Leaving Singapore

Sitting in the departure lounge of Changi Airport. Free wireless internet for all, dazzling marble concourses, good variet of shops and restaurants, massage chairs and foot therapy for those jetlagged travellers. No wonder for a number of years this aiport has won the
Best Airport of the World Award.

I have actually been here a number of times, and seen most of what this little country no bigger than the Randstad has to offer (and for someone like me who does not like shopping and malls, there seems not to be a lot). But each time I have a good time, thanks to my friend (of course...) and the mix of cultures Singapore is famous for.

There may not be chewing gum or Playboy (let alone Playgirl) for sell in Singapore, but something must be said for this miraculous city-state that is so orderly and squeaky clean. People hear may speak with an odd broken form of English, but it is a living testament to a country and culture that is composed of the bests of Chinese, Malay, Tamil and Western peoples that are able to function successful in a truly multicultural and multiethnic society. For someone like me, who speaks Mandarin and Hokkien and English (among others), it feels comforting that these languages are used so interchangeably, sometimes in the very same sentence, and people can still understand what you mean. A blend that somehow fuses wonderfully together and brings out the best of differnt worlds. Little enclaves of different peoples with different origins and religions lie next to one another, just as a mosque, Buddhist temple and Christian chapel can be easily found as close neighbours. Next to colonial style government buildings are staggeringly tall office towers and glitzy shopping malls, overlooking a waterfront that see some of the world's heaviest shipping traffic, with in the backdrop Sentosa Island that is awash with theme parks and artificial beaches and palm trees. And despite the one-party rule, and stories of deported critical journalists or bankrupted opposition party members (I will stop here before I test the limits and am denied boarding...), the Lee family has managed to transform what used to be a backwater, mosquito infested swampy island into a high-tech and sophisticated economic centre and export hub in the Asia-Pacific. This is what makes this country Uniquely Singapore (the official slogan of the Singapore tourism board).

As wonderful as Singapore is, it is time to leave again, and within moments from now I will be boarding a low-budget plane. JetStar Asia (owned by Qantas) that will take me home to Taiwan. The airline is so low-budget that my boarding pass is nothing more than a piece of receipt you could easily mix up with something you get after buying a cup of coffee.

But at least it is cheap, and cheap travel means I can far and wide, and go home.