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The Fantasy and the Cyberpunk Futurism of Singapore

wired.com

11–20 of 87 posts

Re: The Fantasy and the Cyberpunk Futurism of Singapore

#11
post #2

Strange place. I was amazed how many homeless there are - which will be denied, when mentioned. I guess the people sleeping on the walkway to Louis Vuitton island were not homeless? The sleeping people in the underpasses, sleeping under signs saying not to sleep there also?

My impression actually is there are far fewer homeless, compared to say portland or LA.

there are homeless in Singapore seriously?

Re: The Fantasy and the Cyberpunk Futurism of Singapore

#12
post #2

Strange place. I was amazed how many homeless there are - which will be denied, when mentioned. I guess the people sleeping on the walkway to Louis Vuitton island were not homeless? The sleeping people in the underpasses, sleeping under signs saying not to sleep there also?

My impression actually is there are far fewer homeless, compared to say portland or LA.

I suspect you are correct, compared to Seattle, as well.

However, the War Memorial Park had a couple hundred people sleeping rough every day for the two weeks I stayed there last year. And the year before.

Re: The Fantasy and the Cyberpunk Futurism of Singapore

#13
post #6

Singapore is a weird place. During the flight, the stewardesses walked around and handed everybody something - I was expecting a wet towel, but in fact it was a card in multiple languages which says "If you are about to bring any amount of drugs into the country, you are going to be executed." Lovely first impression to set the tone. Other than the omnipresent paranoia, the thing that struck me as the most bizarre is…

Agreed on the observation about nothing for kids. I saw some, but even compared to Tokyo or Osaka, it was sparse.

Re: The Fantasy and the Cyberpunk Futurism of Singapore

#14
post #2

Strange place. I was amazed how many homeless there are - which will be denied, when mentioned. I guess the people sleeping on the walkway to Louis Vuitton island were not homeless? The sleeping people in the underpasses, sleeping under signs saying not to sleep there also?

Plus, the massive number of the elderly working in difficult or dangerous jobs like taxi drivers, janitors, cleaners at food courts. Very strange and somehow felt like an unkind system for people who are not “productive”

Re: The Fantasy and the Cyberpunk Futurism of Singapore

#15
post #6

Singapore is a weird place. During the flight, the stewardesses walked around and handed everybody something - I was expecting a wet towel, but in fact it was a card in multiple languages which says "If you are about to bring any amount of drugs into the country, you are going to be executed." Lovely first impression to set the tone. Other than the omnipresent paranoia, the thing that struck me as the most bizarre is…

> a card in multiple languages

The version that I remember is this one

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/92/De...

but I'm sure there are other versions sending the same message!

> everything is concentrated to a district

I've also noticed this in São Paulo, Brazil, which reportedly has about 60 streets with particular kinds of specialized retail.

https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruas_de_com%C3%A9rcio_especial...

(I remember visiting the commercial kitchen supply street because I wanted to bake some cupcakes, and cupcake tins were considered a specialist item. I also feel like I once wandered into a street that specialized in plastic flowers—I guess probably R. Cantareira, which also seems to do a lot of other plastic stuff, or part of the nearby R. 25 de Março?)

> food was great though

The best I've ever eaten anywhere in the world, I think!

Re: The Fantasy and the Cyberpunk Futurism of Singapore

#16
post #13
post #6

Singapore is a weird place. During the flight, the stewardesses walked around and handed everybody something - I was expecting a wet towel, but in fact it was a card in multiple languages which says "If you are about to bring any amount of drugs into the country, you are going to be executed." Lovely first impression to set the tone. Other than the omnipresent paranoia, the thing that struck me as the most bizarre is…

Agreed on the observation about nothing for kids. I saw some, but even compared to Tokyo or Osaka, it was sparse.

Are Tokyo and Osaka notably sparse compared to American cities?

Re: The Fantasy and the Cyberpunk Futurism of Singapore

#18
post #6

Singapore is a weird place. During the flight, the stewardesses walked around and handed everybody something - I was expecting a wet towel, but in fact it was a card in multiple languages which says "If you are about to bring any amount of drugs into the country, you are going to be executed." Lovely first impression to set the tone. Other than the omnipresent paranoia, the thing that struck me as the most bizarre is…

I wonder, would there be an opportunity to flush any substances down the toilet, at that point? Sounds like a potentially terrifying situation, considering the number of stories I’ve heard from friends and family about accidentally flying with marijuana that they were unaware of was left over in a backpack or whatnot.

Re: The Fantasy and the Cyberpunk Futurism of Singapore

#19
post #18
post #6

Singapore is a weird place. During the flight, the stewardesses walked around and handed everybody something - I was expecting a wet towel, but in fact it was a card in multiple languages which says "If you are about to bring any amount of drugs into the country, you are going to be executed." Lovely first impression to set the tone. Other than the omnipresent paranoia, the thing that struck me as the most bizarre is…

I wonder, would there be an opportunity to flush any substances down the toilet, at that point? Sounds like a potentially terrifying situation, considering the number of stories I’ve heard from friends and family about accidentally flying with marijuana that they were unaware of was left over in a backpack or whatnot.

You would have to use the airplane toilet. Immediately after stepping off the plane, you are scanned by some kind of scanning IR(?) camera, which I assumed was looking for drugs. I actually had some vitamins in a baggie which I was shitting bricks about, but the actually immigration point was very polite and chill, much moreso than, say, JFK.

Re: The Fantasy and the Cyberpunk Futurism of Singapore

#20
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>almost nothing in the country is oriented around children. Spoken truly like someone who never left the airport.

I was there for nearly two weeks and explored as much as I could. That was my impression. I just checked, and Singapore actually does have the lowest fertility rate in the world, by a large margin: 0.83. The notorious infertile Japan is at 1.41. I think makes a difference to the culture.

You actually need to see where people live, hdbs to see schools, playgrounds and such. The low fertility rate is common amongst developed countries. On the other hand, the government has explicit policies to encourage marrying, like not offering hdbs to single people under 35. You certainly won't see families if you don't leave the downtown area.

I'm implying two weeks isn't representative of the city as a whole. The article did a better job of it.

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