Singapore: The cleanest place on Earth

So the US has "Disneyworld: The happiest place on Earth" and Asia has "Singapore: The cleanest place on Earth." Well, certainly the cleanest city on earth. I think the best way to describe it for all you Disney-goers is it's like right when you walk into Mainstreet USA and the pavement is clean and the bricks look brand new and you just can't help but have a smile on your face (and think that all the "cast members" are going to break into song and dance). It's like that all over Singapore and this by no means is a small city.

Having heard of Singapore's cleanliness before arriving, my expectation was that there would be tons of little men all over Singapore picking up trash, power-washing streets, cleaning grates with toothbrushes, etc. However, this is not the case. Singaporeans don't litter. Not only are there about a million trash cans all over the city and countless PSAs, there is a hefty $1000 fine if you should dare to throw a single receipt on their beloved pavement. Seem harsh? It's a small price to pay to be immaculate..

Singapore is all about scaring their citizens into conformity, which initially freaked me out but after seeing Singapore I feel like New York should adopt some of their habits. For instance, one of my favorite signs is a cartoon lady running to find a bathroom (and it shows her sweating and in pain because she has to go so badly). And unfortunately, when she arrives at the toilet it is clogged because someone was so unthoughtful as to not flush the toilet! Life lesson: please ensure toilet is flushed properly after use. I'm not kidding there are thousands of signs like these all over the city...and how are their bathrooms? I swear I could eat off the floors and was tempted to move in. We'd be lucky if we could even find a public restroom in NYC.

One PSA however that would not go over so well in NYC is one about the Subway. There are TVs all over the subway stations with commercials, etc. and one in particular starts with what looks like Nuclear bomb with the caption: Please don't let this happen to us. Right there I was like you crossed the line. It then goes on to show pictures of the subway bombings in London, Mumbai, and Madrid with not only the trains mangled, but people crying, bloddy, being taken in ambulances, etc. Meanwhile, there's a 5 year old heading home from kindergarten right next to me. It ends urging people to tell the authorities if they see something suspicious on the subway. We have these in NY too--it's a campaign that looks like it's been around since the 80s and they show a picture of a lone briefcase under a chair. It says "if you see something, say something." I guess it's hardly as effective. . .

Overall, Singapore is a great city that Andrew and I have loved. Not only because it's obvious cool-factor, but it will forever be in our memories as where we got Engaged! So hopefully we'll get to come back and re-visit someday. And tomorrow we're off to Borneo!