Slummin’ through Singapore
Delectable street food, collisions of cultures, and fascinating religious landscapes…
July 6, 2019
My first dinner in Singapore arrives—a feast of Malay-style beef, chicken, and prawn satay; Chinese-style wok-fried bok choy; and a cold Singaporean pilsner to cut through the tropical heat—at our plastic table among a sea of diners at La Pa Sat, a classic hawker center in Singapore’s business district. Individual street stalls are illegal in this city, but hawker centers are designated covered zones where dozens—even hundreds sometimes—of vendors sling delicious plates of cheap eats. As with all aspects of Singaporean life, hawker centers—although chaotic and frenzied—are highly regulated by the government; even the humblest purveyor of pork buns must meet the city’s strict health and sanitation code. Weaving through tables, moving trays, and a hungry dinnertime mob, I am mesmerized by the competing aromas and sights of an overwhelming variety of food. In one stall, fish heads stew in fragrant Indian curries. In another, Chinese noodles fry in a wok with char sui pork and from another rushes out a plate of chili crab, freshly made inside the stall’s dollhouse-sized kitchen…Later, we take post-prandial libations at Boat Quay, formerly a dock where skiffs ferried goods into the city from large ships, but nowadays a riot of food stalls, hole-in-the-wall dive bars, and a motley collection of ex-pats, backpackers, and locals.
Singapore, from the Sanskrit eponym Singha Pura (the City of the Tiger), has always punched above its weight. Located strategically on the Straits on Melaka, one of the busiest ship channels in the world, the island has been coveted since ancient times, trading hands between Javanese juggernauts Majapahit and Mataram, Arab and Malay sultanates, and European colonial powers. The Dutch controlled Singapore from the 15-19th centuries, until the British tired of paying the heavy taxes for their Chinese-bound opium-laden ships and wrested control of the area.
The three major ethnic groups that comprise Singapore today—Chinese, Malay, and South Asian—have shared the island since the era of British colonization. According to a statute enacted during the city’s infancy, ‘The Raffles Plan for Singapore’, residents are registered under one of these ethnic categories or under a fourth category, simply ‘Other’. The four ethnic groups were assigned neighborhoods and professions, patterns that remain intact even in Singaporean society today. The Chinese remain the dominant group—demographically, culturally, and economically. As in the case of other crossroads in Southeast Asia, Chinese traders have resided in Singapore for centuries; however, their numbers increased dramatically in the last century, many arriving as refugees from the horrors of the Cultural Revolution. The Malay are the indigenous inhabitants of Singapore, as well as the entire region referred to as Tenggara (i.e. Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and almost all of Southeast Asia up until Melanesia). Southeast Asians—colloquially dubbed Tamils—have had a historical connection with the lands of Southeast Asia for millennia (their ancient language lending the city its name), as evinced by the number of ancient Hindu Shrines across Malaya, such as the Batu Caves shrine to Murugan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The population of South Asians further increased when the British brought Indian soldiers and laborers to Singapore, as was their wont across their empire. The final group, “Other”, refers to a mélange of smaller ethnic groups—Nigerians, Philippinos, North American and European ex-pats, and many others.
In 1965, Singapore gained independence from Great Britain, but the no-nonsense character of their former rulers continues to dominate the politics, penal code, economic approach, and general personality of the city-state. Lee Kuan Yew, the first Prime Minister of Singapore, was both a Confucian scholar and an Anglophile who had been educated in elite British schools. His state-building blended elements from classical China and colonial England. An old ex-pat friend of mine in Singapore, himself a survivor of a decade in the British boarding school system, remarked that Lee Kuan Yew ruled Singapore like a stern housemaster would a dormitory of adolescent boys—meting out uncompromising, tough-love punishment. Singapore continues to reserve caning, a brutal skin-lacerating beating with a heavy cane, as a standard punishment.
Singapore can seem idyllic: The country is among the richest per capita in the world. The government provides free housing for its citizens. Crime and corruption are almost nil. It is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Asia, if not the world. In the week that I stayed there, I do not recall seeing a single homeless person (this changed once I arrived in China). However, the façade of an urban island-paradise quickly crumbles once you break the rules. Singapore regularly executes criminals by hanging (another legacy from the colonial British), the majority of the condemned indicted for drug-related crimes. Expats who breach Singapore’s well-defined boundaries will find themselves swiftly expelled from the country. Fighting, disorderly conduct, public drunkenness, and related forms of poor decision-making are also liable to get you tossed out for good. Having to pack up and leave the country can happen even without brushes with the law; ex-pats who lose their jobs or test positive for HIV in a Singaporean clinic are invited to kindly leave.
Beholding its gorgeous and iconic skyline, it’s obvious that Singapore is among the most booming economies on Earth. In many ways the nation is more comfortable and first-world than the US (…smart-toilets will be missed); in others, such as freedom of speech and human rights, the country is among the most oppressive and draconian. The astounding diversity of the city has created rich and dynamic culinary traditions and an insane concentration of culture in a small area. On the other hand, this ethnic diversity exists under an unspoken yet rigid racial hierarchy. There is enough to see in Singapore to easily spend 5-7 days there (although it can get expensive, especially compared to neighboring countries). As long as you play by the rules, the Tiger City will be good to you, for visiting or living long term. As my friend put it, “It’s a great place to live, but you can’t be an asshole in Singapore.”
Things to do in Singapore:
Eat at the Hawker Centers: The assortment of food here will never cease to amaze and titillate. Singapore has more than its fair share of Michelin Star chefs, but unforgettable meals can be had all across the city in hawker centers for as little as $3-5 USD. Kaya Toast, chicken rice, prawn noodle, fish head curry, katong laksa…The Singaporean classic dishes are innumerable and all worth trying.
Visit Gardens by the Bay: This bayside park contains the iconic ‘supertrees’, a park of gargantuan metal tree-like structures draped with real plants. They actually do look super cool, especially when illuminated at night. Next to the supertrees are the world’s largest greenhouses, containing plants and trees from around the world.
Visit Little India: Ah, the sensory delights to be found here—perhaps the most famous Little India in the world. Come around dinner to the area around Mustafa Center (the largest mall in Singapore), and you will feel like you’ve been transported to a culinary bastion in Mumbai or Chennai. What’s amazing about Little India is that cuisines and cultures are represented in roughly equal proportions from all parts of the Subcontinent in a concentrated enclave.
Kampong Glam (the Muslim Quarter): This neighborhood, traditionally a launching point for Muslims from SE Asia embarking on Hajj, is primarily comprised of Malay; ‘kampong’ translates to ‘village’ or ‘community’ in that language. Arab traders have resided and worked in Kampong Glam for centuries, and food from around the Muslim world can be found here. After a hearty meal of Nasi Lemak or Beef Rendang, check out the Malay Heritage Museum and the Sultan Mosque—well worth a few hours.
Chinatown: The fact that Singapore has a Chinatown was surprising to me, seeing as Chinese characters dominate the entire city and the Chinese themselves are the largest ethnic group here. Nonetheless, they were a minority in Singapore when the city’s ethnic neighborhoods were drawn up, and this area was designated by the 19th century by the ‘Raffle’s Plan for Singapore’ to be the Chinese ghetto. Check out ‘Food Street’ for lunch—the name says it all, and you won’t be disappointed. The Chinese in Singapore are primarily Hokkien and Cantonese (from South China), and their cuisine tends to emphasize seafood and rice noodles. The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple is a must-see and easily requires a few hours. The temple is 4-5 stories tall, and the Buddha’s tooth, contained in a gold-leaf-encrusted room, is on the top floor.
Nightlife: Boat Quay and the bar-laden streets and alleyways behind it are bumping in the wee hours. In the same vicinity, there are some solid breweries and countless good restaurants—Japanese, Korean, European—intermixed with lively watering holes. Although the heat, even at night, can be stifling, keep in mind that many clubs require gentleman to wear pants and closed-toed shoes.
