As day broke the M V “Ruys” glided silently without fanfare into the Singapore Harbour. Things became clearer, we could now see the city of Singapore awakening, we saw lush green vegetations and some old colonial buildings which were familiar to my eyes as their structure and look were similar to many Government buildings found in Mauritius. The same blue print must have been dispatched from London to all over the British Empire.
Old Post Office Building built around 1900 in Mauritius
Old Post Office Building in Singapore built around 1900, with similarity to other Government Buildings in other parts of the British
Empire
There were a number of other cargo ships anchored in the harbour but ours was huge and imposing. I do not remember if our ship was anchored in the middle of the harbour or if it was berthed. No matter what we three young and excited Mauritian lads were eager to set foot ashore. Singapore Port Officials were soon on board, a table and some chairs were set up earlier close to the gangway for them to check the passenger’s passport and to give the stamp of approval to disembark. Yahoo off we go.
Singapore is situated at the tip of the Malay Peninsula and has an area of only 277 square miles
Singapore has an interesting history. Founded in 1819 by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles as a trading post of the East India Company, Singapore came under British control in 1824. It gained independence from Britain in 1963 and joined Malaysia. Two years later in 1965 it was expelled from Malaysia to become a self independent country. As a rejected orphan on the bloc, Singapore had to initially struggle through life. Without natural resources and limited land base but with extraordinary determination and under great leadership, Singapore prospered. Today Singapore is one of the safest countries in the world and ranks high in standard of living, education, healthcare and economic competitiveness. It shared the title “The Four Asian Tigers” with Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan.
Four Asian Tigers – Taiwan Korea Singapore and Hong Kong
Singapore received world wide attention in the 1990’s when chewing gum was banned there because vandals were sticking chewing gum on the door sensors of the newly built Mass Rapid Transit, causing disruption to train services. Chewing gum is still banned today with a fine of $500.00 for spitting it on the streets. Also in 1994 there was world wide controversy when an American teenager was sentenced to canning in Singapore for vandalism using spray paint. Canning was a widely used form of legal corporal punishment in Singapore, a legacy left behind by British Colonial rule.
The name Singapore is derived from Malay meaning “Lion City”, hence the iconic Head of a Lion emblem associated with the country.
The famous Lion Head which is widely associated with Singapore
I had no idea where we would be going and what we would be visiting in Singapore, I was simply content to follow Cyril who was a tat more mature than me and Clovis and we felt pretty assured that things would turn out great. To our great surprise Cyril had earlier written to a Mauritian friend studying in Singapore, he was standing at the berth to greet us and to be our tour guide for the day.
The weather was bright and sunny, the temperature over 32% C and humidity in the 80’s and yet Singaporeans consider February their best month of the year.
I could not recall all the details of where we went and what we saw but for sure we took the bus to the city and visited the world renowned Singapore Botanical Garden, a 74 hectare garden famous for its orchid hybridization programme initiated in the late 1920’s. We were indeed impressed with the wide variety of beautiful and colourful orchids. I think somewhere we rode on a monorail something which we had never seen before.
Singapore Botanical Garden famous for its Orchids programme initiated in 1920’s
I could not remember what we had for lunch, it could not have been very exotic since we would not be able to afford it. I tend to believe that it must have been some fried rice and noodles Singapore style spicy and hot.
Singapore Fried Rice aromatic and delicious
Singapore Fried Noodles hot and spicy is world famous and a must to taste while visiting the Island
We returned on board early in the evening ready for the next phase of our journey up the South China Sea to Hong Kong.