Many people I have spoken to about my trip have questions and misconceptions about Singapore so here’s a brief introduction.

The word ‘Singapore’ is used to denote both the country and the city. It is a separate independent country located on an island approximately 35 x 15 miles, close to the Southern tip of the Malaysian Peninsular. It’s connected to Malaysia by two bridges and there are full customs and immigration checks on both sides of the bridges. The city is concentrated in the mid-south of the island where there are many high-rise buildings, malls, hotels and tourist attractions. The rest of the island, although well-populated, contains much green space, including National Parks, public gardens, etc.

Dome inside National Museum

The history of Singapore is fascinating as I discovered visiting the National Museum. Ideally located on the trading routes between India and China, it came under the rule of the Malacca Sultanate of Malaysia. After the Portuguese invasion of Malacca in 1511 the Sultan was forced south where he created the Johor Sultanate. The settlement on ‘Cingapura’ (as it was then known) was destroyed by the Portuguese in 1611. In 1819, Sir Stamford Raffles arrived from Britain with the purpose of establishing a trading base. This was to compete with the Dutch who had a virtual monopoly on trade, particularly opium, between India and China. After some political maneuvering and an exchange of dollars, the British were able to establish a duty free trading port on the island of Singapore. This was tremendously successful, population grew rapidly with Chinese and Indian immigrants; and trade in opium was augmented by trade in rubber and tin.

Rickshaw

With growth came many social problems worsened by ineffective management. Singapore was established as a Crown Colony in 1867 to attempt to bring these problems under control but despite this, problems of overcrowding, opium abuse, and prostitution persisted. After WWI, the British built a substantial Naval Base on the island to guard against the expansion of the Japanese Empire, but failed to equip the base with more than a couple of ships. After Pearl Harbor (December 1941), Japanese ‘jungle-hardened’ troops over-ran the Malaysian Peninsula from the north in 55 days. Naval reinforcements were sunk on their way from England and so with inadequate air and sea power, the British Army surrendered to the Japanese from an underground command center (known as the Battlebox) in February 1942. The Japanese imposed a harsh rule, persecuting particularly the Chinese population, destroying the majority of the infrastructure until the island was turned over back to British Rule, following the Japanese surrender in August 1945.

With the failure of the British to defend Singapore, the Singaporeans had lost faith in foreign rule and over the next ten turbulent years, Singapore evolved to self governance. This culminated in the first full election in 1959 when the Peoples Action Party (PAP), formed mainly of ethnic Chinese, scored a large victory. Reconstruction was begun with an emphasis on housing, education and business, beginning the evolution of modern day Singapore. English was chosen as Singapore’s first language, tax incentives instituted to encourage foreign investment, and education was given priority to create the skilled workforce necessary to promote growth. Singapore’s government has been considered authoritarian, particularly in its early years and the PAP has maintained its power with the help of some strict rules discouraging dissent. The country’s phenomenal economic success was studied by the Chinese and became a model for China’s recent economic growth.

Modern Singapore, with a multi-ethnic population of over 5 million, has one of the highest per capita GDPs in the world. Its education and healthcare systems rank highly, it has the third highest life expectancy in the world (cf US, #31) and is known as a pleasant, if expensive, place to live and visit. It is also known for its low crime rate and strict enforcement of the law. I spent several days there and, in addition to the Tanglin Rugby Club and the ‘Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve’ (mentioned in earlier posts), I visited the National Museum, had an excellent tour of the ‘Battlebox’, visited ‘Gardens by the Bay’, Chinatown and walked the ‘Quays’ along the shore of the Singapore River.

Gardens by the Bay

Two huge indoor glass structures and an outside ‘forest’ with aerial walkways. Well worth the visit.

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Flowers

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The Quays

The Singapore River has long walks on both banks with shops, hotels, and restaurants of every variety.

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Chinatown

Busier and brighter than any Chinatown I have visited.

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Cityscapes

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The following pictures were mainly taken around the Marlborough School campus where I was staying. They were taken with my Olympus mirrorless camera equipped with a 300mm (600mm – 35mm camera equivalent) lens. It’s quite difficult to hold steady but is particularly useful for insects close-ups, where a macro lens setup would require the camera to be so close that the insect would no doubt ‘buzz off’.

Birds

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Insects

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My son Jon and I took off for a two day trip to the town of Malacca (Malay spelling – Melaka). The town has an interesting history, situated at the narrowest point of the Malacca Straits between Malaya and Sumatra, Indonesia. It had the benefit of a sheltered harbor and a prime position relative to trade routes and monsoon winds. Founded by an Indian exile, it was taken over by the Chinese (1405), the Portuguese (1509 and again in 1511 after being expelled), the Dutch (1641), the British (1824), the Japanese (1942), and then back to the British in 1946.  Malayan independence was declared in Malacca in 1957.

Because of its historical significance and cultural diversity, Malacca has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site. While enjoying ‘treasures’ such as the hotel we stayed in, the Baboon Cafe, and the Geographer Cafe, I was a little disappointed that the streets and many buildings were not well looked after and there was a constant battle with traffic in the town center. The invasion of many neon signs, e.g. for foot massage parlors, did not help. We missed the famous Jonker Street Night Market which is only held on weekends. However the ‘Dad and Lad’ experience was fun.

Malacca Town Center

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We took a cruise up the Malacca River, enjoyed looking at the murals and brightly colored buildings

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I spent a day visiting two small National Parks in Malaysia, ‘Pulau Kukup Johor’ on an island west of the busy fishing village of Kukup and ‘Tanjung Piai’ located on the southern tip of Malaysia. Also I visited the ‘Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve’ in Singapore. All three were mangrove swamp wetlands which reminded me of areas we had visited in Florida. I enjoyed seeing the cheeky macaque monkeys and some of the waterbirds similar to ones we find in the US, particularly the Grey Heron, similar to our Blue Heron.

[Apologies for the previous ‘blank’ post notification, finger trouble on my part, no doubt jet-lag induced]
My middle son Jon and his wife Claire are teachers and have been teaching in Thailand, Bahrain and Malaysia for the last 20 years. Their current school, Marlborough School Malaysia, is a boarding school strongly linked with the well known ‘public’ school in England. It is situated at the Southern tip of Malaysia midway between the Tuas bridge to Singapore and Johor Bahru. The school attracts children of (mainly British) ex-pats from Singapore as well as Malaysia and is built on an expansive new campus, not economically possible in Singapore with the high cost of land. They have two children, Jackson (18) and Kensie (16), a grumpy cat (Mango) and a sweet cat (Veto – so named because Jackson vetoed every other name proposal). They are all returning to England this summer to continue their careers and education, so I took the opportunity to visit them for a couple of weeks, my first trip to this part of Asia.

Contrast between Malaysia and Singapore

Most weekends involve at least one trip to Singapore (Kensie plays ‘Touch Rugby’ for the Singapore’s Tanglin Rugby Club) and during my trip I spent several days there. Singapore is a modern efficient country (known as a ‘city-state’, see later posts) whereas Malaysia is still has the look and feel of a 3rd world country.

Commuters returning home to Malaysia

Singapore border checkpoint

Many Malaysians commute daily to work in Singapore, most on motor bikes which can thread their way through the traffic build-up at the Customs/Immigration checkpoints in and out of both countries.

Family Members

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Tanglin Rugby Club, Singapore

Some images from two of Kensie’s ‘Touch Rugby’ games at Tanglin Rugby Club, Singapore. Note that Jon has also taken up the sport, ostensibly to stay fit, but enjoys the camaraderie with the rest of his team, mainly parents of kids at his school.

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