“Why Singapore?” some of our mystified friends and colleagues asked when my wife, Susan, and I announced, more than five years ago, that we were leaving our home in West Medford and our jobs in Greater Boston for a two-year stint in Singapore, a remote and tiny country somewhere in far-away Southeast Asia.
“And where exactly is Singapore, anyway?” some puzzled folks asked. “Is it part of China, or what?”
Now everyone knows that Americans have never been very good at geography. Singapore, long a British colony, and for a brief period part of Malaysia, has been an independent republic (and officially a city-state) since 1965.
The “Lion City,” as it is often called, sits in the South China Sea nestled just below the Straits of Johor and its much larger neighbor, Malaysia, and north of the many islands of a sprawling Indonesia. Though small, it is now acknowledged to be one of the most progressive countries around and not just in Asia but throughout the world.
Susan and I went to Singapore because, after many years of living and working in Greater Boston, almost all in higher education (Susan most recently at Wheelock College in Boston, me at Curry College in Milton), we had always dreamed of living abroad, and this was to be our chance.
We would be helping to launch Wheelock College’s new baccalaureate degree in early childhood educational studies and leadership, an innovative program supported by Singapore’s Ministry of Education and located on the campus of one of Singapore’s premier academic institutions, Ngee Ann Polytechnic.
We first signed a contract for two years, then stayed for a third, then another and finally a fifth, loving our amazing students and new friends and colleagues, soaking up the warm tropical weather, comfortable with the pace of life in the country and admiring the exotic and diverse Singapore population, the extraordinary cuisine and culture and fascinated by our numerous travels to neighboring countries.
Our Singapore adventure became the great experience of our lives, and a rich bridge to our semi-retirement back home today in Medford.
Singapore, for centuries a nondescript fishing village ruled periodically by Malay Peninsula kings and sultans, entered the modern age in 1819, when Thomas Stamford Raffles of the British East India Company sailed into Singapore (then called “Temasek,” or “sea town”). Recognizing its strategic location for trade, he started the development of an infrastructure which would eventually make the city-state into the second largest port in the world.
Early on, Singapore became one of Britain’s so-called “Straits Settlements,” which also included Malacca and Penang in Malay (now Malaysia).
Commerce and international trade are two of the engines that continue to make the Singapore economy one of the most robust in the world, with Singaporeans now enjoying the third highest per capita income on the planet.
Raffles is a huge and revered figure in Singapore’s fascinating history, and his name still decorates many schools, commercial buildings, thoroughfares and other public sites. But the true George Washington of modern Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, a lawyer and then forceful political leader, came much later.
Lee was the central figure, after the brutal 1942-1945 Japanese occupation during World War II, in the emergence of the People’s Action Party and the drive toward independence, first from Britain and then later from Malaysia in 1965.
Lee — tough, ambitious and a no-nonsense professional — was a man with an overriding vision of what Singapore could become, was named Singapore’s first prime minister, a position he held for many years.
He still lives at 88 years of age to witness in old age many of the fruits of his labor. Lee’s eldest son, Lee Hsien Loong, is the current prime minister.
Susan and I, inveterate travelers, first visited Singapore, on a post-Vietnam War tour of Southeast Asia, in 1976. The country then was just beginning its frenzied modernization, but rickety food stalls still cluttered the streets, sanitation was still erratic, the now-famous Raffles Hotel (home of the Singapore Sling), which today seems to rival the Palace of Versailles, was in disarray and the dazzling architecture which now dominates the urban skyline along the Singapore River had yet to be raised.
And construction of the ubiquitous Housing Development Board (HDB) flats, which now provide subsidized private housing for some 80 percent of Singaporeans, had just begun.
The flats are not rented or leased, which was surprising to us; Singapore’s citizens actually own them.
As a result, there is little or no apparent homelessness in Singapore, just as unemployment remains relatively uncommon. At last report, joblessness is a fact of life for less than 2 percent of Singaporeans who wish to work.
Singapore’s population, in a country that stands some 24 miles from east to west and nine miles from north to south, today stands at around 5.2 million people, 27 percent of whom are expatriate or foreign workers like Susan and me.
There are currently four public universities, all with excellent reputations and some with close ties to prestigious American colleges and universities. Besides Ngee Ann Polytechnic, which is partnered with Wheelock College, there are also four other polytechnics, which offer diplomas through a three-year course of studies.
The public and private schools are also commonly rated to be among the best in Asia. Singapore’s museums are many and varied and the expansive Asian Civilizations Museum is now headed by the former curator of the Gardner Museum in Boston. Parks are plentiful and the rolling Botanic Garden, with its spectacular orchids, is ranked among the best anywhere.
The cultural scene, headed by the lively Singapore Symphony and numerous others, is serious about supporting both Western and Asian composers, artists and writers and the young talent in flourishing.
Transportation? We didn’t need a car, because the transportation system, public and private — buses, subways, and taxis — is unfailingly dependable. But we also walked — boy, did we walk!
The economic success of Singapore is what has increasingly drawn the attention of the outside world (President Obama has visited), but we were equally impressed by the way a country with such a diverse ethnic and religious population (Chinese-Singaporeans, of course, are still in the majority) has long managed to avoid significant tension, strife and conflict between the various constituencies.
A special commission, representing all major faiths (Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Christianity), works tirelessly to keep lines of communication open among and between all groups.
Although English is the official language, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), Malay and Tamil are respected and still in use by many.
And most importantly, all HDB flats must contain a population which mirrors the population profile of the country itself. Thus, there are few if any ghettoes in Singapore.
Singapore in the past decade has become a major tourist destination for Asians, Europeans and increasingly travelers from the United States and Canada. The two new casinos, with oversight and investment from Las Vegas, are part of the draw, but many people come to Singapore to enjoy the fine restaurants, super shopping in the many malls, a spic-and-span environment and little threat of crime or violence.
Singapore is located just north of the equator, so temperatures are constant year-round from 80 to 88 degrees Fahrenheit. Rain is frequent, but most showers are quick bursts, allowing most tennis and soccer matches, except when the showers are infrequently larger storms, to continue with only short interruptions.
The country is also free of earthquakes, typhoons, hurricanes and tsunamis.
Having pointed out the virtues, I need to report that Singapore is by no means perfect.
Thomas More, in his famous book “Utopia,” pointed out that the idea of a utopia — literally “no place” — is not possible, whatever the time or circumstance.
Singapore is expensive, and becoming even more so: automobiles are ridiculously costly. On the other hand, important benefits like health care are relatively inexpensive.
But Singapore’s reputation is tainted among some by its strict laws on drug trafficking, which can result in death sentences for those convicted of possession of a certain quantity of illegal substances.
Caning is controversial but is not uncommon for serious offenses. Other trivial missteps, such as littering, jaywalking, selling chewing gum and being guilty of public graffiti can sometimes lead to aggressive fines and penalties.
As harsh as these laws may seem, the advocates of strict penalties point to the near-absence of serious drug abuse. When visiting Singapore, you will not see unsightly littering in the subways or sit on a chewed stick of gum that has been deposited on a park bench.
And finally, there are those who accuse Singapore’s government of clamping down on free speech. In our five years in Singapore, we didn’t observe a clear case of such intimidation, but we do agree that self-censorship, given Singapore’s somewhat contentious history, may play a role in the way Singaporeans express themselves publicly in the media.
Still, the poets and playwrights we met seemed to write, without second thought, from the heart.
In summary, these days Singapore, the Lion City, is roaring!
David Fedo was the former execuctive director of Wheelock’s bachelor of science program in early childhood educational studies and leadership in Singapore, and for 17 years the former academic vice president and dean at Curry College. Susan Fedo was an instructor in the Wheelock College program in Singapore, and the former human resources director for six years at Wheelock in Boston.