An Interlude in Singapore

Text and photos by Piero Cogoni.

A stopover on the journey to Australia to shake off a bit of jet lag. Having arrived from Thailand, we stayed seven days to visit this city-state at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. Here too you find the hot, humid climate typical of South-East Asia, and we never found a day with a clear, clean sky; even the colours of the photos are affected by the weather. Among the interesting things to visit there is certainly Sentosa Island, a green lung ideal for resting from the frenzy of the city, where you can visit the park, the botanical garden; by monorail you cross part of the island, since much of it is devoted to resorts and golf courses. A boat trip in the bay is also worthwhile to admire the skyscrapers (possibly in the evening when they're lit up) and through the canals with short stops in front of Singapore's very symbol, the Merlion, from which it takes the name "Lion City".

The heart of shopping is Orchard Road, especially around the Mandarin Hotel area, the classic Chinatown and Arab Street. A typical example of a Hindu temple worth visiting, which I photographed with its roof covered in the symbols of Hinduism. Along the Boat Quay canal you find old historic buildings now turned into restaurants serving cuisine from all over the world, among modern skyscrapers. A curiosity that's extremely important: in order to make people of different nationality, social background and religion from the four corners of the world coexist here, they invented a very simple system of democratic coexistence.

There's a hefty fine for every offence a person might commit, from spitting on the ground, dropping a cigarette butt, to any rudeness towards others and the environment around them, with an excellent result: a very clean and tidy city, and the sale of T-shirts for tourists listing everything that's forbidden here - a pity I didn't buy one. Happy travels to you, wherever you are.