June 04, 2007

Casinos or culture? Singapore seeks tourists

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CNN said:

Perhaps Singapore's biggest handicap is its lack of famous sights: it has no Angkor Wat or Taj Mahal. For many years, it prided itself on its innumerable shopping malls, and promoted its annual "Singapore Sale".

Abroad, it is often better known for its authoritarian ways -- it canes vandals, executes drug offenders, crushes political opposition, and bans the sale of chewing gum. Culturally, its development has been crippled by restrictions on freedom of expression and censorship of films and plays.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Not exactly the celebratory messages we get all the time from the local media."

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Submitted by Anonymous Coward on June 04//2:15pm and published by jseng, Agagooga :: 2790 reads | trackback
Comments 6

I find the report very general and poorly researched. To look into culture, one has to have concern for details and history.

For instance, Singapore is one of the few places I have seen that have Chinese (non-Hindus) praying in Hindu temples and Malay Kramats (shrines). The cuisine is also evident of the mixed contributions from various ethnic groups. People who have passed this way attest to this interesting mix of delicious cuisine.

There are also more plant species in tiny Singapore than the whole of North America and half the number of coral species found in the collosal Great Barrier Reef 3000 times the size of Singapore.

Singapore is also home to many taoist temples, many of them still with mediums that go into trance as their bodies get walked in by dieties. These practices are continued today only in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. Mostly annihilated in China since the Cultural Revolution.

Transvestites - not in Bugis anymore lah! Try Changi Village! :)

And how about savouring durains by the street stalls in Geylang. Come on, I have tried some strong cheese in Europe, America and Australia. :)

There is much more beyond the surface if one is willing to dig in and still many unique spots that the Tourist Board and journalists are blind to.

You may like to visit http://vacuumstate.blogspot.com to see what you find.

Michael

Posted by jupilier* on 5 June, 2007 - 12:26am