Tag 333: Singapore

It's humid, the sky is gray. The bus is full of Malaysians who have been working in Singapore during the week, and Singaporeans who go to Malaysia for shopping and partying on weekends. And us. Tired and free of any motivation.

We actually spent three days in Singapore without committing a single crime. Nothing special, right? But when you consider that Singapore distributes extremely high fines as easily as a postman delivers his letters, then it's something special after all. For absurdities like chewing gum, eating and drinking in public transportation, or smoking in public, you can easily pay four-digit fines here. So we're quite glad that we made it out of here 'unharmed'. Nevertheless, we thoroughly enjoyed our time here. We are both just small fans of big cities and actually thought that all big cities are the same, but Singapore has once again proved us wrong. In this small city-state and island state in the heart of Southeast Asia, religions, cultures, people, and history collide with full force and live side by side. And it works. Here are a few numbers: nearly 5.6 million people, of which 76.8 percent are Chinese, 13.8 percent are Malays, 7.9 percent are Indians, and 1.4 percent are others speak the four official languages English, Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil. 33% of the total population identify as Buddhists, 19% as Christians, 14% as Muslims, 10% as Taoists, and 5% as Hindus. The diverse population of this small state lives on an area about the size of Hamburg but is about three times larger than that of the German Hanseatic city.

During the day, we have explored the cultural differences of the population, learned about the incredible history of this small island state, and enjoyed the culinary advantages of this multicultural city. In the evenings, we strolled along the brightly illuminated promenades and marveled at the sight of Singapore's architecturally beautiful and expensive side. Singapore is certainly not the cheapest travel destination, but it is also the only first-world country in Southeast Asia. It is incredibly clean, peaceful, safe, and organized. You can definitely spend a lot of money here, but even with a small budget, you can enjoy the many facets of this unique city. We have never seen such a colorful, modern, and at the same time tradition-filled, multicultural city like Singapore. We are glad that we made this detour.

We are sitting behind the border, on the ground, waiting for our bus. Looking towards Malaysia. We are curious to see what awaits us in this definitely more chaotic and larger country.