City Break
about a month ago i went to singapore for the weekend.....it was just after our official (but in no way "open") opening and i really needed a break. It was so refreshing to be in a city again - as much as i am enjoying my new lifestyle in countrsyside isolation, its nice to return to familiarity.
I went mainly because there was an art bienalle on, but i ended up shopping a lot (something i would usually hate), and eating a lot of indian and turkish food. i saw a lot of the art exhibitions, not all of them, but a good days worth (thats enough right?). i went to the cinema, a mosque, hindu temple, catholic church and nearly a synagogue .... more new religous places of worhsip in one weekend than in my whole life (yes a cinema is place of worship).
before i went i was told that singapore was soulless: it definetly is a strange place, a compact selection of cultures from around the world...i went to the arab quater, the indian quater, china town and clarke quay (rich people quater). In my opinion there is no way is singapore soulless. ok so it doesn't really have a unified identity but thats what makes the island so interesting and diverse. maybe i have been out in the sticks for too long though.
the political side of singapore is a little scary - there is little freedom in singapore - this might be the reason why people say there is not much to the place. chewing gum is ilegal, as is littering, jay walking, breathing and speaking out against the government (although i'm getting used to this little piece of repression - in thailand its illegal to say anything bad about the royal family - the other day i was sitting with my friend and a lady trying to sell us pictures of the royal family and my friend pointed out with a cheeky smile, that she looks like the princess. when i started talking about it she hushed me and when the sales lady was gone jane (i have changed her name for her own protection) told me that it is illegal - possibly punishable by death - to compare yourself to the royal family) .
Singapore is as clean as everyone says, but i have to say it is not as clean as canberra. i don't think i'll ever find a city as clean canberra though - most capital citys usually have people in them to create the mess, canberra doesn't have to worry about this problem.
I can't really think what else to say about singapore; its a city and thats pretty much it really - bog standard. there is no characteristic that sticks out - apart from the cultural diversity. the architecture was very interesting, from institutional to contemporary to cultuarlly specific, but for the most part i felt like i was by own version of george orwell creating my own 1984. i think singapore is such an example of cultural integration - or not as the case maybe, i have no doubt that it represents the standard western city of the future, with culture divided or repressed.
i feel like i'm back at goldsmiths now so will shut up.
I went mainly because there was an art bienalle on, but i ended up shopping a lot (something i would usually hate), and eating a lot of indian and turkish food. i saw a lot of the art exhibitions, not all of them, but a good days worth (thats enough right?). i went to the cinema, a mosque, hindu temple, catholic church and nearly a synagogue .... more new religous places of worhsip in one weekend than in my whole life (yes a cinema is place of worship).
before i went i was told that singapore was soulless: it definetly is a strange place, a compact selection of cultures from around the world...i went to the arab quater, the indian quater, china town and clarke quay (rich people quater). In my opinion there is no way is singapore soulless. ok so it doesn't really have a unified identity but thats what makes the island so interesting and diverse. maybe i have been out in the sticks for too long though.
the political side of singapore is a little scary - there is little freedom in singapore - this might be the reason why people say there is not much to the place. chewing gum is ilegal, as is littering, jay walking, breathing and speaking out against the government (although i'm getting used to this little piece of repression - in thailand its illegal to say anything bad about the royal family - the other day i was sitting with my friend and a lady trying to sell us pictures of the royal family and my friend pointed out with a cheeky smile, that she looks like the princess. when i started talking about it she hushed me and when the sales lady was gone jane (i have changed her name for her own protection) told me that it is illegal - possibly punishable by death - to compare yourself to the royal family) .
Singapore is as clean as everyone says, but i have to say it is not as clean as canberra. i don't think i'll ever find a city as clean canberra though - most capital citys usually have people in them to create the mess, canberra doesn't have to worry about this problem.
I can't really think what else to say about singapore; its a city and thats pretty much it really - bog standard. there is no characteristic that sticks out - apart from the cultural diversity. the architecture was very interesting, from institutional to contemporary to cultuarlly specific, but for the most part i felt like i was by own version of george orwell creating my own 1984. i think singapore is such an example of cultural integration - or not as the case maybe, i have no doubt that it represents the standard western city of the future, with culture divided or repressed.
i feel like i'm back at goldsmiths now so will shut up.
posted by Sam Pering at 3:04 PM
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