Five Reasons Not to Travel to Singapore: This South East Asian Country is One to Avoid
Singapore is My Least Favorite Country, Out of the More Than 50 Countries I've Traveled To
1. Singapore Is The World's Most Boring Country - One of the smallest countries on the planet, Singapore has little to do to keep you entertained. Sure, if you like shopping malls, or sitting in restaurants, Singapore has many of them. But other than tacky Sentosa Island with its Universal Studios Theme Park, there's little else to do except shop and eat.
Half the fun of being in Asia is its lively streets, smells, sounds, street nightlife, food stalls and cities that never sleep. Singapore, on the other hand, is one of the world's most sterile countries, with all the outdoor food in 'hawker areas' (dull, compared to Bangkok), and with none of the street life of most Asian cities. After being in Bangkok, Hanoi, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong, I felt like I was sleepwalking in Singapore - it really was that dull. After my second day in Singapore, and a 'city tour' that took all of three hours, I was so bored I booked a flight back to Bangkok two days early as I couldn't stomach one more day in the world's most boring country. Singapore is a country to avoid.
2. Singapore Is Expensive - Compared to most other Asian countries, Singapore is expensive. With things like taxis, hotels, shopping and eating on a par with America, I saw no point in visiting an Asian country, then spending as much as I would in America, if not more. For cheap yet amazing places to travel in Asia, avoid Singapore completely, and try Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai, Ho Chi Minh - basically anywhere but Singapore.
3. Everything in Singapore Is Regulated - A society gone mad with rules, you hardly dare breath in Singapore, in case you do something that's against the law. Chewing gum is against the law and bubble gum and chewing gum are not allowed to be sold in the country. Forgetting to flush the toilet could get you a fine of $500, if you're a gay man and discovered kissing another man you could end up receiving a jail sentence, and don't forget people are still caned in Singapore for some crimes, including that really serious one of chewing gum.
4. Singaporean Culture is Conformist - In other Asian countries like South Korea, Japan, Thailand and Malaysia, the culture of the country is fascinating as, with less rules, citizens are free to experiment with ideas. In Singapore, due to the restrictive laws, the Singaporean art scene practically non-existent. Not surprising really as, if you stifle a people's creativity and imagination as the Singaporean government does, then people are socialized to conform and think within the box and not outside it. Not a catalyst for great artwork, literature or any other cultural experimentation.
5. Singapore Is One of the World's Most Censored Countries - Censorship in Singapore is rampant. Political, racial, sexual and religious issues are frequently censored, with most TV programs, movies, magazines and newspapers censored by the Singaporean government. Movies have scenes cut from them, certain books are not allowed to be sold, some music can't be played, cable TV has some shows banned, and newspapers and magazines have to be careful what they publish in case the government shuts them down.
Many people think Singapore's intense censorship is to keep the People's Action Party in power, which is done by stopping political dissention and discussion. But, to a tourist or business person thinking of visiting Singapore, why would you want to give your hard-earned money to a country that practices that much censorship and control over its citizens?
The final straw for me though, as a writer, was to hear about the arrest of British journalist Alan Shandrake. Shandrake, who lives in both the UK and Malaysia, was arrested during a book signing in Singapore because of his book "Once a Jolly Hangman: Singapore's Justice in the Dock", a critique about Singapore's legal system. Now stuck in Singapore awaiting trial, Shandrake will probably be found guilty, if Singapore's censorship court cases in the past are anything to go by, and could receive a fine and a jail term. All for criticizing a long-outdated legal system and one which has the world's highest per capita rate of executions.
As a writer, and as someone who travels around Asia often, for the above five reasons plus many others, Singapore is the last place in the world I would ever go back to. Censored, conformist, bogged down with rules, and the dullest place on the planet - Singapore? You can keep it.
Sources:
British critic unlikely to find leniency in Singapore court - The Christian Science Monitor - * And don't forget to buy Shandrake's book, if you're even remotely concerned about the value of free speech.
Published by Cassandra James
I'm a British-American writer currently living in Bangkok, Thailand. I've been writing for Associated Content since 2007 and was named one of AC's Top 100 Writers for 2008, 2009 and 2010. I primarily write a... View profile
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31 Comments
Post a CommentFive reasons why you are not welcome to Singapore:
1. You are the world's most boring person as apparently, you do not know where to go in Singapore for all the fun.
2. You are cheap. If you think other countries have better food for the same price you pay in Singapore, think again. Well, maybe not, if hygiene is not in your dictionary.
3. You are "un-regulated". It is true that you won't like Singapore if your staple food is gum and you never flush the toilet after use.
4. You are too creative and imaginative. Singapore is no wonderland and mind you, you are no Alice. You do not know what Singapore has been through to get to where She is today. We may not be as creative and imaginative as you would like us to be, but at least we are not deluded.
5. You are "un-censored". Violence, racism, sex etc are in your blood and I'm sorry Singapore has none to offer you. Singapore does not have exciting local news such as crazy gunmen shootings in school, psycho rapists etc to share.
YOU FORGET SINGAPORE IS NUMBER 1 RACIST COUNTRY IN THE WHOLE WORLD~!~~~~~THEY HAVE NO TALENT, NO MANNERS AND NO CLASS HEHEHEHE
"I saw no point in visiting an Asian country, then spending as much as I would in America, if not more"
Didn't wanted to read any further, because you can't accept the fact that perhaps some Asian countries are more developed and prosperous than other American cities.
Typical Americans.
opinion I bounced up against a lot in my research - never one maliciously professed, mind you, but always hopelessly misguided.
It's that Asian generalisation that's grinding my gears so much. It's like going to Greece and saying, "Oh man, I love these laid-back dudes and the donkeys and old guys selling almonds" and then going to Germany and getting upset that it's not at all "European, like Greece". I don't like Germany, but I'm not about to deny it's 'European-ness'. Don't even presume to think the category of "interesting Asian city" exists, let alone profess to be an expert in its nuances. Like a city, don't like it, but for God's sake don't begrudge its existence with inverted quotation marks around the word country.
elemental pull there even though the country is really going to the boonies. You'd best not forget that the reality of those living there might be considerably different.
You'd best not forget that you are not an authority of what an Asian city *should* be.
Maybe it's white guilt for me, or maybe it's actual reality (having spent years as a researcher on this topic) that without Western instigated underdevelopment in Asian countries there wouldn't be street-vendors, amiable Tuk Tuks, and pleasantly simple locals for you to immerse yourself in. You can't fault Singapore for clawing its way up the economic ranks, with impressive economic and social stability, at the cost of this elusive, all-encompassing 'Asian-ness' you seem to so adore. Seems a little disingenuous, also, that you'd criticise it as expensive given its development index. Was your idea of 'Asia' that it would always be cheap? The flea-market of the world? That's an opi
Cassandra, I have to say I agree with you, wholeheartedly. I have a friend who worked as a dancer and actor there, and he called it one of the most creatively dead, imitative cities in the world. Having lived there for a few years, I can vouch for that, with the qualification that its youth are going through somewhat of a renaissance - though its effects won't be felt for years, I suspect.
I'm less impressed by your tone and the incredibly orientalist lens through which you view 'Asian' cities. I've read your articles, which I usually enjoy, but it really rears its ugly head here. You have a wealth of experience in Asia, but don't forget that a lot of the culture you romanticise is, for those living it, significantly less romantic. You're an outsider who came to a new, exciting place and that rose-tinted veneer never really wears off. Trust me, I did the same thing when I first visited the US, of all countries, and I still can't deny some sort of elem
LOL - had to laugh at all these comments from rah-rah Singaporeans. Unfortunately, they won't admit what's wrong with their country, but a lot of Singaporeans do. Read this report in the UK's Guardian newspaper about the TRUTH about Singapore. Miss James, you got it right! http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/06/singapore-elections-internet
Julia, you're such a lemon.
Oh and you're the world leader on per capita executions. That makes you a 'developed country'? Laughable.
Julie, there's opinion and fact and fact proves me correct. It's fact that you cannot buy chewing gum in Singapore. It's fact that free speech is dismal in Singapore - the whole world knows it - and that people speaking against the state get imprisoned. Read this Christian Science Monitor article - this is what much of the world thinks of Singapore - http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2011/0412/Author-who-dared-criticize-Singapore-s-death-penalty-appeals-sentence - you can keep your cleanliness. There's more important things in life :)