Overall Singapore is the best city I have ever visited. It was like an oasis of calm after travelling in Sri Lanka and India for three weeks. Cars stop to let you cross the road, the streets are cleaner than any other city, people are generally more respectful to one another and their surroundings.
Public transport around the city is top notch, the tube (MRT) is easy to understand and all the trains are fitted with air conditioning. It’s quick, efficient and easy to zip around the city using the underground trains and overground buses. Taxi’s are great too, they are all metered and we didn’t get messed around once.
I saw a sign advertising 4G connectivity at 150 mbps that’s three times more bandwidth on a mobile device than I currently get at home with a fibre optic cable. The possibilities for this kind data transfer while on the move is mind blowing.
The city is also investing heavily in tech companies and development. I was told that any tech company founded in Singapore will get 2 years corporation tax relief and even after two years the standard rate is just 15%. They are very open to visa applications from entrepreneurs as long as you have education or experience to suggest you can run a business. Also for new companies that are looking for funding the government offers grants equal to what you can raise from venture capitalists. They will effectively double whatever funding you can raise.
The reason I visited Singapore was because it was the weekend of the F1 Grand Prix. The only night race and one of the few remaining street races on the GP circuit. The atmosphere was like a carnival and was less serious than European events. I think many of the people there were more interested in the party or “to be seen” there rather than actually holding any interest in the racing. It was a great event and partying went on well into the early hours of Monday morning.
The food in Singapore is as diverse as the ethnicities of the population. Everything from boiled bat (cures asthma apparently) to croissants. Like in any major city the restaurants vary a lot in price and quality and some of the best food I had was from a small, tucked away Chinese bar which served duck noodles to die for.
It is one of the few cities I could actually see myself living in and enjoying for the short term. If you are ever in Asia Singapore is a refreshing, charming and fun place to go. It seems the government, which is apparently run like a business, strives to be the best at everything and they are doing a great job.
