FEEL FREE TO GROW, SINGAPORE, JUST DON’T LEAVE BEHIND YOUR SOUL.

Today I want to share with you an excerpt from one of the earliest entries written on my travel journal, which some of you may know that it is a little booklet that I've been using to reflect my thoughts and experiences as I embarked on my year long trip around the world.

I want to remind everyone that I wrote this back in 2015 so lots may have changed, but I promise to do my best to fill in the gaps as I reflect back on my stories and experiences now that I am actually already back from it.

This story is about a country called Singapore, my home away from home where I grew up as a kid, a country where my parents still resides, thus a hub in which I did my final preps before embarking on the journey. Also it is purely my own interpretation of this country, which I'd like to share as part of my contribution to the culture vulture challenge by @eroche.

So here we go :)

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FEEL FREE TO GROW, SINGAPORE, JUST DON’T LEAVE BEHIND YOUR SOUL.

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This is my 6th day since arriving in Singapore to catch up with my family, or 2 hours left to mark the start of my journey as I wait anxiously for the bus to Thailand. Initially, Singapore wasn’t a destination that was part of my so called worldly discovery, having lived here for over 10 years as a kid, and where my family still resides for close to 30 years – it’s my home away from home and I didn’t expect to learn anything from this country that I didn’t already know. Well, I was wrong. Times have changed, and Singapore continues to amaze me.

I happened to be invited to a beach party at Siloso Beach in Sentosa, an artificial island (think of it like the palm island of Dubai stuffed with theme parks + Vegas), and it was one of those rave parties on the beach where girls wore bikinis without actual access to the beach. Instead, the venue sprayed luminescent paint all over the crowd and lit them up with UV lights making them illuminate like the Na’vis from Avatar.

(photos by the official event Illumin Nation)

(photos by the official event Illumin Nation)

It was a spectacular event, with lights, music, alcohol, girls, and even better as I was given free VIP tickets by a friend who knew one of the organisers. As soon as we got inside though, I suddenly felt overwhelmed and a little turned off by the sheer scale of this event. I was basically culture shocked, knowing that these parties happen quite often here, so common yet so epic.

The atmosphere was filled with modern illumination technology, fluorescent lights beaming into the sky with EDM pumping endlessly into a sea of sweaty shiny dancing avatars, cream-pied from top to bottom with paint spraying out of gigantic fire hoses. I saw rows of young schoolies drunk off their faces marching in looking like they’re about to enter war with alcohol, all while looking like they're having the best time of their lives. At one point they looked like they were being possessed by some sort of demonic light god… Next minute, I turn my head and I see my friend making out with a random girl covered in paint. What on earth is this place? It sure doesn’t seem like the Singapore that I used to know.

(photos by the official event Illumin Nation)

Don’t get me wrong though, I was having a great time at the sheltered VIP sector, drinking heaps of alcohol, dancing and shaking my asalatos all night surrounded by cute girls in their bikinis. But I just couldn’t get over the fact that everything looked so artificial, where people marched in like robots soullessly onto an artificial beach with artificial colours and artificial music (even the rocks on this island is made out of paper mache!). This party was one of those nights that made me feel amazed at how far Singapore had come in just over a decade. The pace of Singapore’s growth is not just fast, it’s exponential. <--- did i just say growth?

I feel nervously excited for what the future holds for Singapore, excited because I can’t wait to see how much more crazier it becomes, but nervous because I feel Singapore is starting to lose it’s soul. Did you know that Singapore’s GDP per capita is one of the highest in the world, and the nation has one the highest percentage of Millionaires in the world, and at the same time Singaporeans are also one of the unhappiest people in the world?

Similar studies all point to the same conclusion, and I was shocked, because I know I wasn’t unhappy living here as a kid, it was quite the opposite. But then I realised – I’m not a Singaporean. I only just lived here.

While growing up I remember hearing lots of complaints from my local Singaporean friends about the government and the PAP (a group who seemingly stands for the people against corruption, by enforcing incorruptibility, thereby corrupting it themselves?), basically things that I chose to ignore as it never applied to me, and I hated politics (I still do), but now I realise that their suffering is partly due to people like me – the expats who are quickly taking over their role, their workforce, their economy, their culture, and perhaps their happiness too.

I mean how can you feel happy when you are only just getting by but at the same time you see many others in the same country earning millions and living the high life? The gap between the rich and poor are not as extreme as countries such as Indonesia, but it is enough for Singapore to be called a nickname “the playground for the rich”.

A glass of beer costed me $18 last night, when I can get a bigger, better, fresher beer in Australia for $7 (or less than $1 in Colombia), while still being paid twice as much. A fresh grad from Britain double’s the salary of my local Singaporean friend even though he’s been working for years, regardless of work ethics or performance. You’d probably have to be 5 times more effective just to be ‘treated’ on par with an expat, who by the way accounts for 30-40% of the total population here.

I know it's ridiculous to judge a nation through such a narrow point of reference, but personally I felt like this beach party was a good representation of the current state of Singapore. Dazzling and amazing with shiny lights and VIP treatment, but in the expense of liberty, consciousness, and nationhood. I think the people here knows it, just that they can’t do much about it. I don’t know what Singapore will become by the time I return, but as the saying goes – “the best way to predict the future, is to create it”

My bus to Thailand leaves in an hour, take care Singapore! 😃

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© Pictures by @kuenok except those referenced