Singapore
It took quite a bit of sleuthing to find the dank food. You know, the homemade smoked duck soup.
What airport interior looks like this?
The central business district still evidences ancient traditions embedded in contemporary life. I saw three lion dance performances at high-end modern businesses to kick off a year of success.
Why an Indian Muslim street name in Chinatown? Because the area was never exclusively Chinese, but Indian, Muslim, Malays, Arabs and others lived and workers side by side in this merchant area. Indian Muslim traders were especially focused in the textile and garment businesses, paper goods and ceremonial supplies, paper effigies, opera costume supplies, masks and festival goods shops for the street performance cultur.
I was happy to see my Hindi friends waving down from the gopuram. I hadn’t realized how fond I’d become of them until they weren’t with me all of the time. And how fond I’d become of the intensity of the devotees.
The population here is diverse: Chinese, Malay, Indian, Eurasian and of course many subgroups within each. Although a significant portion of Singaporeans identify as having no formal religion, temples, mosques and churches stand side-by-side welcoming Hindus, Buddhists, Taoists, Muslims, Christians and Sikhs. The government is not leaving racial harmony up to chance and ethnic quotas in public housing where 80% of Singaporeans live, ensure that neighborhoods are mixed and no ethnic group becomes segregated. Schools celebrate Racial Harmony Day and emphasize multiculturalism and national identity over ethnic identity. Public holidays include Chinese New Year, Hari Rays Puasa, Deepavali, Christmas and Vesak Day. The laws defining religious incitement are broad and their enforcement strict. Politics and religion are separated; religious leaders are not allowed to use religious platforms for political endorsement or mobilization and politicians avoid framing politics in religious terms. Formed in 1949, even before Singapore’s independence in 1965, leaders from Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, Sikhism, Taoism and others meets regularly.
A very brief history. Singapore was under British control from 1819 when it established the British East India Trading Company there. The Japanese occupied it during WWII from 1942-1945. In 1958 Britain “allowed” it to govern itself internally, though it remained under British control for defense and foreign affairs. In 1963, Singapore joined the newly formed Federation of Malaysia and British sovereignty formally ended under the Malaysia Agreement 1963. But this relationship did not last long. Singapore was expelled in 1965 because the Malaysian government felt the relationship was too unstable. Singapore became a sovereign, independent republic overnight. The prime minister cried during a televised press conference because Singapore had no natural resources, it depended on Malaysia for its water supply, no army and deep ethnic tensions. And yet, within a generation Singapore became one of the world's wealthiest and most stable countries.