Concrete Paradise: Singapore is -and is not - a Global Exception

While the nation's people and history are a marvel, it is not too hard to notice the underclass powering the Lion City's lifestyle and development.

just look at that dynamic development

My long running perception of Singapore was shaped in my youth by its curiously barbaric portrayal in Pirates of the Caribbean, but much of the world probably reflects on it more through its majestic skyline and overwhelming opulence depicted in the likes of Crazy Rich Asians. Yes, this is a wealthy place, and many are 'crazy rich,' but once again was I reminded both of 1) how Average Income Measured by Purchasing Power Parity is so highly arbitrary that it arguably comes out to mean nothing at all and 2) how not only do differing values create different realities of wealth and well-being, but so too do differing statuses of residency.

This is THE city-state. It is well integrated in both its global and local economy, boasting a metropolitan population of around 9 million but with at least 2 million of those being non Singaporean citizens - or even residents (Case-in-point, note the hive of Malaysian development in Johor next to it). The actual nation-state is a an ONGOING master in urban planning - despite a long diverse history that has seen almost the whole of the region occupied and developed in one way or another, I was stunned by the City Museum's exhibits on active redevelopment of the country's neighborhoods, almost all areas of which are occupied and developed presently This redevelopment is sure to displace the city's poor and even middle class in the name of a housing supply that is almost entirely controlled and subsidized by the government, but don't expect to hear a peep out of local Social Justice Warriors (assuming they exist). Gentrification-zealots be damned, only one traditional village remains in Singapore and it is very hard to get to (probably on purpose).

I did it! I found the lower class!

Like much of Asia, it is a shopping mall paradise, but its prices are beyond Western Levels, akin to the West's Megacities but certainly more bang for your buck than Europe's. That's not to say affordable alternatives for the ever-present underclass (and alternative tourist) are available. Those cafeterias are known as Hawker Stalls- but this is again part of the old Singapore the city's leaderships would rather disappear.

The People of the Peranakan

Whereas Malays dominate 60%+ of Malaysia, it is the ethnic Chinese in Singapore- perhaps THE reason why the states conducted an amicable divorce in early independence. The state also boasts Malays, Southern Indians, and a plethora of wealthy elite from all around the globe. But don't be fooled, these Chinese, Indians, whites, and others are much more than just simple expats; dare I say they are THE expats. A whole museum is dedicated to those known as 'Peranakan,' ethnic groups who develop their own unique culture that factors in their origin ethnic-state as well as the values and lifestyle inherent to the merchant-class setting that is Singapore. Primarily of Chinese and Indian background, you can make the argument that any community that stays intact abroad could be 'Peranakan.' The closest I can compare this to is the Ethnic-American Experience; in my case, Serbian-American. By leaving for America but also holding onto components of our East European culture, we are technically neither - a true hybrid that European expats who, say, remain in continent Europe never are. Of course, unlike our Singaporean counterparts, we are not the domineering ethnicity in a nation-state and therefore unable to shape it in our explicit economic and social interests. Actually, that Singapore's Peranakan interests tend to be so mutually peaceful and dynamic for both the country and global economy makes them polar opposite to anything Balkan...

The citizenry of Singapore are, then, less so America's nation of immigrants, and moreso a nation of immigrant communities. They co-habitate on economic and socially development but remain segregated to their home communities, for better and for worse. This is made easier when the central immigrant community is a group as geared toward positive social development as ethnic Chinese - especially when the roots and influence of the mainland are now as good as null. We can see this reflected in the nation's politics, essentially a cooperative one party state that is only a bit more coercive and less fair than the Japanese Political Model. It certainly has made the region sophisticated, orderly and advanced. Especially considering the lack of diversity in Asia writ-large, this is especially impressive- but of course it also helps that the nation is small and at the tip of multiple regions.

Singapore's Independence Day: They're feeling themselves

Fear not, my fellow haters, Singapore is still full of contempt beyond just a high cost of living. While its highly skilled and high income labor can, for the most part, slide into legal status via investment, most of its immigrants come from a route significantly less Canadian. Meet the aforementioned underclass: Citizens of all backgrounds and nationalities, but mostly poor South and Southeast Asians, who can apply through a strict visa process to work demanding minimalist jobs that keep Singapore a vibrant service sector. These citizens operate below the glittering statistics of Singapore's wealth and upward mobility and instead in a zone a lot more familiar for the developing world, albeit safer and with more coherent social services.

FYI clean sidestreets are still sidestreets

If they are lucky, this underclass can (eventually) apply for the event stricter status of permanent residence, but make no mistake, permanent residence and citizenship are not the same. And like much of the world, birth in said country does not bestow its citizenship; it technically does not even bestow you with permanent residence. Most aggressively, Singapore demands you tear up your old citizenship (with limited exceptions for children who must decide by males' mandatory service age whose citizenship they want to have); after all, this nation of groups cannot continue to be a nation of groups if they are split between loyalties from home countries. That rings too much of an expat nation, and we know Singapore is not that.

So this crown jewel is a beautifully developed place indeed. It relies on lingering inequalities like anywhere else, although expectations for wealth are still non-Western. Walking around its various parts, you can very quickly understand that their 150k+ lifestyle is not lived the way it would be in America. These living quarters are apartments, with land tight and resources limited. Water is drinkable, the only place in the region, but still scarce and very expensive. And financial values are simply different, with surpluses saved in the bank or inveted in the markets. After all, for such a young and small nation-state, who knows what may happen. That is not to say flushes of wealth are absent, but overall, the Singapore citizen, just as I have seen with many ethnic Chinese abroad, is a saver. Peranakans can easily pride themselves on a history unique to any Asian nation; their habits, though, prove much more familiar.

Singapore's Airport: I mean who the fuck really needs this?