Singapore: the Lion City

Singapore is an incredibly developed and fascinating island country located in Southeast Asia. It is a great example of a place that provides different experiences depending on how you visit it. For example, the first time my parents went there about 20 years ago, they did not enjoy it at all because they did not know any locals and could not get good recommendations. However, when they came back 13 years later, they were captivated by the beauty and energy of the city as well as the amount of interesting museums of all kinds and of course, the incredible local and international food.

My first time in Singapore was already amazing because a family friend that lived there for many years showed us around and brought us to little places that a typical tourist wouldn’t go to. She showed us the real authentic culture of the city which represents its history. Ever since I have been going to Singapore almost every year including living there during the Covid pandemic which made me feel very connected to the local community and get a better understanding of their mentality and traditions.

A few things I learned while living there

• A huge part of the population speaks Singlish which is a mix of English, Malay, and Chinese which at first can be very hard to understand because it is quite different from the English we hear in Europe and they also use words at the end of sentences like “lah” which in reality doesn’t have a meaning or definition but it is definitely a word you will hear in every conversation. In simple words, it emphasizes a point and adds a Singaporean touch to the English sentence.

• Singapore is very safe but to keep it that way you need to respect the rules which there are quite a lot of and some might be unusual for tourists. It is a very clean country where smoking is allowed only in certain areas, littering is absolutely forbidden and so is chewing gum.

• It is a very advanced country so in shopping malls or some restaurants there are no human servers, there are robots to take orders, collect them and bring them to you. With that being said, a lot of the things are online like purchasing tickets, looking at time tables and the ordering culture is huge so you can order anything online from medicine to flowers to furniture and it will be delivered within hours because most shops are opened until as late as midnight.

About the culture, traditions and history

Singapore became independent in 1965 when it separated from Malaysia and started growing actively. Despite Singapore being quite a small country it has a lot of history and culture which is seen in the local landmarks. Even though I have been there over 10 times, I always go to a couple of places because they never fail to impress me. There are a lot of very innovative places that really make you feel like you are in the city of the future but also there are very cosy historical places that take you back decades and decades. It is very easy to walk over 20 000 steps in Singapore because everything is spread out and the views around are beautiful. Singapore has a population of about 5.9 million people but the majority of them come from China, Malaysia, and India. Nonetheless, no matter where you’re from I can assure you that you will feel included when in Singapore because it is one of the most culturally diverse places I have ever been to.