Two years ago my husband and I decided to move to Singapore.And amidst all the angst and worry about living in a foreign country, we absolutely love it over here.
We had been living in the UK for 7 years, and the idea of moving somewhere new was quite daunting, but also quite exciting. We had to leave our home, family and friends, and Button, our fat black and white cat. But we could also get to experience a different culture, and Asia was at our doorstep to travel around and experience even more new places.So we decided to make the move, and 2 years down the line we love it here, and are planning on extending our stay for at least another 2 years…
OK, so not to make you jealous or anything, but in Singapore, it’s summer all year round. The temperature is between 30 and 35 degrees – that’s Celsius – and yes, everyone here complains because it gets too hot. They duck inside somewhere where the air-conditioning is set to 18. We welcome the rain as it cools everything down, and the kids only come out to play when the sun has gone. Quite the opposite of London, where on the rare summers’ day, everyone is sitting in parks trying to make the most of it with shoes and socks off, trouser legs and shirt sleeves rolled up, and you end up going home red faced and sunburnt – along with everyone else – quite a funny site on the tube! But a necessity in London where you make the most of the sunshine when you get it – as your weekends could be full of rain.
Everyone asks me: “Don’t you get stifled by all the rules?” But the “no eating and drinking on the trains”– well, that keeps the trains clean, and they don’t smell; “no littering”, well, that keeps the streets clean;“no chewing gum” – ditto – imagine walking down Oxford Street in London and not seeing all the globs of gum stuck to the pavement. It’s pretty cool! The rules aren’t too bad, and everyone gets along really well, and the people are very friendly. And Public transport is so cheap. It costs about £1.50 a day to get to work, and a 30 minute taxi costs about £15.
Some facts for you:
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island city-state located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, lying 137 kilometers (85 miles) north of the equator. At 710.2 km2 (274.2 sq mi), Singapore, a microstate and the smallest nation in Southeast Asia, is by orders of magnitude larger than Monaco, San Marino, Andorra and Vatican City, the only other surviving sovereign city-states. There are about 4.9 million people living in Singapore.
Singapore is a multi-religious country. Around 51% of resident Singaporeans practice Buddhism and Taoism. About 15%, mostly Chinese, Eurasians, and Indians, practice Christianity – a broad classification including Catholicism, Protestantism and other denominations. Muslims constitute 14%, of whom Malays account for the majority with a substantial number of Indian Muslims and Chinese Muslims. Smaller minorities practice Judaism, Sikhism, Hinduism and others.
So next time you come to this side of the world, stop-over in Singapore for a couple of days, there is plenty to see and experience on this small Island I now call home. you’re always welcome, la!
