The Curious Cat is a journey where I aim to reconnect with my inner-child and explore my curiosity. I pinpoint themes & topics I’ve been interested in within the last 7 days, ask myself questions about them and then write about them. I hope you find value within this issue and have a fantastic day doing what you love.
Did you know London is double the size of Singapore? Yet incredibly, in just 50 years, Singapore has developed into an economic powerhouse that flaunts a fantastic standard of living.
I'm writing this in Terminal 4 of Changi Airport, a.K.a the best airport in the world.
Although it is F1 weekend, that is not why I am here. I came for Token2049, one of the largest crypto conferences globally. More on that in another article soon, but for today, I thought I'd do well to reflect and share some thoughts about this unique & crazy city.
Cities aren't really my thing. In the early days of this rag, I even wrote a piece called #07 - Fuck Your City.
Within cities, I see millions of people sacrifice space, freedom, clean air and sanitation, to have the ability to earn money. But as I discussed in #40 - Our Newest Freedom & Superpower, we have a newfound ability to earn from one place and live in another. I've been arbitraging that opportunity for the past couple of years and it's going GREAT.
I last visited Singapore 13 years ago, but within an hour of touching down, a few things were made apparent to me. I've spent the last 4 months in Bali, so a lot of my comparison derives from that island, but I instantly noticed the flood of fake materials within Singapore. The lighting is fake (inside and outside). The air is fake (A/C). A good chunk of the greenery is faux vegetation. And after months of being within wooden buildings with no walls, the buildings even felt fake.
Singapore is interesting as when it gained independence from the British Empire in 1965, it reinvented itself, now serving as the archetypal capitalist nation of the world. Lee Kuan Yew (Singapore's first PM) designed and structured the tiny winy nation so that individuals don't have to make decisions. Those decisions were and are made by the city planners. Don’t get me wrong, they have done an incredible job with the limited land available; according to The World Bank, Singapore ranks as the 2nd best jurisdiction to do business in.
But there are two sides to every coin and here are a few negative repercussions of their highly engineered city planning:
In Bali, I can choose where to cross the road. In Singapore, I must obey traffic lights and zebra crossings.
In Bali, I can catch a taxi or moto-taxi from anywhere I so desire. In Singapore, I'm pushed to use designated spots.
In Bali, I can eat dinner at any corner or section of the street thanks to Warungs (small family owned businesses). Whereas in Singapore, I'm pushed to food markets, Hawkers and shopping centers.
In Bali, there are usually a few ways to get from A to B. In Singapore, I must use their bridges, pavements and american-inspired blocks.
In Bali, I feel I have freedom over the choices I make and the way I live. In Singapore, I found that herd behaviour reigns. Unconscious living is encouraged.
There's a funny oxymoron within Singapore, and all major cities for that matter. Cities are places of abundance. They offer unlimited foods and shops, from unlimited nations, and they sit within every neighbourhood. Yet, despite being places of abundance, they lack in nature and pureness, the most abundant resources on our planet.
Okay give me 10 minutes, my plane is boarding.
Back and writing to you from seat 6F. I’m a window seat guy.
Enough of the negativity, let's finish off on the positives. There were fortunately many!
One thing you cannot miss is that Singapore is experimenting with new ways in which to build densely populated societies, all in a sustainable manner. Whether that be the architecture, the urban planning and transportation (which for the record, works brilliantly! I saw 0 traffic congestion. That might have to do with the $100k license to drive a car). I saw countless skyscrapers decorated with plants; they almost looked AI-generated!
Another un-missable trait of Singapore is how clean it is! You might have heard that Singapore is so determined to evict dirt, that even chewing gum is illegal! But it doesn’t stop there:
Street vendors are prohibited and have been ushered into covered Hawkers (food courts for Western folk)
They also impose economic disincentives to avoid dirty-ridden behaviour. For example, they dish out $2000 fines for anyone caught littering; and snitching is even encouraged! Those who are fined $2000 also have to work as a rubbish collector for x hours and wear a bright jacket, further illuminating their sins.
They’ve adopted novel methods to collect and dispose of waste, which actually support Singaporean biodiversity.
I've always remembered Singapore as a fun eclectic mix of the Western world and Eastern world. But after Googling it and speaking to Singaporean folk, it's still not clear to me what their primary language is. Apparently, it's English, but I spoke to multiple Singaporeans who spoke broken English and claimed Mandarin as their first language. My most recent Google has highlighted how prominent Malay is there too! God knows.
Closing Thoughts
I feel as though this write-up is, for the most part, negative dialogue. But my trip was great! Both from a professional and personal PoV. It is yet another reminder to travel. For travelling provides infinite perspectives and unlocks new thoughts. I enjoyed myself so much that I am already flirting with dates when I might return.
I was about to close this without mentioning Dim Sum! They do damn good dim sum here. Well, “damn good” per my naive white boy standards.
Oh, and I also got to hear Daniel Riccardo say PIERRE GASSSSSSLLYYYYYYY with my own ears. That was pretty cool.
Enjoyed it. The negatives were a bit weak imo 😁