Singapore Slings

Basil Waine Kong

Jamaica is often compared to Singapore. We are both Islands that are highly dependent on tourism and enjoy fantastic weather. But as it turns out, Jamaica has ten times more land mass and a million fewer people making Singapore the second most densely populated country in the world. We also gained independence about the same time and that is about where the comparisons end. Singapore is a highly disciplined first world country with enormous wealth; while Jamaica remains one of the poorest with a third of its people unable to read.

After independence in 1965, Singapore rapidly became the fastest growing economy in the world with one of the five busiest ports. They build ships, mining equipment and heavy machinery. The IMF has no business with them. You will never find a pothole in any of their highways and streets that are beautifully decorated with flowers and other vegetation.

Singapore is the end of our cruise in the South China Sea and our port of disembarkation. This means that we are required to pack our bags and have them outside of our stateroom door by 11:00 PM the night before so that the crew can get them organized and off the ship. The passengers are given colour coded tags that will organize the timing that we use to leave the ship and clear immigration. Most of our group is given purple tags, so after breakfast and taking care of tipping our butler and our other favorite crew members, we wait for our “colour” to be called. After we clear customs, we claim our luggage which is then loaded into a separate bus and sent ahead to the Ritz Carlton. Our group is loaded into buses for a quick tour of the Singapore before heading to the hospital to continue our medical lecture series.

When our bus leave the dock, the first thing the tour guide says is: “Welcome to the City State of Singapore. We are a fine city: we fine you for everything. You will be ”fined” for spitting on the sidewalk, “fined” for littering, “fined” for jaywalking, ”fined” for smoking, “fined” for making loud noises and other lesser crimes against the state. She further joked that Singapore was so small, if you get lost, just keep walking, you will soon find the ocean and you can swim home.” She went on to say that the Rich Carlton (Ritz) is a very holy place. When you enter, you will immediately say: “Oh my God, look how beautiful everything is!” When you pay your bill you will no doubt remark: “Jesus Christ! That was expensive!.” She was a laugh a minute.

The Tour guide told us that there is no homelessness, as this is also a crime. But it is a crime with a benefit. If you do not have a home, the government will provide one for you and if you don’t have a job, the government will find one for you as well. So, there is no unemployment or homelessness. The government of Singapore is also tough on crime. In addition to the “fines”, the government also has a system of corporal punishment which includes “caning”. They budget very little to provide guards, room and board for prisoners, so caning is the prescribed punishment for many offenses including stealing, not meeting your financial obligations, sexual offenses, including rape and vandalism. They also impose mandatory death sentences for murder, drug-trafficking, and for possession of an illegal firearm. Amnesty International reported that they carry out 2 executions per month while Jamaica have had no none in over 20 years.

At the hospital, a lively exchange of ideas is well received by both the visitors as well as the doctors in residence. We learn that the citizens of Singapore contribute to a National Health Insurance fund and in turn receive the best health care in the world at no additional cost. The hospital provides a superb lunch after the educational program and we are able to exchange ideas and information with some of the local physicians.

After the lectures, a city tour is scheduled. However, we opt to be dropped off at the Ritz as we are scheduled to fly back to Bangkok in about six hours. (Twenty two years ago, Stephanie and I visited Japan and Singapore on our honeymoon.) We are joined by Dr. Jesse and Wilma McGee and the four of us imbibe Singapore slings (US$20.00 each) in the beautiful lobby bar/restaurant until it was time to depart for the Airport. The Singapore Sling is a cocktail mixed with gin, cherry heering, cherry brandy, cointreau, benedictine, grenadine, pineapple juice from Sarawak (Malaysia), fresh lime juice and angostura bitters and served over ice in a long glass. It was developed by Ngiam Tong Boon, a bartender at the Raffles Hotel Singapore before 1915. Actually, I prefer rum punch, but when in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Singapore is the closest that we have come to streets paved with gold. The high rise buildings do really scrape the sky. The glitzy part of town is the “Las Vegas of the East“ where a huge ship is balanced on three high rise hotels. This hotel/casino is very impressive and draws people from around the world. The government discourages gambling for citizens by assessing a charge of $100 US as an entry fee but free for tourists. There is no social security or welfare for the elderly as this is perceived to be the responsibility of their children. This is legally enforced as parents have a right to sue their children for support as a percent of the children's income.

I am reminded that several months ago, Dr. Wendel Abel, Head, Section of Psychiatry, University of the West Indies, wrote an editorial in which he made the following comments:

Jamaica must decide how we want to be seen by others. One of the first things the people of Singapore did before they embarked on their development was to decide how they wanted people to see them. The image that many people have of Jamaica is a bad and sad one. To many outsiders, we appear as a barbaric and disorderly people. Alcohol is sold to minors; ganja is smoked openly in public spaces; driving is reckless and undisciplined; music is played loudly; squatting is widespread and people freely litter the streets. We must now take a zero-tolerance approach to lawlessness.

So, Jamaicans are undisciplined and Singaporeans are disciplined. No one jaywalks in Singapore while in Jamaica, everyone compete with the traffic and dare cars to hit them. So, why is Jamaica the third happiest place on earth? Why doesn't Singapore win any medals at the Olympic games or have a football team that can compete with our Reggae Boys? When is the last time you heard of a new hairstyle, clothesline, song, dance move or a new musical genre coming out of Singapore. Our brethren developed the only new religion in the world in the last 200 years and produced geniuses in every field of human endeavor. Other than their discipline and economic success, make me a list of the great accomplishments for the people of Singapore.

While we could use a little discipline, do we really want to become like Singapore? Is this our model going forward or do we want to do it Jamaican style?