As a columnist for «Lenta.ru» writes, Singapore is comfortable, law-abiding and safe, which is almost incredible for this region of the world. Open to all winds, religions and tastes, but with such cosmopolitanism it does not forget its roots.
Location on the map
People often ask: Is Singapore a city or a country, an island or a continent? In fact, it is both. The microstate with an area of 719 square kilometers at the southernmost point of Asia is a huge metropolis with a population of over five million people. Its core is the island of the same name, separated from Malaysia by the Johor Strait, but connected to it by two causeways. In total, Singapore has 63 islands. Mostly uninhabited, and some reveal themselves only at low tide.
Once the territory of modern Singapore belonged to one of the Malay sultanates. In 1819, Sir Thomas Raffles founded a small British colony here (originally a free trading port), which existed until 1963. Two years after a brief transitional period, Singapore gained full independence from both Britain and neighboring Malaysia, and over the next 30 years, thanks to the reforms of Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, it made a colossal leap and became one of the most developed countries in the world.
A City Called Changi
The easiest way to get to Singapore is by air – on a direct comfortable flight with Singapore Airlines or other airlines, but with a transfer in Doha and Dubai. The local Changi Airport is among the top ten largest in the world, as it connects 330 cities in 80 countries and receives more than 55 million passengers a year. However, it's not just about size.
In essence, it is an entire city with an endless array of shops, boutiques, restaurants, food courts, bars, cafes and lounges. There are spas, cinemas, fitness centers, playrooms for children and adults. On the roof of one of the terminals there is a pool with a view of the runway, and many transit passengers prefer to spend their time here. And in Changi there are real gardens – cactus, sunflower, orchid, as well as an amazing tropical butterfly garden – breathtaking in their dazzling and fragile beauty.
Locals come to the airport on weekends and spend many hours here, escaping the exhausting tropical heat, strolling, having fun, shopping. By the way, according to Singapore government policy, prices for the same goods are the same throughout the country, including the airport.
Singapore-style Safari
Singapore is so small and densely populated that it would seem every piece of land here should be tightly built up with residential buildings, supermarkets, banks and business centers. That's true, and yet in the city, a significant part of which was reclaimed from the sea after independence, many parks and squares have been arranged.
Perhaps the most impressive are Gardens by the Bay in the very center of the city, where land is terribly expensive. The main attraction of this place is the so-called supertrees, man-made (like almost everything in Singapore) 50-meter giants of metal and concrete with solar panels to light the park, special water collectors for irrigation and at the same time original ecosystems with tropical plants. Nearby are two tropical conservatories housing tens of thousands of plants and flowers from Africa, Southeast Asia, Australia, the Mediterranean, California and South America. The artificial waterfall in the Cloud Forest conservatory exudes a captivating mountain coolness – it's hard to believe that the equator is only 135 kilometers away.
The territory of Singapore was hardly suitable for life – mangrove forests and unhealthy tropical swamps, multiplied by the exhausting equatorial climate, required considerable endurance, good health and willpower from the settlers. Today everything is different: the swamps have been drained, replaced by magnificent natural parks. Areas of tropical forests alternate with ponds and small open 'savannahs'. In all parks there are paths, toilets, drinking fountains, small shops and cafes. It is always fresh in the dense foliage, but most importantly, you can observe wild animals, exotic birds and aquatic inhabitants sometimes at arm's length.
Jurong on the slope of a wooded hill is one of the best bird parks in the world. Here you can see pink flamingos, toucans, hornbills, unique Bali mynahs and nearly extinct Luzon bleeding-hearts. In the River Safari reserve, the flora and fauna of the Nile, Ganges, Congo, Yangtze, Mekong, Amazon and Mississippi are widely represented, including the giant salamander, pufferfish, tetra fish, anaconda and manatee. Tourists also take a short boat trip along a special channel that reproduces the Amazon ecosystem.
Many animals are nocturnal, when zoos are usually closed. However, at Singapore's Night Safari, guests are welcomed exactly at dusk. In the light of artificial moons, rhinos and elephants roam, leopards and hyenas creep, giraffes walk, and Indian wolves run.
Read the continuation of the article:
SINGAPORE: CITY-STATE (Part 2)