SINGAPORE: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE

When I was a freshman in high school, a high-profile case out of Singapore made international news. An American teenager going to school there, only a few years older than I was at the time, was caught as part of a group of rowdy kids vandalizing cars, tearing down street signs, and doing other stupid things. What was controversial was the differences in punishment between the US and Singapore. Basically, Singapore doesn't mess around when it comes to this kind of behavior: he was assigned to 4 months prison time, a fine of more than US$2000--and six strokes from a bamboo cane. Many Americans thought the caning was too excessive for a teenager. They did compromise and reduce it to four strokes. Although many Americans were upset with the way it rolled out, there were also many Americans who made the point that you are subject to the laws and ordinances of wherever you visit. 

The name Singapore comes from the Malay word Singapura, which is based on the Sanskrit words simha ("lion") and pura ("town"). For this reason, they're often known as Lion City, even though there were never really any lions in this area. The main central island is known as Pulau Ujong and means "island at the end" because of its location on the end of the Malay Peninsula.

Besides Pulau Ujong, Singapore consists of 62 other islands located in the Singapore Strait at the end of Malaysia and across from the Riau Islands of Indonesia. The Johor Strait separates Singapore from Malaysia and is so narrow, it pretty much looks like a river. Because of urbanization on this limited landmass, Singapore has lost nearly 95% of the forests that were once there. However, in the late 1960s, the government started promoting more green space and gardens, thus giving itself the nickname Garden City. The islands are in a tropical climate, so there are no distinct seasons outside of rainy and dry.

In ancient times, it has been referred to by many names and included as part of local poetry. Once referred to as Temesek, it was considered part of the Indian Kingdoms. Portuguese sailors arrived in the early 1600s and burned down the settlement known as Fort Canning, and the island was generally left alone for the next couple of centuries. Sir Stamford Raffles, a British statesman known for establishing British settlements in the East Indies, arrived in Singapore in 1819 and thought it would be a prime location for a new port for the British East India Company. The sultanate was unstable at the time, and through some shady finagling, he was able to secure the exiled older brother back into Singapore as long as they let him build the port. They did, and Singapore got its start. In 40 years, the population grew from around 1000 to nearly 80,000 as many people from all over arrived to work on the plantations (mainly pepper and gambier at that time). By the 1890s, rubber had become a cash crop, and this area became a global hub for it. After WWI, the British began building a large naval base there; it was finally completed just at the onset of WWII. With the Japanese invasion of British Malaya, the base proved to be moderately useful when the Battle of Singapore took place in 1942. However, it was a huge loss to the British, with about 85,000 captured and 5000 killed (mostly Australians, though). After the war, there were riots and revenge killings and general pandemonium. Food shortages, damaged infrastructure, unemployment, and disease didn't help either. The failure of the British to help rebuild didn't go unnoticed in the eyes of Singaporeans, and thus began talks of anti-colonialism and independence. Chinese communists began to fight against the government during the 1950s, and in 1959 they voted to be a commonwealth with Lee Kuan Yew as their first Prime Minister. At that time Singapore was part of the Federation of Malaysia (made of Malaya, Singapore, Brunei, North Borneo [British territory], and Sarawak [British territory]). However, Singapore disagreed with Malaysia on some key issues, and basically they were voted out. They became the Republic of Singapore in 1965 with that exit, and their first few years started off on a somewhat rocky start. However, it didn't take long for them to establish their place in the world. Their higher-tech economic policies helped push them from a third-world country into a world leader. The Port of Singapore is now one of the busiest ports in the world. Although they weathered through some natural disasters, public health and financial crises, they recently made the news a few months ago as offering a neutral ground for Trump and Kim Jong-un to hold the first meeting between the US and North Korea.

Supertrees a the Garden by the Bay

Singapore is a city-state (like Monaco and the Vatican), so it's capital is... Singapore. However it's divided into planning areas: 55 areas across five separate regions. Of these planning areas, Bedok is the largest with nearly 290,000 people. Singapore has become a world center for finance, education, trade, tourism, and often is ranked high on a number of global lists.

Singapore's economy is not only ranked as one of the highest in Asia, but in the world. It's often ranked as one of the freest and one of the easiest to do business with, and it has shown immense growth over the past several decades. However, it's also ranked as one of the most expensive cities to live in (they're also known for having the largest percentage of millionaires). It's viewed as a tax haven with low unemployment and is known for its zero tolerance when it comes to corruption. And it's for these reasons that nearly 7000 multinational companies have chose to create branch locations in Singapore. Because of and leading to this multi-ethnic environment, around 44% of the workforce consist of foreign or immigrant workers. There's no minimum wage in Singapore, believing it adds to the competitiveness of business, but what it really adds to is a larger gap in income inequality. 

Buddhism is the main religion of Singapore, with nearly a third of its population practicing it. Because of its location and history, there are quite a few followers of Christianity as well, followed by Islam, Taoism, and Hinduism. Surprisingly, there are a significant number of people who do not adhere to any particular religion at all. A Pew Research Center study concluded that Singapore is one of the most religiously diverse, yet conservative, countries in the world. 

There are four languages in Singapore that have been granted official status: English, Mandarin Chinese, Malay, and Tamil. Of these languages, English is the most common language in terms of government, business, and education. Documents may be written in the other languages, but it also has to be translated into English as well. So, it seems like while they're all official, English (which is based on British English) is a little more official, although Malay has been seen as a national language in the past. And most Singaporeans are bilingual between English and one of the other languages. 

I'm not a fast walker. Well, ok, I'm generally faster than kids under 10. But that's mostly because I'm only 5-feet tall. Anyway, I came across this article about a British study of which countries produce the world's fastest walkers. It studied adults who were not on their phones or carrying excessive bags and timed how long it took them to walk 18 meters (about 59 feet). Singaporeans came out on top, averaging the trek in about 10.55 seconds. That just seems insane to me. I would die. I'm only hoping that means they're on their way to eating some fantastic Singaporean food somewhere. Now, I MIGHT walk that fast if there’s food or drink at the end.

Up next: art and literature

CHINA: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE

China is one of the most ancient places on earth, full of firsts and number ones. It’s the largest country by land situated entirely in Asia. It has the largest population in the entire world – at over 1.35 billion! It ties Russia with the most bordering countries at 14 (which are Mongolia, Russia, North Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, India, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan). It was a key inventor of paper and printing, gunpowder, and the compass. They also developed bells, pottery and cookware, forks, chopsticks, daggers, lacquer, noodles, silk cultivation and processing, coffins, rice and soybean cultivation, acupuncture, the zodiac, hand grenades, banknotes, blast furnaces, Mahjong toothbrushes, cast iron, chemical warfare, crossbow, dominoes (my husband would be happy), exploding cannonballs, fishing reels, flamethrowers, tofu, domestication of goldfish, helicopter rotors, harnesses for horses, incense, inoculation of small pox, the junk (type of boat), kites, landmines, matches, natural gas as fuel, negative numbers in math (bet the banks loved that), oil wells, pig iron, playing cards, puppet theatres, fireworks, menus in restaurants, rockets, tangrams, tea cultivation,  chain drives, and toilet paper. (I don’t know if ALL of that was true or not whether they “invented” it, but perhaps it’s more accurate to say that these things were developed by the Chinese.) So, we have a lot to thank the ancient Chinese. It’s this ingenuity that has developed our world as it is today.

Chinese history is divided into dynasties, which is when a series of rulers come from the same family. For the most part, these dynasties start about 2850 BC and last until 1912, with some notable exceptions where different groups were warring, etc. In 1912, Sun Yat Sen (part of the Kuomintang) was named the head of the country and took control from that moment on, establishing the Republic of China. Chiang Kai-shek forcibly took control of the established government in the late 1920s, and the Kuomintang under him moved the capital to Nanjing. In 1949, Mao Zedong pushed the country into the realms of communism, a philosophy that it still holds today. Mao Zedong was responsible for leading the Cultural Revolution, which was the push to get rid of capitalism; people were displaced and tortured, relics were destroyed, and cultural/religious sites were desecrated.  While China has opened itself up in certain ways with the rest of the world, censorship and oppression are still quite a common occurrence to ordinary Chinese.

The island of Taiwan (formerly “Formosa”) wants to be fully independent, but China has threatened to use military force if they make any actual formal declaration of independence. China considers them another province. Taiwan actually has one of the better economies in Asia and differs from China in the fact that it ranks highly in freedom of the press, health care, education, and human development.

Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas of the world. There are 7 million people living in 426 square miles. That’s like almost like forcing all of the residents of the Philadelphia, PA metro area to move into existing San Antonio, TX – no expansions, no San Antonio residents can leave, everyone just squeezes in and pretends they all enjoy it. Britain once had control of the island, and then signed a 99-year lease on it (with the exception of it being occupied by Japan during WWII), giving it back to the Chinese in 1997 when the lease was up. Hong Kong boasts one of the highest average IQ rates in the world, one of the longest life expectancies, one of the most traded currencies, highest per capital incomes, and ranks high in human development and quality of life. And yes, they do have a giant floating rubber duck in its harbor. 

Macau, along with Hong Kong, is also considered one of China’s special administrative areas. It also has a very high life expectancy and human development. The Portuguese actually had control of this area, so this is why you’ll find many Portuguese-speakers in Macau. The Portuguese handed this area over back to the Chinese in 1999. There's been a number of casinos going up in the past several years in Macau.

Tibet is a one of the western provinces in China that most people are at least familiar with by name because it’s made the news many times for wanting its independence as well. Tibetan Buddhism dominates the culture and lifestyle of Tibetans, and the have their own language that is very different from other Chinese provinces. Tibet was actually an autonomous region until the 1950s when they were forced to assimilate to “mainland” Chinese ways of life. There are several “free Tibet” groups out there in support of the autonomy and independence of Tibet.

Because China is such a large country, the landscape and climate varies greatly. The Gobi Desert covers part of China and Mongolia in the north and it can be quite cold in the northern regions near the Russian border. The southern areas of China are generally more subtropical and subject to seasonal monsoons. And this also causes China to have a fairly diverse flora and fauna. China is also famous for its bamboo forests and its pandas.

Over 70% of the people speak Mandarin Chinese, and the remaining 30% speak varieties of Chinese like Wu (Shanghaiese), Yue (Cantonese), Min, Xiang, Gan, and Hakka. Not all of these varieties are mutually intelligible with each other, but Mandarin is used as a lingua franca. China also has 56 ethnic groups living within its borders, with Han being the largest. In fact, Han Chinese is the largest single ethnic group in the world.

Taoism is probably the most widely adhered to religion in China, although a large number of Chinese people consider themselves non-religious. Buddhism does follow as a close second, but there are a number of other religions practiced in China, such as Christianity, Islam, Shamanism, and folk religions. Technically speaking, freedom of religion is on the books, but it remains subject to disagreement on the validity of this.

It almost seems that the US and China have a love-hate relationship. We do know a lot about China and its culture without having to do a lot of research. And a lot of this has entered our mainstream cultural as well. We have several Chinatowns across the country, as well as in other countries. Chopsticks, Chinese character tattoos, the Chinese film industry, the Great Wall, dragons, various martial arts (namely kung fu and ta’i chi), the zodiac, ping-pong tournaments, and Chinese food are something we’re all familiar with. But I’m hoping to find something new about this, something I didn’t know before. And I’m hoping that others will see China in a different light as well.

Up next: holidays and celebrations