$150 spent before breakfast. Oh we must be in Singapore.

24/6/11

Its 7am and officious looking border guards are looking for passports. We produce ours and are stamped out of the country and the train continues for a few meters. At Singapore we all disembark, line up, read about the death penalty for drugs traffickers and pass though customs before boarding the train again. Once at the final destination we hop in a cab and head to the Indonesian Embassy in order to get a visa. En route I ask to stop at an ATM. The driver obliges and whilst I am getting cash heads off to the toilet. Upon my return he is nowhere to be seen, James is locked inside the car and the meter is still running. After some time I seek him out James reposts that I was obviously in a bad mood as there was lots of gesticulating… well the meet was running!

Upon arrival at the embassy we fill in the necessary paperwork and hand over a large sum for the visas which will be ready, fingers crossed on Tuesday at 12noon. Our flight is 4pm the same day so we can only hope they are ready as otherwise Mum may be holidaying alone. At the hostel we reflect on how nice it is to be in a country full of order. The taxis don’t beep at you or solicit business, everything is clean, the metro runs on time, there are drop curbs and the traffic is orderly. A few days in ordered bliss sounds good to me!

Later that evening we head off on the super-efficient MRT (underground system) which I always seem to call the HRT… is this a subliminal warning that the male menopause might be on its way. James doubts it he just thinks I am a bit stupid. Arriving at china town we join a walking tour and discover the some of the history of Singapore, its rules and its pragmatism. We learn that there has been huge social change in a very short time. In the last 30-40 years the area around china town has gone from a place with slop out toilets, bare footed children, mass cramped living and poverty into a booming, high-rise living, consuming society. When the Singaporeans decide to do something the obviously don’t mess around. They had a plan and they delivered it.

On the rules front we learn that Singapore is very regulated. Housing is predominantly government built (but don’t be confused with social housing as this it is not), street hawkers have defined patches within which they must work and life appears to be very ordered. There are rules and regulations at every turn. There is no eating, drinking, smoking, no flammable gas or liquids and no Duran fruit on the metro. Breaking these rules result in a fine from $500 to $5000. There is also evidence of much social regulation as whilst the population appears to be young the youngsters appear to conform to societal norms. There is no alternative clothing, no painted black fingernails or green hair. Instead its high end fashion or sensible outfits. The upside is that there is very little crime and of what crime there is there are very sever punishments. Robbery with assault carries 20 years in prison and 12-24 stokes of a huge cane. The same goes for schools. Descent or bad behaviour carries public beatings on the school stage. Its social controls never the less detract from its huge wealth, gleaming streets or efficient and very cheap public transport network.

On the pragmatism front we learned that prostitution was outlawed in Singapore 30 years ago. It was soon found that prostitution just went underground. Being unable to stamp it out the government was pragmatic and legalised prostitution in tightly controlled areas. The prostitutes themselves were also regulated having to have twice monthly sexual health check-ups, carry a yellow eligibility and health card and pay taxes.