View of a Local in Singapore

19-year-old Singaporean Elaine is quite the character, as you can see from her photo. Elaine has lived in Singapore all her life and in this View of  a Local interview she shares her tips about Singapore. I’ve enjoyed many, fun conversations with Elaine on Plurk and this interview marks the first in a mini-series of interviews with some of my Plurk friends.

Briefly, please could you tell us a bit about yourself?

My name is Elaine and I’ve unofficially graduated from my Polytechnic (some call it the tertiary education), so I’m currently chilling out either at home or with my friends. I am turning 20 this year, so I don’t know how much of an insight I can give here, but I’ll try my best!

If you’re interested in swapping postcards with me, do drop me a message at postcrossing.

My whole life! I’ve probably not lived enough to see Singapore change, but I’m sure it has changed..haha. I’ve had the same bedroom my whole life, although it has changed over the years as my mom loves to switch around stuff in the house.

Well, I have to say that I am blessed to be living in Singapore because firstly, there are no natural disasters I can think of. I am very thankful for that because I think Singapore would disappear from the face of the earth if she met with any calamity. There’s a reason why she’s called the “Little Red Dot”.

Many people from the west would die (well, literally) to live in Singapore for the great sunny weather, but as the saying goes “the grass is always greener on the other side”. I sometimes wish that Singapore had the four great seasons. I’ve never seen real snow in my life! There is a snow city here but asking me to pay for a two-hour playtime in man-made snow? Nah-ah.

In case you still don’t know, Singapore hosted the first F1 night race event last year. I am personally proud of that. I still wish, I had worked for the event under one of my part-time workplaces (Raffles Hotel, actually). My friend served beer during the event!

Wait..I think I’m digressing. Anyway, Singapore is a very, very safe country. You could walk down the streets during broad daylight and during the night without having to worry about someone robbing you. But of course, this does not mean that there is no crime.

Singapore is also very clean and green. At every corner, you get to see a green bin where you can throw your rubbish. I do know of tourists mentioning that Singapore is literally green everywhere. Everywhere you turn, you get to see trees and more trees.

I could go on about this like forever..hahaha. But I’ll just stop here for the benefit of your eyes, if you’re reading this, that is.

I really cannot think of anything that travellers should stop doing, I guess travellers in Singapore have been generally well behaved

Visit the different temples around Singapore. We have the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Sri Mariamman Temple in Chinatown. Just follow the little rules they have and you can enter the temples.

If you’re a fan of museums, there are quite a number to visit. Most of them are in the City hall area, so you can actually walk from one to another.

Travellers should get used to the way Singaporeans speak, especially those you might encounter while trying to bargain. Their English language is probably not their best forte, so don’t be surprise if you hear broken English. You might even hear Singlish, where sentences tend to end with lah, mah, hor, meh. Google Singlish if you want to know more about it

Singapore is a multi-racial country; since there is no four seasons to look out for, traditions and festivities are the ones you should look out for instead. Festivals such as Chinese New Year, Deepavali, Hari Raya and Christmas are the ones that are greatly celebrated by all Singaporeans here. Even myself, it was my first time experiencing Deepavali, an Indian festival, because I was on a school assignment. You can check out some of my pictures on Flickr. I had to use a film SLR camera for school requirement purposes.

Last but not least, food. Check out the Chilli Crab, Hainanese Chicken Rice and Laksa around little corners of Singapore. Sometimes, small shops are the ones that are not to be missed! Or if you like, you can visit Clarke Quay where the night comes alive with loud music and drinks along the Singapore River. Wednesday is Ladies’ Night, so ladies should check out the different clubs/pubs that permit free drinks and entry for ladies.

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Our View of a Local series consists of interviews with local people in various towns and cities in different countries.

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TAGS: interviews with my plurk friends, Singapore, travel

2 Responses to “View of a Local in Singapore”

1. dawn says:

   9 March, 2009 at 12:33

   Cool answers and is that your real hair?

   I would definitely agree that a visit to Clarke Quay is a must, especially at night. It’s by the water, it’s lit up and it’s really good atmosphere.

   Reply
2. Elaine says:

   18 March, 2009 at 17:04

   hi Dawn,

   thanks for replying!

   and nope that’s not my real hair. it’s a wig actually. i was helping out at a kid’s birthday party.

   yupp i love hanging out at Clarke Quay!

   Reply