Singapore

I visited Singapore over the Labor Day weekend celebrated throughout SE Asia on Monday, May 1.

Singapore is located at the southern tip of the Malaysian peninsula and measures 25 miles in length and 14 miles in width. The population is 4.1 million and it's a very safe, modern, and cosmopolitan city. Malaysia lies across a causeway to the north and several Indonesian islands are only a 20 minute boat ride to the south.

Visiting Singapore, much to my surprise, was like being in the United States. There were incredibly clean streets and a strong sense of order which, after living for 9 months in Bangkok, was quite a treat! I guess that's what you get when chewing gum is illegal and offences like littering, jaywalking, and vandalism are punishable with strict fines and the occasional caning.

This is the same country where Michael Fay, an 18 year old American international student, was caned in 1994 http://www.corpun.com/awfay9405.htm for vandalism (spray painting cars) and possession of stolen street signs. While I was scuba diving in Thailand's Similan Islands, one of the dive masters mentioned that he attended Singapore American School with Michael Fay and said that Michael wasn't guilty, but he took the punishment because he didn't want to turn in his friends. From what I've read, I'm not sure I believe he was innocent.

If you're wondering what ever came of Michael Fay, I found that immediately after being released from Singapore prison in 1994, he and his family moved to Ohio where he admitted to being burned on his hands and face while sniffing butane and shortly thereafter was admitted into a drug rehabilitation clinic. In 1995 he moved to Orlando to work at Universal Studios and in 1998, while attending Valencia Community College in Orlando, he was charged with minor possession of marijuana. Some comical Wilkipedia trivia is that "Fay could have been paid $500,000 for nude shots of his butt after the caning"...thank you for the information.

Singapore was okay, but a bit disappointing when you're used to traveling in this part of the world and viewing sights that are unique and interesting, two words I would not use to describe Singapore. As I was traveling on the Thai baht, I found Singapore to be an extremely over-priced country, filled with upscale shopping malls and restaurants that I could access right in Bangkok for a fraction of the cost.

One thing I found interesting was that I didn't see one police officer on the streets or any police vehicles anywhere in Singapore. Although, I did see a handful of airport security individuals carrying M16s and looking ready to blast down any possible offenders, which seemed a bit excessive but I guess it works for them.

All in all, it was a learning experience that I wouldn't have had without a visit to Singapore, the 39th country to which I've traveled and still counting...