won’t.  And those gorgeous smiles, on people from India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Thailand, China, The Philippines, those born in Singapore, and everyone else who makes up this diverse population.  Ohh how beautiful they are.  Singapore has such a mix of culture and races, you can only marvel at how well they live together.

TV commercials announce that company X or Y is the best/most popular in Asia, not just Singapore, but all of Asia.  The country has a “can do” attitude.  A fresh sensation that I’ve not seen anywhere, since maybe 1996, the last time I was here.

So why should I be moving to Singapore?  Positive, happy people?  Good weather (it’s just about on the equator)? The BEST international airport in the world (see SKYTRAX)? That “can do” attitude mentioned earlier?  Yeah, that’ll do.  After living in rural Japan for eight months, where the Shimane flag should read “sorry” “maybe not” or “because that’s the way it’s always been done”, I’m tired of hearing bullshit reasons for why things cannot be done.  There will always be reasons not to do something, but you won’t hear that from anyone in Singapore.  Just don’t try eating on the MRT.  That’ll set you back about $1,000 in fines.  But it’s clean, and no one feels oppressed when their streets are clean, safe, and bustling with foreign investment and tourists from all over the world.

So proud they should be.  Hell I’m proud that my Father’s company was part of that, bringing jobs and investment to Singapore back in the 1990s.  They moved into Singapore because this positive attitude was apparent then, as it is now.  So why not head off to Singapore and take all those steps you’ve always wanted to, but were told “no”.

Fuck the naysayers, I’m going back to Singapore…someday.