I have just spent several days in Singapore. (I was supposed to be in Chicago for a conference, but client duties dragged me south instead of west.)
The day I flew out of Beijing, the Air Quality Index was at 468. Anything over 50 is considered “pollution”, while anything over 100 is considered unhealthy. Today the air quality is sitting at a much more reasonable 192. Today, I can see the buildings across the street, where a week ago, all I could see was a brown haze.
In Singapore, the air was clean, though equally hot and at times more humid. Of course, Singapore does not have the same climate or terrain as Beijing, nor does it have the countless steel mills and coal-fired power plants as neighbours, that Beijing does.
But my lungs did not complain.
Singapore is also home to many Chinese. We could and sometimes did converse in Mandarin with taxi drivers, waiters, and shop assistants.
In a strongly Chinese environment then, it was refreshing to note that in Singapore, there is no spitting, no littering and almost no jaywalking (I saw one or two). These three habits are prolific in Beijing. One can only hope.
One last observation/comparison. Singapore’s drivers are much better behaved. In my week there, I did not see people park on the sidewalks, drive down bicycle lanes, create extra lanes at traffic lights, turn left from the right lane, or do the many other crazy manoeuvres that one sees on Beijing roads.
As you maybe can tell, each time I return to Beijing, I ask myself, why on earth do I choose to live here?
There are lots of migrants from China coming to Singapore.
Ironically, there’s even some ‘racism’ from Singaporean Chinese against mainland Chinese.
Yes, we heard the same thing.
Singapore offers wealth and opportunity, but without the restrictions of Communism. I can understand many Chinese would prefer Singapore over China, and I even wonder if that racism is an emotional severing of the ties of the diaspora.