The Eyes of a Tourist

We had our first visitor last weekend. J.G., a friend from graduate school in Colorado, was in town for a job interview. Thankfully, after his interview he was able to spend the weekend with us. This gave us our first opportunity to re-visit the city and see familiar places with new eyes.

View of the Singapore River, with the Esplanade in the background.

We went downtown and walked along the Singapore river, stopping at the Fullerton Hotel, an icon of Singapore that used to be the Central Post Office. Now it's a 5-star hotel, with an incredible lobby and rooms far too expensive for us to ever stay. We then walked to the Merlion. There were hundreds of tourists along the river making their way to and from the statue - Vietnamese, Russian, Japanese, and others. Once we reached the Merlion, however, we were surprised to find it covered for renovation. Then we crossed the river and walked to the Esplanade, then went back up the river to Brewerkz for lunch and some good beer.

The next day we went to Little India, walked around a fresh food market, and ate a terrific vegetarian lunch. H. and I have eaten there twice in the past, so you could say we are regulars. We even seem to order the same dishes every time. It's always better with more people because we can try more dishes.

Fresh fruit stand on a Sunday morning in Little India.

Nan + jasmine rice + three kinds of curry = heaven.

After lunch, J.G. and I walked from Dhoby Ghaut to the U.S. Embassy. It's a long walk, about 2 miles, with a great deal of people watching along the way. We strolled through Emerald Hill, a wealthy neighborhood of renovated old homes.

Emerald Hill

Then we were back on Orchard Road, past all of the old shopping centers and the newest malls. Since it was Sunday, it was the day off for the tens of thousands of migrant workers who spend the other six days of the week cleaning homes, tending children, and working construction to build Singapore. The sidewalks are crowded with these workers. For the female domestic workers who live with their employers, the alternative to hanging out on Orchard Road would be to stay in their workplaces on their day off. The alternative for the construction workers would be to stay in the overcrowded sheds that serve as their accommodations on work sites.

The government and area businesses do not approve of loitering by all of these workers. So signs like the one here are posted all along the road: "No waiting. No crowding." This is nearly impossible to police, given that there are thousands of people in the streets. J.G. and I took photos of the signs, and he took some shots of the workers, too. I was aware of this situation, but since I seldom visit Orchard Road on a Sunday, I didn't have much experience with the sea of humanity there, nor had I noticed the signs before.

The real problem is a near absence of public space throughout the country. A friend recently sent me this link to Reclaim Land, a site dedicated to the issue of public space in Singapore. There is wonderful video and personal stories about space issues.

We recently encountered our own problems with this lack of public space. Last week we were awakened at 1am by a group of four young people chatting at a table on the ground floor of our building. Even when speaking in a conversational tone, their voices echoed throughout the building and woke us up. A cool breeze was blowing through the window, making their voices even louder. If it had been hot, I would have simply closed the window and turned on the A/C.

I felt so guilty when I went downstairs to ask them when they would finish talking. I didn't ask them to stop. I explained that I knew there was a severe lack of public space here, where they might otherwise be able to sit and chat. I asked how long they would stay, saying that if they wanted to stay, I would close my windows. But they said they would go elsewhere. I probably should have given them some money to go to the 24-hour cafe next door, but I didn't think about it at the time.