Singapore Swings With The Heat !

New Zealander senior vacationer lamenting the unbearable Singapore heat .
Photo : Oxymanus


Obliging for the camera lens,sari clad Indian tourists at the Malay Heritage Centre. Photo : Oxymanus


Construction of the American casinos in the foreground on reclaimed land in Marina Bay against an overcast sky backdrop, which eventually turned sunny again later. Photo : Oxymanus


The National Museum ; Photo by Oxymanus
There is a time capsule in front of the building which is due to be debunked this year.

My visit to Singapore last week was hectic. Three days of continuous photo shooting especially around the place where we stayed i.e. the perennial Orchard Road and of course the bustling city centre. Singapore is always ever changing,re-inventing & re-defining its city limits, landscapes , landmarks and even its people. But i knew where i was going and what i was searching for and my only regret was that none of my family members could trek along with me on the nostalgic paths that i was so used to. I was referring to my nephews and nieces that came along with the entourage to attend our Singaporean nephew's wedding at Jurong West over the weekend.

The heat was stronger than ever i could have remembered,that even the gentle New Zealander tourist complained to me that she wanted to get out of the island fast in order to escape the scorching heat,rising to almost 35 degrees during that time. In fact she was one of the cruise ship passengers who had sailed into the island on a stopover visit after visiting Penang in Malaysia. I would not blame her for making such a comment since she was a woman of more than 80 years but still looking strong and healthy, typical and distinctive of a white tourist on board the cruise liners you are often familiar with. Their passion for travel in their senior life truly amazed me. She reminded me of the Queen Mary's passengers that docked along Port Kelang about 3 years ago.

I walked through almost every part of the colonial trail but i knew it was not complete as i would have expected and i promised to return to cover some other parts of the ethnic districts like Chinatown, Little India and of course the Malay enclave of Geylang in another time soon hopefully. Somehow i managed to traverse the whole Arab Street zone, to see the famous Sultan mosque with its golden dome and classic minarets and its surrounding vicinity. I was lucky to bump into a Malay wedding ceremony in a fusion of glitz and traditional local charms at the old Istana,a once dilapidated residence of the Malay royalty descendants and which has been converted into a Malay Cultural Heritage centre almost 6 years ago. The beautiful old shop houses and residences in the enclave have all been colourfully painted in pastel and warm hues and carefully restored reminding me of the baroque inspired Jonker Street houses in Melaka. The cities of Melaka and Singapore happened to be the birthplaces of the Peranakan society and you can see all these similar facades and designs at the sites as depicted in the rows and rows of immaculate restoration projects still in their busy progress.

Down at Orchard Road, the milieu were almost an everyday religious shopping and brisk walking festival of sorts.People just walked up and down,chatting,sightseeing, tagging either shopping bags, boyfriends or children as though they had nowhere else to go. The streets were controlling their every movements including the traffic lights that also controlled the drivers of the hundreds of cars that pass through the shrunken boulevards. Everything seems so automated and soulless to me.

Since it was still the school holiday period, masses of people jammed the shopping centres that were celebrating the Great Singapore Sales,a high profile annual shopping promotional event fully supported by Singapore Tourism. Even the "Big Bra Sale" banners failed to entice the curious male shoppers.Knowing the fact that Singaporeans love shopping and eating,it attracted them naturally like the bees to the honey. Many love the cool interiors of the buildings to seek refuge from the humid weather and its heat as though the tropical summer was reaching its peak in a frenzy.No wonder everyone loves to show off their tattoos! or is it a new Singaporean physical trademark. I remembered hearing about a made in Hollywood movie about tattoo filmed here and the fad could have caught up with the locals who often associate it with being hip and sassy just like National Geographic Discovery Channel having a regular feature on this ink thing to be the in thing.

Every available space of real estate along Orchard Road seemed to be up for grabs and are relentlessly converted into a shopping centre or commercial project or just being re-renovated to keep up with the demand of the current lifestyle times. The parallel pedestrian lanes were getting more and more claustrophobic on both sides. The well acclaimed Singapore Courtesy campaign must be a very morally challenging habit to practise here.

While strolling, you will also notice that physically,everybody looks so Chinese here, whether you are the Indonesians, the Vietnamese, the Thais,or the Myanmarese,except for the Indians and of course the Caucasians.
Even the Chinese from mainland China are known as the new generation of Singaporeans as well. The difference between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore now are the absence of Middle Eastern and African nationalities, where the former is a favorite destination amongst such peoples. The crowds of Filipino maids hanging out at the plazas and malls meeting other buddies from all over the island was still noticeable. In fact a lively Filipino Fair was being held while i was passing by Plaza Singapura shopping mall,promoting all things cultural and social. They really made their presence felt performing with all kinds of songs and dances and selling Filipino fare, but then there were few Singaporean spectators around. I supposed they did not want to be seen as interfering into their maids private social weekend.

The scenic waterfront has added another dimension of futuristic architecture into the horizon. The American casino chain towers consisting of triple look a like structures were slowly taking shape and despite the economic downturn, some progress can be seen marking its development in quite a spectacular imagination in just a matter of time only. A visit in 2010 will surely see a transformation of sight beyond its man made shores and beyond the sea almost instantly. Then, you may like to see Asia's richest personalities trod down the red carpet meeting Lady Luck at one of these new legal havens of Singapore.