Singapore Potpourri

A rendezvous last week end has left me wondering and bumbling with one word - SingaPura. Before my visit to this city state, when some folks used to acclaim it  as the modern day wonder, I used to dismiss them as people who are prone to exaggerations like the Sanskrit poets to whom we owe our literary heritage. But when I witnessed the country in the first person, I was awe stuck! It is definitely a prototype of modernity and urbanization.

When I say Prototype of modernity, I really mean each word. It’s a prototype because Singapore looks like a result of an ordered experiment with extreme controls. It’s modern because it’s a carefully arranged city with every element chosen for its refinement and utility. It’s a city built for the view and stay of the few! But for a person coming from a country, which almost gives the same (in some cases more) rights to domesticated animals on the roads as the humans, landing up in a country which has ordered the domesticated fauna out of the country - it’s a perplexing feeling miffed in a paradox of admiration (Oh! They can do that?)and suffocation (Would it just stop with our 4 legged counterparts?).

The ideal State….?

With a sea port and a benevolent weather (although a bit too hot for a Bangalorean) and a limited population, it actually comes close to the ideal city state concept explained by Aristotle. But what fails it is that it’s not a prototype which is self sustained. With no major production (including agriculture to automobile) under its belt it’s still a model with lot of cables running from outside to keep it up and running.  But in a world which lives by the day and is perplexed by the tomorrow, Singapore can walk away with the prize for being the epitome of Urbanization (at least for the moment).

It’s a city built for the view and every modern concept has found a house in this city. When the world is going bonkers with the global warming phenomena, Singapore seems to have got in tune a long time ago. Although having a high per capita utilization of automobiles, the city has made sure that it drives the higher end Euro engines which ooze less emission and the even stricter enforcement agencies which are feared. There is a conspicuous presence of greenery in every lane and the concrete jungle has been concentrated in few packets and greenery has been allowed to be in a free flow in large domains. It’s an aesthetically beautiful city when sun glows and a dazzling chandelier by the night.

The State of the State….

The contours of the main city are a point of wonderment and the Singapore Flyer confidently strides up the visitors to portray it. Every building seems to have added to the chorus and in fact they have been ordained to do so by the State. The state controls every piece of land even when it is privately registered and the fancy towards the Feng Shui is ominous with each building being ordered in a particular zone. The ‘Fountain of Wealth’ in the center of the city, springs up the Feng Shui inclination and behind each building’s modern exterior there holds a traditionalistic core.

There is nothing in this city that can’t be touched by the state, every voice can be heard and every step is seen. Machiavelli’s words of advice can be heard in the actions of the government here “It’s better to be feared than loved”. The citizens fear the state’s long arm and they love the result of this fear – an ordered life. Despite of the ordered urbanity, there is a sense of involuntariness in the city and for an Indian like me this is a bit suffocating thus we have a zone for breathing a familiar air as well. The thought of eternally presence ‘rule of law’ takes a mild deviation in the zone called the Little India but it’s not a mess, it’s a celebration of the Indianess – a bit careless, a bit relaxed and the willingness to test the sensitivity of the law!

Much of Singapore’s way of life can be captured in the Universal Studio attraction that it houses. It’s a city set up to dazzle and enthrall but yet everything is under control. The city is so urban and modern that it’s brinks in the zone of being artificial like those studio setups. But when the show’s over and the screen has dropped, the people behind are real and there is life like anywhere on the planet.