A city-state the size of the Isle of Man that went from a colonial port to one of the richest places on earth in sixty years, and engineered its own weather-proof greenery to prove it.
What it is
An island city-state of about six million people, 137km north of the equator, which was a British trading post, briefly part of Malaysia, and independent from 1965 with no natural resources and no hinterland. It is now among the wealthiest countries per capita in the world.
It has a reputation for being sterile and expensive. Both are partly earned and both miss the point: the interesting thing about Singapore is that almost everything about it is a deliberate decision, from the density of trees per street to the fact that four languages are official.
Eating, which is the reason to come
Hawker centres are the national institution: covered food courts of dozens of individual stalls, most family-run for generations, selling one dish each for a few dollars. UNESCO listed hawker culture as intangible heritage in 2020.
Maxwell, Old Airport Road, Tekka, Chinatown Complex and Lau Pa Sat are the well-known ones; every housing estate has its own and those are better.
What to eat: Hainanese chicken rice, chilli crab, char kway teow, laksa, bak kut teh, roti prata, nasi lemak, kaya toast with soft eggs for breakfast.
The system: find a seat first and reserve it with a packet of tissues, which is a real and universally respected convention. Then order. Most stalls are cash.
What to see
Gardens by the Bay — the Supertrees, and two enormous conservatories, one of which contains an indoor mountain with a waterfall. The nightly light show is free.
Marina Bay Sands — three towers with a ship on top. The infinity pool is guests-only; the observation deck is ticketed.
The neighbourhoods are where the city gets interesting: Kampong Glam for the Sultan Mosque, Arab Street and Haji Lane; Little India for Tekka market and the temples; Chinatown for the shophouses; Tiong Bahru for 1930s modernist housing blocks and good coffee; Katong/Joo Chiat for Peranakan shophouses and laksa.
The Botanic Gardens are UNESCO-listed and free, with a superb orchid garden that is not.
Pulau Ubin, a ten-minute bumboat ride away, is what Singapore looked like before — a rural island with dirt tracks and hornbills.
Practical
The MRT is fast, cheap and covers everything; contactless bank cards work directly.
Costs are high for accommodation and alcohol and low for food and transport. Beer is expensive by any standard.
The laws you will actually encounter: no eating or drinking on the MRT, no smoking outside designated areas, and chewing gum cannot be sold. Drug offences carry the death penalty and this is not theoretical.
A long stopover is the classic use. Changi itself has a rainforest and a 40-metre indoor waterfall, and free city tours run for transit passengers with over five hours.
