Strangely Strait-laced Singapore

Singapore skyline at night
(looks normal enough from here)

We were no strangers to Singapore, and although it is a beautiful, pristine city, we consider Singapore to be quite strange.  We’ve been here two previous times, and since it was part of our cruise ship’s agenda, we were ready to do it once again.

We never fully understand Singapore and its asinine rules -- like the ridiculous chewing gum regulations. Granted, no one likes chewing gum on the bottom of their shoe or stuck to the underside of a café table, but chewing gum is outlawed totally in Singapore. No chewing, no selling, no possession of chewing gum is permitted. Breaking the chewing gum laws can get you a $5000 fine and 1 year in jail! 

Jaywalking is also illegal, along with hugging in public, homosexuality, adverse comments about religion in public, taking photos on the metro, failing to flush a public toilet, spitting, pornography, and peeing in an elevator (haaa).  Littering or just walking around in your house naked can get you jail time! Singapore is not a place for lefties; it is considered rude to eat, wave, or greet with your left hand because the left hand is associated with using the bathroom. If you are a smoker (we are not), cigarettes can get you fined if brought into the country or used anywhere except in your own home. Etc., etc., etc.  These questionable rules are endless. Singapore is a lovely place, but we think their desire for establishing a lovely city may have influenced the assignment of their rule set and laws beyond simple reason!  But, being cooperative, easy-going, peace-loving, visiting foreigners, we try to abide by their rules nonetheless. Although, you can understand, it was hard on Frank having to give up his peeing-in-elevators habit for a day there (LOL)!

Before we leave the topic, one last asinine thing that we learned about Singapore.  In order to own a car here in Singapore, you need to first apply for a “certificate to buy.” If you are lucky enough to be blessed by getting that certificate (which can take years), it will cost you $60,000 to $70,000 Singapore dollars just to obtain the certificate.  Next, you can go ahead and buy a car at some inflated price (often over $100,000).  And then, after paying almost $170,000 Singapore dollars (about $130,000 US), you are only allowed to keep that car for 10 years.  Why?  Because the Singapore government doesn’t want a bunch of old cars on their roads.  We were afraid to ask how much car insurance costs add to the bill!! 

Singapore apartment housing

Singapore is considered an extremely integrated society made up of roughly 74% Chinese, 13% Malaysians, 9% Indians, and a small percentage of westerners. Most people live in public housing (not a gift, they have to pay the government back, like paying a mortgage), and each building has to reflect the population breakdowns. For example, every building has to be 9% Indian-owned and 13% Malaysian-owned. The purpose is to make sure that people of various ethnicities have to interact with each other on a daily basis. Even when you sell your place, you have to sell to the same ethnic group to maintain the proper balance.

Our tour guide, Joo Ling, shows the group where
the Changi Prison was located

We took a tour on the morning of our arrival in Singapore called the “Changi World War II Tour.” Changi, as our tour guide “Joo Ling” explained, is a section of the Singapore Island where many Changi timber trees formerly grew. It is also an area with infamous associations to WWII.

The Japanese raised a lot of hell here in Singapore, Malaysia, Sumatra, Thailand, Borneo, New Guinea, and others during WWII when they occupied these lands and stole many of their natural resources for the war effort.  Many atrocities were committed by the Japanese during their occupation of these countries, including imprisonment, slavery, starvation, and outright murder as they subjugated the peoples of Indonesia.  As a note of interest, the people of Indonesia totally outnumbered the Japs during the war.  They could have won a war of attrition at any time, had they known that one weakness of their Japanese occupiers.

Changi Chapel, built by prisoners during WWII

We were first taken to Changi Museum for a poignant look at where some of the Singaporean people were interned; the Japanese jammed 3500 Singapore civilians into spaces meant for just 600.  Food rations were reduced to 1 cup of tea for breakfast, a small lump of rice the size of an acorn for lunch, and another lump of rice for dinner.  Everything was covered with lots of salt, which helped make the limited amount of food taste better and seem like it was more food than it actually was.  Great trick by the Japs!! 

Frank stares at some strange British ordnance
used during the war

We spent an hour or so here in the museum learning about the plight of the Singapore people during the war and their blatant mistreatment by the Japanese invaders. One of the most moving displays was the Changi Quilts, quilts created by the women prisoners to let their husbands and loved ones know they were still alive. Each square contained the name of the woman who made it, and a unique design that would have special meaning for her family. Our tour guide, Joo Ling, also took us to a small adjacent chapel crafted by the people of Singapore. The prisoners built several of these from whatever materials were available. The chapels offered a respite from the daily grind and a bit of hope for the Singapore internees.

Selarang Barracks where many civilians were executed
by the Japanese during WWII

We visited several other WWII remnants on Singapore – weapon installations and battle tunnels (Johore Battery), a closed-off prison with much barbed wire above its chain-linked fence enclosures sometimes called the “execution house” where many civilian executions took place (Selarang Barracks), and a neat little park called “Changi Beach Park” where the Japanese beheaded 66 Chinese civilians for some outrageous trumped-up reasons (mainly because they hated the Chinese).  

Changi Beach Park

The Japanese secret police, the “Kempeitai” murdered many civilians for various nonsensical reasons; turns out, if you were stupid and illiterate, and no threat to the Japs, you would probably live thru the occupation.  If you wore glasses, and appeared “educated,” you would be taken out and shot.

One of the lessons we came away with is how incredibly resilient people can be. At the museum, we saw a photo of a young man who looked like a cadaver; he was so emaciated. But he survived and lived to age eighty, and another photo showed him visiting the museum as a smiling, healthy-looking old man.

This tour was a great eye-opener giving us a snapshot of the history of this island, and we were glad to learn about this facet of WWII.  We know a great deal about the European side of WWII, but we continue to learn more about what happened here in Southeast Asia, which is necessary to understand the war as a whole.  

Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's former Prime Minister
 who died the week we visited Singapore

One note of interest.  The founding father of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, the very dude who enacted most of the asinine rules for Singapore that we spoke about, died this week (23 March 2015) in Singapore at the ripe old age of 91.  The prime minister ruled Singapore since 1959, and a big city-wide funeral was held on Sunday (29 March 2015).  Perhaps now Singapore will retire some of its outlandish rules, and seek normalcy as its goal.