Singapore update #2: Apartment Search, Awkward First Few Days, Thoughts on Singapore

Part I: Apartment Search

The bad news...

So I thought I had a place lined up. I had been emailing this French guy (actually, he initially contacted me) to share an apartment. He is also an NUS grad student, so it seemed like a good situation. I went to see his place on Friday. Although a bit farther from things than I would have liked, and a smidgen on the expensive side, he seemed like a nice fellow and the apartment itself was actually quite nice. I told him I'd let him know the next day, but I thought to myself that I was 90% certain that I would take the place.

That was until that night when he decided to email me, saying he had talked with his roommate (who wasn't there at the time), and they had other people interested, and they wanted to wait until they saw the place.... would not let me know until 31 July! THEN... he sent me another email, saying that a French girl was seeing the place on Monday, and that they would actually prefer to rent the place to a girl!! Ah... so much for this place.

It seems that this situation is actually quite common. More than one of the places I've called about was exclusively for girls.... in fact, of the listings I've seen, easily 40% are only for girls. Add to that the additional 40% that are only for Chinese/Indian/working professionals.... right off the bat the selection is quite limited.

That aside, there were two additional places that seemed promising. I called the agents/owners, and they said they would call me back... which they have yet to do. It's like I'm applying for a job or something! One would think that they would want my money right away.

The sorta good news....

Just a few days ago, NUS, who earlier declined to offer me a residence, informed me there was a last minute vacancy, and offered me a room. Great right? Well, I of course decided to take it, since there appear to be no other options. But...

There are a few catches. One thing is that it's actually über far from campus.... and everything else... yes, the location leaves a LOT to be desired. There is a free shuttle between the hostel and school, but is at inconvenient hours (only at 8 and 9 am... when my classes will start at 6 pm). The rent is not exceedingly cheap... and I have to pay the whole thing upfront by Friday (yeah... I have to come up with some $3000 SGD in 5 days). Perhaps the worst part: it's only until early December. Not only do I have to restart the whole room-searching process again, but I have to find somewhere to keep everything throughout the whole month of December. So, you can understand why I was so reticent to take this place. But, I did accept the offer, so barring some unforseen setback (which, given how things have went, is not so far out of the blue), I will have a place to leave - if only for the first semester. The good news is that it's strictly a grad student residence, so hopefully I can meet people there with whom I'd desire to live. Hopefully.


Part II: Awkward first few days

I won't lie... I'm getting pretty lonely here. With school stuff still a few days off, I haven't much to do, save for touristy stuff. However, I don't want to spend money like crazy until I'm able to set up a bank account.

It's true that I have a reasonable number of contacts in Singapore. However, it just so happens that nearly all of my contacts in Singapore (I could think of probably about 5 people) are momentarily away from Singapore.... just when I needed someone the most. The few people I have been referred to (for instance, colleagues of some of my relatives), have been rather elusive. Add to this my lack of energy and mild depression (hopefully) caused by lingering effects of jet lag ..... well let's just say I,m thankful that I have my working laptop and a good internet connection here in the Happy Hotel.


Part III: Thoughts on Singapore

I guess this entry has been pretty negative so far. However, my current impressions of Singapore are that of a wonderfully interesting place.

I was here with the Gerber family back in 2007 and I got a totally different view of the city/country. I lived in luxury and was driven around and spoon-fed everything- which is not how I'm used to travelling. That of course is not to say that it was bad.... quite the contrary: I was spoilt, and I had a wonderful time. But the view of Singapore that I got was a very sanatised and Westernised view.

It is certainly true that Singapore is a somewhat sanatised and Westernised country. But it's also a country of distinct neighbourhoods. Staying in Geylang, for instance, has shown me just how diverse Singapore actually is. Geylang evokes to me much more of my stereotypes of "Southeast Asia" and, if it weren't for the big screen tvs and super modern buses everywhere, I could be forgiven for thinking I was in a small Malaysian/Thai town. This is in stark contrast to Little India, Chinatown, the CBD, Orchard, and the many other areas of Singapore, which are seemingly connected solely by the wonderfully efficient and clean MRT.

Singapore is also a country which appears to exhibit and embrace wonderfully 4 different cultures which live here: Chinese, Malay, Indian, British/European. These are all present in the language, lifestyle, cuisine, and even archietecture seen throughout the city.

Another interesting thing about Singapore: it's a city/country that has been meticulously planned by super smart, but micro-managing people (or, perhaps more accurately, one super smart, but micro-managing person: Lee Kwan Yiew). The MRT works with grace and near perfection... with well-placed interchanges, etc. The HDBs are designed to intermingle the different races to promote multi-culturalism (which is why, apparantly, some flats can only rent out to Chinese/Indian/etc). Harsh fines on littering keep the city spotlessly clean. A wonderful MRT system, and heavy costs for driving (plus very well planned roads) make traffic an almost non-existent problem. Singaporean politicians are among the highest paid in the world (the current PM is THE highest paid in the world, earning about $2m USD per annum). This, according to Lee Kwan Yiew, attracts the brightest talent by making salaries competitive to top private sector jobs, and simultaneuosly reduces corruption (in theory), since politicians don't really need to take bribes to make more money. It's worked. Singapore is a city where things work- and they work well.

That said, evidence of the government's micromanagement is everywhere. For one thing, the PM Lee Kwan Yiew - who made everything happen- created a post for himself when he became too old to be PM... now at about 85 years old he is MM: "Minister Mentor" (and his son is PM!). There are the infamous fines.... $500 for jaywalking, $500 for eating/drinking on the MRT... $500 for littering... $500 for not flushing the toilet... bans on chewing gum...etc. What I find most amusing, however, is their attemps to regulate foot traffic on the MRT. At interchange stations, where you have to transfer between lines, the route that most people will want to take may be right across the platform. If it isn't than they have a planned route you are expected to walk. You are supposed to follow arrows, carefully placed on the left side of the corridor (people going the other direction follow arrows placed on the opposite side of the corridor). While following these arrows, you see signs that say "please allow ___ minutes to arrive at the other platform". My favourite, though, is the arrows placed at the MRT platforms themselves. Two sets of arrows show where boarding passengers are expected to stand when getting ready to board the MRT. In between these arrows is an approximation (almost always percisely right of course), where the MRT's doors will open, and and arrow showing where passengers will alight.

Even in dwellings, this parental attitude is seen. For instance, in the residence I have decided to accept, there are strict rules. Visitors are not allowed after 11 pm. And when someone of the opposite gender is in a person's room, the door must be kept ajar. And this is a residence for grad students!!!!

In practice, of course, people disregard these arrows, and no one is going to enforce them strictly. I just think it's an example of the strict planning and micromanagement that the folks at the top have applied to Singapore.

Although this type of governance would never fly in countries like the United States, it appears to have worked quite well in Singapore- turning the country from a backwater, slum-ridden, Third World outpost with no resources, to one of the most advanced and developed countries on the planet- all within one generation.

So why do so many backpackers hate it? I guess it's the same thing I thought two years ago. This country is rather Westernised... people, especially from Europe, are so used to things working efficiently, and being cleaned, that when they travel, they must want some freedom from it all. Countries like Thailand do not have these "anti-social" laws... add to that the fact that the fact that it is simply much cheapter and more exotic than Thailand... given the high costs of flights out here, backpackers get more value for the dollar. Singapore is aptly named "Asia for beginners" and is a great place for larger-budget travellers to stay if they want to experience something different, yet still comfortable.

I still have about two years left in this place, and I'm sure I'll learn much more about it, compared to my thoughts after just a few days (and a bit of reading).

All the best from Singapore!