In honor of Singapore’s 59th National Day and my almost 10 years here, today I’m sharing my favorite things about Singapore. When we first moved here I honestly didn’t know much about Singapore, but thought it would be a fun adventure. During the first few years I thought we’d still end up moving to the US someday, but over the years I started feeling like this was the best place for me and my family. Now that my daughter is almost two, we are super excited to raise her in Singapore and let her grow up with all it has to offer. So here’s this weekend’s list, my favorite things about Singapore.
The food
This is an easy one, Singapore is known for being a foodie heaven with a street food culture that has been cleaned up and organized into food courts and hawker centers. The three main cuisines are Malay, Chinese, and Indian food, but there is strong offerings of food from all over. High-quality Japanese and Thai is everywhere and Singapore even has several Michelin-starred restaurants that serve American BBQ, Spanish, French and more. It’s not only the variety which makes eating in Singapore a joy, the abundance of affordable high quality food is also world-class. In places like the US cheap food is fast food, there aren’t many budget options that are hand-made, made to order, or family owned restaurants. Here you can get a great meal anywhere on the island for $5-$8. If you get a chance, make sure you try some of my favorites, nasi padang, Katong Laksa, char siu mee, and century egg porridge.
The convenience
Singapore’s public transport system is fantastic, the MRT is extensive, cheap, and clean. I prefer to take it over buses, but the bus system is great as well. Where I grew up most buses only come every half hour, here it is every ten minutes or less. Other than transportation there are so many other conveniences I just take for granted after having lived here for so long. Things like e-payments, food and grocery delivery, online administration portals, covered walkways and broad sidewalks, etc. For example, an hour after my daughter was born, I got a text message with a link to register her birth certificate. Finally, Changi Airport is one of the best airports in the world. From automated bag checks and immigration lanes, security checks only at individual gates, and super fast baggage unloading, everything is a breeze. There’s no better feeling after a long flight than getting off the plane, seeing the familiar carpets, and knowing you’ll be out of the airport in less than 30 minutes.
The safety
I’ve never felt really unsafe in the US, even after living abroad and going back to visit NYC or LA over the last few years, so it took me a while to appreciate this aspect of living in Singapore as much as some of the others. But after having a kid, my perspective changed a lot on this. The crime rate is super low, muggings, robberies, school shootings, etc. are basically unheard of. People even “reserve” tables in public spaces with their bags, wallets, laptops, or cell phones and never worry about them being stolen. Many kids from primary school and up travel to school and back on the public transportation system, and I’ve never had to worry about my wife coming home by herself after dark. It’s easy to take this for granted, but it is really a big benefit to living here and a strong reason not to move back to the states with my young daughter.
The multi-culturalism
This is another one that took me a while to begin to understand about living in Singapore. I grew up as a minority in the states, and America is known as a melting pot, with immigrants from countries around the world living together. On the surface, I felt that sometimes multi-culturalism is a bit forced here, there are ethnicity quotas for public housing and a fairly equal number of public holidays for each race for example. But over time, I realized that the integration between cultures goes much deeper than it does in the US, even if there are some government mandates promoting equality. Basically everyone who grew up here can speak a bit in one or more of the other languages, they all enjoy each other’s food, and they grew up going to school and National Service together. There is some racism and inequality still around, with stereotypes of different races, certain jobs being more common for some people, and a negative view on interracial relationships by older people. But by and large, without the spectre of slavery and colonialism hanging overhead and being such a small integrated society, the multi-culturalism is ingrained here and takes on a far different look than in the US.
The immigration opportunities
I’m heading into controversial territory here as there are both Singaporeans and foreigners who aren’t happy with the volume and process of immigration here. While it’s true I’ve known people who have lost their jobs and needed to quickly find a new one or leave the country and give up their life here, as well as people who have lived here for many years and still haven’t gotten permanent residency, overall I feel the system is fair and gives many people, like myself, opportunities they wouldn’t get in other countries. Every country has a right and duty to put their own citizens first, but in Singapore, foreigners have a great opportunity to settle here that they wouldn’t get many other places. The work visa system is straightforward, regulated, and un-corrupt. In countries I’ve lived in the past, it was always a question mark if your visa would get approved or renewed, even when everything was legit. Even in the past when looking at how to move back to the US with my wife, the process was long and complex with hurdles that would keep us separated for a long time, whereas when I first moved to Singapore I easily got a pass with my wife who had just started working here. This is actually something that Singapore has a lot in common with the US on, immigrants wanting to move to the country for a better life, all-in-all I think it benefits the society as a whole, not only in regards to population, but also quality of workers, having a diverse society, and more.
So those are my favorite things about living in Singapore. I’m proud to call Singapore my home and am looking forward to watching my daughter grow up here. If you’ve never been, you should definitely come over for a visit!
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