Singapore - A World Class City?

I was reading Today Online, Singapore's free sheet, and this particular article caught my attention so much that I decided to blog about it.

Why can't we simply be S'pore?

Weekend � April 28, 2007

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know there are grand plans in the pipeline for this tiny country.

From Formula 1 to integrated resorts, from skyscrapers designed by architects like Daniel Libeskind to plans to join the upper ranks of the First World list, Singapore seems to be embarking on a massive re-branding.

We aim to be Asia's raciest, sexiest and most happening city. The Capital of Cool, in other words.

As if to endorse our efforts, earlier this year, Singapore was ranked No 2 after Italy for its nightlife and dining in The Global Country Brand Index, which is based on a poll of more than 1,500 travellers and experts.

This would seem to suggest we are close to realising the dream.

But here's the beef: Why do we need to be told what we already know: That Singapore isn't half as boring as it is made out to be?

Why do we need to appear on such surveys, enlist brand name foreign architects and describe ourselves as the New York, Paris or Monaco of Asia in order to feel that we're up to scratch in the coolness stakes?

What's wrong with simply wanting to be a better Singapore?

Sure, we need headline-grabbing physical structures and income-generating events - the must-haves for any aspiring world-class city.

But they're just the tip of the iceberg of cool, not substitutes for what truly defines a cool city, which is its soul.

Soul, like hip and cool, is hard to define but it's for precisely this reason that nascent world-class cities such as Singapore prize their cachet.

Of course, some would argue that Paris wouldn't be Paris without the Eiffel Tower, but famous landmarks alone don't earn a city a spot on the "cool" radar.

And it's likely that Parisians couldn't care less if they aren't on any list of what's hip or cool: They are too comfortable in their own skin to give a damn.

Right now, we seem to be in the process of creating a Singapore with all the physical form and feel of the First World.

But scratch that glossy veneer and the reality is far different. By relentlessly chasing after super-structures and mega-profile events, we seem to be over-compensating for a lack of confidence in how cool we are already.

Obviously, this Little Red Dot has a long way to go in developing the soul and spirit to match London or New York.

And until we do so, our definition of hip and cool can only be confined to one-dimensional physical structures.

Lionel Seah is editor of Arena Singapore. Check out the current issue for Arena's 25 coolest places on the planet.

What really stirred me about this article is the comparison between Singapore with cities like London, Paris and New York. For goodness sake, why can't people understand that Singapore is only four decades old! A city like London is two centuries old and their tube which seems so complicated is more than a hundred year old. Similarly Paris, New York, Rome, etc -- these places are so rich in culture and 'soul' because left to their own devices it took them centuries to develop. Singapore on the other hand is an artificial creation. I don't mean this in a bad way. I hate to sound like a pro-establishment apologist but it's one of the most successful artificial world class city by all standards. With the exception of Chinatown of course.

If you refer to my earlier post on this topic, it seems like I have changed my opinion on this issue. Well, it seems the pragmatic state ideology of Singapore is gaining purchase with me. Now to see if they scrap section 377A.

Reference: http://tedysg.blogspot.com/2007/04/singapore-world-class-city.html