Anyone here from/lived in Singapore? How do you think life in the US compares to there?

4 comments

1. I have some extended family in Singapore but I haven’t been back in a long time.

   How does it compare? Well that’s super complicated because it’s *very* different:

   * It’s hot. More humid than any place I’ve been in the US (including Florida)
   * Public transport is world-class.
   * Since cars are so expensive, luxury watches seem to be the most popular status symbol.
   * Students study much harder.
   * School uniforms are rare in the US.
   * Singapore is much more strict about laws and rules.
   * Safety is one of the top in the world. Regularly see people save seats at the hawker centres with phone or wallet. Or leave phone on the table when they go to the toilet.
   * There are no night markets in the US.
   * Food tastes better, is higher quality, and cheaper in Singapore.

   I get the feeling most people in the US know about SG through that American teenager Michael P. Fay who vandalized cars and was sentenced to caning.

   Culturally, I feel America is less obsessed than SG with being organized, orderly, and behaving in a specific way to fit in or conform to the rules.

   Physically, US cities feel “empty” due to the space between areas and the fact most people don’t live in high-rises. Of course that means the houses are much bigger as well.

   Edit: a lot of Americans also associate Singapore with gum being illegal

2. I have extended family living in Singapore, but the last time I visited them was when I was a teenager.

   The cleanliness was extremely impressive to me and I can only dream for New York to have the same streets. Your street food is much better, in my opinion.

   The academic system and standards are fiercely more competitive. I’m wrapping up my master’s degree but I’m convinced that my 16-year old Singaporean cousins spent more hours per day studying than I did during grad school, but that’s just how it is in a lot of Asia.

   I’m not a fan of the strict drug laws there. I’m personally a strong supporter of the medical/recreational weed and nascent medical psychedelic industry in the US, so that’s an inherent conflict with their way of life.

   I’m afraid of their freedom of speech and censorship laws though. I’m not sure if this is allowed in Singapore, but I frequently watch cartoons or talk shows that satirize or poke fun at sociopolitical issues in the US and have been watching them since I was a child. I can publicly share my most obscene opinions about my political leaders and face zero legal repercussions, and basically do nearly anything I want as a sign of protest.

   My cousins once told me how much their condo in Singapore was worth and I showed them what the USD equivalent would get them in Texas and their jaws dropped. They’d literally be able to afford 4,000-5,000 sq. ft. homes and they interpreted them as upper-class mansions.

3. I haven’t been there, but comparing life in a tropical city-state to that of a country the size of a continent is odd. “What’s life like in Rio compared to Europe?”

4. US life sucks compared to it. Singapore is cleaner, more advanced, safer etc. US obviously has more diversity but at its size it makes sense