Singapore

From Wikitravel

Revision as of 04:11, 2 December 2004

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Quick Facts
Capital	Singapore
Government	parliamentary republic
Currency	Singapore dollar (SGD)
Area	total: 692.7 sq km water: 10 sq km land: 682.7 sq km
Population	4,452,732 (July 2002 est.)
Language	Chinese (official), Malay (official and national), Tamil (official), English (official)
Religion	Buddhist (Chinese), Muslim (Malays), Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Taoist, Confucianist

Singapore is an island-state in Southeast Asia. Founded as a British trading colony in 1819, it joined Malaysia in 1963, but withdrew two years later and became independent. It subsequently became one of the world's most prosperous countries, with strong international trading links (its port is one of the world's busiest) and with per capita GDP equal to that of the leading nations of Western Europe.

Map of Singapore

Districts

Singapore is a small country on a small island, but with over 4 million people it's a fairly large city.

• Bugis and Kampong Glam -- Bugis and Kampong Glam are Singapore's old Malay district, now largely taken over by shopping.
• Central Business District -- The CBD is the heart of the city, containing the skyscrapers of the financial district as well as the shopping malls of Orchard Road.
• Chinatown -- Chinatown, to the south of the CBD, was the area originally designated for Chinese settlement by Stamford Raffles.
• East Coast -- The largely residential eastern part of the island contains Changi Airport and many famous eateries.
• Little India -- A piece of India to the north of the CBD.
• North and West -- The northern and western parts of the island, also known as Woodlands and Jurong respectively, form Singapore's residential and industrial hinterlands.
• Sentosa -- A separate island developed into a resort, Sentosa is the closest that Singapore gets to Disneyland.

Addresses

In the center Singapore's addressing system is fairly normal ("17 Orchard Rd" etc), but the new housing developments on the outskirts may appear more intimidating: a typical address might be "Blk 505 Jurong West St 51 #01-186". Here "Blk 505" is the housing block number (always prominently painted on the building), "Jurong West St 51" is the street name (yes, there are at least 50 other numbered Jurong West Streets), and "#01-186" means floor 1, unit, stall or shop 186. Street and block numbers do proceed in numerical order though, so tracking down the exact location after finding the general area isn't too hard usually.

A very useful tool for hunting down addresses is the free online Singapore Street Directory; note that taxis are also obligated by law to carry a complete street atlas with them.

Understand

Bored proboscis monkey, Singapore Zoo

Singapore is a microcosm of Asia, populated by Chinese, Malays, Indians and a large group of workers and expatriates. A famously authoritarian state with fines for unlikely things like not flushing toilets, Singapore has a deserved reputation for boredom, but "the Switzerland of Asia" is for many a welcome respite from chaos and crime. On the plus side, Singaporean food is legendary, with hawker centers offering food from parts of Asia, and shoppers can enjoy themselves in shopping places like Orchard Road and Suntec City. In recent years some societal restrictions have also loosened up, and now you can bungee jump and dance on bartops until 6 AM although alcohol is very pricey and buying chewing gum still requires a doctor's prescription.

Get in

Most nationalities do not require a visa in advance. Entry permits for 14-30 days are granted on arrival for free at all points of entry.

Please note that Singapore has a very strict policy on drug trafficking. It is an offence punishable by death.

By plane

The easiest way to get into Singapore is by air.

Changi Airport

Changi Airport (SIN) is the country's main airport and is big, nice and well organised. Passport control and baggage distribution is remarkably fast. There are two terminals, with flagship carrier Singapore Airlines using Terminal 2 and most other airlines using Terminal 1; the two are connected with a free train shuttle service. If stuck in transit here, there are plenty of ways to kill time, including a movie theater and a swimming pool!

From the airport there are a number of ways to get into the city. Taxi is easiest and just outside the customs you will find signs to the taxi queue. Meters are always used in Singapore and fares are cheap. A trip to the city center will be about 15 SGD. There is a surcharge of 3 dollars for a taxi from the airport and 5 dollars on Fridays, Saturday and Sundays and the eves of public holidays. After midnight the taxi fare is 50% higher.

To save money you can also hop on the MRT (Singapore's subway) from Terminal 2, although you will have to cross the platform to another train at Tanah Merah. The 35 minute ride to the CBD costs 1.60 SGD (plus a 1 SGD refundable deposit for the card).

Seletar Airport

Berjaya Air's turboprop flights from Pulau Tioman use Seletar Airport (XSP), not Changi. The only practical means of access to Seletar is taxi; trips from the airport incur a S$3 surcharge.

By road

Another way in is by road from Johor Bahru in Malaysia. There are buses from Kuala Lumpur and other destinations in Malaysia. For buses across the Causeway, see the Johor Bahru article.

By train

KTMB (Malayan Railways) runs a few trains daily from Kuala Lumpur, including one sleeper, and one sleeper daily along the "Jungle Line" from Tumpat in northeastern Malaysia. The trains are slower than buses (6-7 hours one-way) and not recommended unless you have time to spare.

Trains arrive at the railway station in Tanjong Pagar at the southern edge of the CBD, a bit of a hike from Tanjong Pagar MRT station. It is also possible to get off in Woodlands right after immigration.

Due to a quirk of pricing, trains to Singapore are only half price compared to trains from Singapore. You can get around this by boarding in Johor Bahru instead.

By boat

The other option is by boat, specifically from Bintan or Batam in Indonesia or Tioman Island in Malaysia. Most ferries arrive the Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal, connected to Bedok MRT station by bus 35, although some ferries to Batam and long-distance cruise ships use the Singapore Cruise Centre, next to HarbourFront MRT.

Get around

Getting around Singapore is effortless: the public transportation system is among the best in the world and taxis are cheap. Very few visitors hire cars.

If you are staying in Singapore for some time, a farecard called EZ-Link might be a worthwhile purchase. You can store value on it and use it to enter and exit the MRT and buses at a 15% discount. A partly refundable deposit is required to get this card.

By train

MRTs (Mass Rapid Transport) and LRTs (Light Rapid Transport) form Singapore's subway system and link various important places in Singapore. They are a cheap and very reliable mode of transport. Buy single tickets at the station either at quite user-friendly automatic machines or at the cashier; single tickets cost for S$0.80 to S$2.00, plus a S$1 refundable deposit.

• Map of Singapore's MRT system

By bus

Buses connect various corners of Singapore. You can pay cash in buses, however you are charged marginally more and there is no provision for getting change.

By taxi

Taxis are cheap and honest. You will not spend more than 5-6 SGD for a trip within the Central Business District. Watch out for surprises though: there is a bewildering array of peak hour, holiday, road pricing etc surcharges, although most are only a dollar or two and these are all clearly shown on the meter. After midnight a 50% surcharge is applicable.

By rickshaw

Rickshaws geared purely for tourists haunt the area around the Singapore River, and aren't really recommended for serious travel. Bargain before you get in, and expect to pay over S$10 even for the shortest ride.

By boat

Tourist-oriented bumboats cruise around the Singapore River, offering nice views of the skyscrapers of the CBD.

Grubbier versions of the same also shuttle passengers from Changi Village to Pulau Ubin, a small island off Singapore's northeast coast which is about as close as Singapore gets to unhurried rural living.

Talk

Malay may be enshrined in the Constitution as the 'national' language, but in practice the most common language is English, spoken by every Singaporean under the age of 70. However, the distinctive local dialect Singlish may be hard to understand at times, as it incorporates slang words and phrases from other languages, including various Chinese dialects, Malay, and other assorted languages, such as Japanese and Tamil. It also incorporates slang from British and American English, and has a queer way of structuring sentences, due to the original speakers being mostly Chinese. Complex consonant clusters are simplified, plurals disappear, verb tenses are replaced by adverbs, questions are altered to fit the Chinese syntax and semirandom particles (especially the infamous "lah") appear: You wan' beer or not? No lah, drink five botol oreddi. Thanks to nationwide indoctrination campaigns most younger Singaporeans are, however, capable of speaking so-called "Good English" when necessary.

The other official languages are Mandarin Chinese and Tamil. Various Chinese dialects (especially Hokkien) and other Indian languages are also spoken.

See

Sights in Singapore are covered in more detail under the various districts. Broadly speaking:

• Skyscrapers and shopping: The Central Business District has all you'll need, including Orchard Road and the Merlion, but also check out Bugis to see where Singaporeans shop.
• Culture and cuisine: See Chinatown for Chinese treats, Little India for Indian flavors and East Coast for seafood.
• Nature and wildlife: The Singapore Zoo, Night Safari, Jurong Bird Park and Botanic Gardens are all in the North and West section.
• Beaches and tourist traps: Head to Sentosa to reassure yourself that Singapore is in the tropics.

Spend

The Singaporean currency is the Singapore dollar, abbreviated SGD or S$. One dollar is divided into 100 cents. The Brunei dollar is at par with the Singaporean dollar and the two currencies can be used interchangeably in both countries. As of May 2004 one USD is worth about 1.7 SGD.

Even Singaporeans admit that there are only two things to do in Singapore: eat and shop. Go to Orchard Road, the biggest shopping street, and enjoy lots of shopping centers with brand names and high prices; alternatively, head down to Bugis to find out where Singapore's teens spent their money. For a better deal and a different experience try to go to Little India or Chinatown where you can find more local materials and better prices. Or, sometimes, more foreign materials with worse prices. Tourist areas typically have shops that are prepared for tourists.

Unlike most South-East Asian countries, pirated goods are not openly on sale and importing them to the city-state carries heavy fines. Fake goods are nevertheless not difficult to find in Little India or even in the underpasses of Orchard Road(!)

Eat

Singapore is a melting pot of cuisines from around the world, and many Singaporeans are obsessive gourmands who love to makan (eat in Malay). You will find quality Chinese, Malay, Indian, Japanese, Italian, French, American and other food in this city-state. See Malaysian and Singaporean cuisine for an overview and menu reader.

Local delicacies

The following dishes have become national icons and should be on every traveller's agenda:

• Laksa, in particular the Katong or lemak style, is probably the best known Singaporean dish: a fragrant soup of noodles in a coconut-based curry broth, topped with cockles or shrimp.
• Chilli crab is a whole crab ladled with oodles of sticky, tangy chilli sauce. Notoriously difficult to eat... but irresistibly delicious! Don't wear a white shirt! The seafood restaurants of the East Coast are famous for this. For a less messy but equally tasty alternative, ask for Pepper Crab.
• Hainanese chicken rice is steamed chicken served with ginger-flavored rice and a hot chilli dip. For the record, you can't find this in Hainan, in the exact same way that you can't find "Singaporean Fried Noodles" in Singapore.
• Fish head curry is just what's you'd think (but tastes much better!). Little India is the place to sample this.

Hawker centres

The cheapest and most popular places to eat in Singapore are hawker centres, essentially former pushcart vendors directed into giant complexes by government fiat. Prices are low (S$2-5 for most dishes), hygiene standards are high (every stall is required to prominently display a health certificate grading it from A to C) and the food can be excellent — if you see a queue, join it! Ambiance tends to be a little lacking though and there is no air-conditioning either.

Every district in Singapore has its own hawker centres and prices decrease noticeably as you move out into the boonies. For tourists, centrally located Newton Circus and Lau Pa Sat, both in the CBD are the most popular options — but this does not make them the cheapest of the tastiest. Still, a visit to a hawker centre is a must when in Singapore. For up-to-the-minute information on the best hawker food in town, check out the Makansutra website.

Coffee shops

Despite the name, coffee shops or kopitiam sell much more than coffee -- they are effectively mini-hawker centres with perhaps only half a dozen stalls (one of which will, however, sell coffee and other drinks). The Singaporean equivalent of pubs, this is where folks come for the canonical Singaporean breakfast of kopi (strong, sugary coffee), some kaya (egg-coconut jam) toast and runny eggs, and this is also where they come to down a beer or two and chat away in the evenings.

Food courts

Found in the basement or top floor of nearly every shopping mall, food courts are the gentrified, air-conditioned version of hawker centres. The food is much the same but prices are on average S$1-2 higher.

Restaurants

Singapore offers a wide variety of full-service restaurants as well, catering to every taste and budget. Being a maritime city one common specialty is seafood restaurants, offering Chinese-influenced Singaporean classics like chilli crabs. These are much more fun to go to in a group, but be careful what you order: gourmet items like Sri Lankan giant crab or shark's fin can easily push your bill up to hundreds of dollars. The best-known seafood spots are clustered on the Singapore/East Coast.

Drink

Singapore's nightlife isn't quite a match for Patpong, but it's no slouch either! Some clubs have 24-hour licenses and few places close before 4 AM. Any artists touring Asia are pretty much guaranteed to stop in Singapore. Singapore's nightlife is largely concentrated in the CBD.

Alcohol is widely available but quite expensive due to Singapore's heavy sin taxes, although prices have come down slightly recently and you can now sit in a hawker centre and enjoy a large bottle of beer of your choice for less than $6 (and the local colour comes thrown in for free). Meanwhile, careful shopping at major supermarkets will throw up common basic New World (read: Oz) wine labels on special prices in the mid to late teens. Drinks in any hotel bar or restaurant however remain extortionate, starting at $10 a pop. One tip, most Chinese restaurants outside of hotels charge either no or nominal corkage, same for hawker centres, so feel free to BYO though you will need to bring your own Pocket Screwpull and glass or plasticware.

Tax-free at Changi Airport, on the other hand, has some of the best prices in the world; you can bring in up to one liter each of liquor, wine and beer.

Prostitution

Prostitution is tolerated in 6 designated districts, including Geylang, which -- not coincidentally -- also offers some of the cheapest lodging in the city. The industry maintains a low profile (no go-go bars here) and is not a tourist attraction by any stretch of the word.

Sleep