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Visitor Information Edit Section - Singapore Visitor Information
 

Singapore is EASY. It's easy to get from place to place (see my comments on public transportation, below); Singapore currency is easy to use . . . well, it's just plain hard to get lost in this place. Wherever you are, you'll eventually find either a taxicab or an MRT (subway station). Except for some older folks, almost everybody speaks English. Well, there is that little bit about SINGLISH ... the slangy, stacatto speech that passes as English in this country. (Singlish is a combination of the Hokkien Chinese dialect intermixed with English words.) You CAN get an older taxicab driver who will have a very hard time undersanding you... but what's even worse is having a cab driver who jabbers away at you, sure he is being understood--and you're not understanding a word he says! But really, don't worry. ALL signs are in English, and it's doubtful you'll run into linguistic difficulty. (After all, there are parts of Los Angeles where you will NOT hear English at all!)

Singapore is approximately 80% Chinese; the other main ethnic groups are Indian, Malay--and then the ex-pats who live here. All official notices are written in the four Singapore languages: English, Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil.

 
Getting There Edit Section - Singapore Getting There
 
Changi Airport (Singapore) is consistently rated as THE number-one airport in the world. When you deplane and see the lush carpets, beautiful orchids, and plentiful shops, you'll understand why. Singapore is a major southeast Asian hub: No place in the world is easier to get into--and out of--than Singapore. Changi Airport is served by over 80 airlines with more than 4,000 weekly scheduled flights to 181 cities in 57 countries worldwide. Northwest Airlines is a major U.S. carrier (with direct flights from both New York City and Los Angeles), as are United Airlines and  American Airlines. And many people choose to fly Singapore Airlines, which is usually very highly regarded.

And once you're in Singapore, and feel like going to neighboring countries--nothing could be easier! Value airlines such as Tiger Air and Jetstar Asia make it easy--and cheap, cheap to hop from Singapore to Thailand, Cambodia, and Indonesia, among others. (Of course, you will have to worry about getting visas to get to Cambodia or Vietnam, but that's up to you.)
 
Getting Around Edit Section - Singapore Getting Around
 
Singapore has one of the most efficient--and cleanest--public transportation systems in the world. There are three subway lines, all clearly delineated; they can take you to most tourist spots, such as Chinatown, Little India, and Orchard Road. When in doubt, take a taxicab: they're plentiful, cheap, and the taxi drivers always give you the real scoop on life in this tiny country. (But be warned--flagging a taxi during rush hours can be tough.) You can flag a taxi at almost every street corner, or at marked Taxi Queue stands.

The buses are great, too, but it's advisable for you to get a bus guide in order to use them well. If you're going to be in Singapore awhile and think you'll be taking a lot of public transportation, buy an EZ-Link card. It can be used on both buses and subways. You can buy these cards at the passenger service stations of any MRT subway stop.
 
Phone Edit Section - Singapore Phone
 

Everyone uses cell phones in Singapore--EVERYBODY. You will constantly see people text-messaging each other, fingers a BLUR. You can buy phone cards to accommodate your own hand phones at most 7-11s. There are precious few public telephones that take COINS; many public phones take credit cards, as well as plastic phone cards, which you can buy at the 7-11s, as well.

 
Publications Edit Section - Singapore Publications
 

First Law of Singapore: There Is No Free Press. The government has been slackening the reigns of control--just so slightly--but total freedom of expression, and the press,  is not allowed here. (And I don't think most of the population would even be COMFORTABLE with that.)

Main papers:
To give you an idea of the convoluted relationship of the Singapore government and its media: Singapore Press Holdings (SPH)--the organization that owns a majority of Singapore's varied newspapers--is partially owned by Temasek Holdings,  the Singapore government's wholly owned investment arm although (as Wikipedia states), the exact share is not public information.

THE STRAITS TIMES, Singapore's main, English-language newspaper, is owned by SPH. The Straits Times touts that it has won numerous awards, and so it has--for design. No award recognizes that paper for its content. 'Nuff said. But for THE mainstream English-language paper, the Straits Times it is.

THE NEW PAPER, another SPH publication, is a tabloid and comes out in the afternoon. It's typical tabloid, with casual news, geared toward the young and fairly illiterate, with lots of pictures.

TODAY PAPER is free, and owned by Mediacorp, the official media arm of the Singapore government. At first blush this paper seems a bit more intelligent than the Straits Times: Its articles explore topics a bit more in depth, and some articles deal with non-quite-mainstream topics. Yet on July 30, a weekly columnist wrote an article, stating that many Singaporeans were tired of the high cost of living. One of the Ministries criticized the writer; a few days later, his column was cancelled.

All other major newspapers you can get here: WALL STREET JOURNAL, ASIAN WALL STREET JOURNAL, INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE, BUSINESS TIMES . . .