SINGAPORE if we hear the name then the first thing that comes to our mind is it is one of the developed countries in the world with extraordinary facilities to its citizens and attracts millions of tourists from around the world.
There are lots of history behind its development which I planned to write in next blog. Here I will give my view as it is I experienced.
When we are just some 1000 of meters to Singapore Changi Airport, we could see ships that are embarking and disembarking from Singapore port. When we approach still further, we could see beautiful man-made landscape gardens and water bodies.
As Singapore is known for its meritocracy, we could see those starting from Airport itself. They have electronic rating machine everywhere in airport right from washroom to immigration check counters with the name of the person responsible in it. We could rate based on how we feel and on our experience.
Singapore is a multilingual, multicultural & multiracial country. The official business language is English but still people speaks different languages. Below is the 'Welcome' written in different languages which the Singapore people speaks
I should be honest to say that the Tamil used here are more proper and less mix of English words. For example I have seen they used 'தளவரிசை' instead of 'Platform' in MRT startions.
One tip what I could give is lots of useful tourist information pamphlets are available in airport, pick the ones which are helpful.
Temperature in Singapore is always measured in ranges between Hot, Hotter or Hottest. I was carrying one jacket thinking it was December but that was of no use. We hardly get natural wind, so they installed giant fans in all public places. Always good to carry facewash cream, sunscreen protection cream and a towel with us when we are going out. I have seen many use small electric mobile fan which when attached to mobile, starts giving breeze. Once we get inside bus, MRT or malls then it will be cold as air-conditioners are installed. The best attire to roam around to Singapore is thin shorts and a tshirt.
Transportation facility is well connected with all the parts of the country as expected in any developed country. All the parts of the cities are well connected by metro trains with five different lines and operated by SMRT. And the buses are operated by SBSTransit with high frequency. The best way to pay for these transportation are by using ezLink smart card which can be recharged and can be used again, the minimum amount to recharge is S$10. We can get a copy of the MRT map from ticketing counter which helps us to plan our MRT route. One problem with bus service, they do not mention what the next stop is, so either we should count the number of stops we should cross before our destination or we should ask for help from co-passengers. Apart from MRT and buses, numerous number of taxis are available.
Number of personal vehicles are very very less in numbers and the reasons beings are
Housing for residents are managed by Singapore's Housing and Development Board. People cannot own a house but they can take it on lease for 99 years from the government. There are large varieties of flat types for all housing budgets. All apartments comes with amenities like play ground, small convention center and other basic amenities.
There are lots of history behind its development which I planned to write in next blog. Here I will give my view as it is I experienced.
When we are just some 1000 of meters to Singapore Changi Airport, we could see ships that are embarking and disembarking from Singapore port. When we approach still further, we could see beautiful man-made landscape gardens and water bodies.
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| Ariel view of Singapore |
As Singapore is known for its meritocracy, we could see those starting from Airport itself. They have electronic rating machine everywhere in airport right from washroom to immigration check counters with the name of the person responsible in it. We could rate based on how we feel and on our experience.
Singapore is a multilingual, multicultural & multiracial country. The official business language is English but still people speaks different languages. Below is the 'Welcome' written in different languages which the Singapore people speaks
 |
| Changi Airport |
I should be honest to say that the Tamil used here are more proper and less mix of English words. For example I have seen they used 'தளவரிசை' instead of 'Platform' in MRT startions.
One tip what I could give is lots of useful tourist information pamphlets are available in airport, pick the ones which are helpful.
Temperature in Singapore is always measured in ranges between Hot, Hotter or Hottest. I was carrying one jacket thinking it was December but that was of no use. We hardly get natural wind, so they installed giant fans in all public places. Always good to carry facewash cream, sunscreen protection cream and a towel with us when we are going out. I have seen many use small electric mobile fan which when attached to mobile, starts giving breeze. Once we get inside bus, MRT or malls then it will be cold as air-conditioners are installed. The best attire to roam around to Singapore is thin shorts and a tshirt.
 |
| Giant Fan installed in one of the MRTs |
Transportation facility is well connected with all the parts of the country as expected in any developed country. All the parts of the cities are well connected by metro trains with five different lines and operated by SMRT. And the buses are operated by SBSTransit with high frequency. The best way to pay for these transportation are by using ezLink smart card which can be recharged and can be used again, the minimum amount to recharge is S$10. We can get a copy of the MRT map from ticketing counter which helps us to plan our MRT route. One problem with bus service, they do not mention what the next stop is, so either we should count the number of stops we should cross before our destination or we should ask for help from co-passengers. Apart from MRT and buses, numerous number of taxis are available.
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| Clockwise from the top 1. City Bus 2. Taxi 3. Inside MRT 4. ChinaTown MRT station |
Number of personal vehicles are very very less in numbers and the reasons beings are
- Very high vehicle import tax, more than 100% of the vehicle cost
- Restriction on Certificate of Entitlement licence. Again this can exceed 100% of car value
- The life of the card should not exceed 10 years. This restriction makes Singapore second largest exporter of used cards next to Japan.
- Toll pricing. Singapore is the first country to introduce the ERP (Electronic Road Pricing) system. Thus in taxis we could see ERP charges in the bill, if we went via toll roads.
Housing for residents are managed by Singapore's Housing and Development Board. People cannot own a house but they can take it on lease for 99 years from the government. There are large varieties of flat types for all housing budgets. All apartments comes with amenities like play ground, small convention center and other basic amenities.
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| Housing units constructed by HDB |
