Singapore today, London tomorrow!

Hot, fragrant, green, swept, imaginative and a stickler for rules.  One of the signs I noticed said: “Safety rules, they’re like your rice bowls, don’t break them” .  I also noticed this slightly alarming street sign:

We bypassed the “axing” and hopped on the Hippo bus to get our bearings in this interesting city.

Rob started his day by reading a pretty decent broadsheet newspaper.

The Straits Times felt like a refreshing quality broadsheet after what we’ve become used to in Australia, with some interesting local news but also solid international reporting and some really good articles addressing the bigs issues.  There’s been a fake news hackathon for tertiary students to come up with ideas to improve fact checking, a collaboration between the Ministry of Education, several Singapore Universities, the Media Literacy Council at the Google Asia-Pacific office. There was a challenging piece on the new rules of data capitalism, is it time for a “data tax” on platforms like Google and Facebook, as the traditional business model for supporting quality journalism becomes obsolete?

There was even a sad reminder of our desolate politics with an article of Malcolm Turnbull’s Liberal Party trailing in opinion polls for the 30th time. Is that really all we have to offer as a nation?

Another article on the challenges of the US’s ageing infrastructure where they are not even able to maintain existing roads and bridges, let alone build for the future because no one dares to raise taxes.  Sounds familiar? As we headed off on our hop-on hop-off bus tour of Singapore, that contrast couldn’t have been starker.  Here there seems to a pride in investing for the common good, from modern and efficient public transport to the quality of the “green infrastructure” – the trees and gardens that permeate the city.

There was some interesting commentary on the bus, including the relatively orderly traffic. They have a world first computer based system that charges motorists according to the distance travelled and the time of use which raises an enormous amount of revenue.  They invest a lot in public transport to discourage car use. They also have a quota limiting the number of cars on the road, the permit only lasts for ten years, explaining the modern car fleet.  Would we ever be able to open a discussion on such an approach in our home town of Canberra, the city of the car?

There were some amusing moments in the commentary as well.  We drove past a park that was modelled on Hyde Park in London, including a speakers corner.  Apparently you need to get a police permit to speak, so needless to say there are never any speakers.

The greenery and gardens are incredible.  We loved the Singapore National Botanical Gardens, a World Heritage site.  Even the tool sheds are green.

I still worry about the frogs which seem to be on most menus!  Perhaps some safe shelter for them at the Botanic Gardens.  Is that Jeremy Fisher I hear?

Talked to an interesting young woman working at Naumi Boutique hotel, directly opposite Raffles Hotel which is still undergoing a major renovation.  She had studied at RMIT in Melbourne and missed out on getting a Permanent Residency in Australia.  I commented that she had a good job and lived in a great place and she said “But Singapore is so stressful, it was much more relaxing in Melbourne”.