LIKE THE HALF-FISH, half-lion Merlion that the coun- try uses as a tourist symbol, Singapore has always been a place of contrasts. The current day Singapore itself was born out of contrasting conflicts,with the country first subsisting as a British colony until 1963 and then, testingly, as a part of Malaysia until 1965 when the city-state gained independence as the Repub- lic of Singapore. Today the conflict has been assigned to the pages of history books and Singapore nowexists as a happening city full of boundless energy and opportunity, admired for its modernity and abundant greenery. It is an ethnic mélange of a town,where traditionalismblends in alongside first-rate tech- nology, glamorous brand-obsessed shopping malls and pro- gressively-designed
buildings.The tropical tree-lined boulevards and tidy landscaping would not be out of place in Los Ange- les or California, with the branded cityscape and sleek archi- tecture being the attraction of many.
BROKEN RECORDS As a globally connected,multi-cultural city, Sin- gapore is steeped in convenience and widely regarded as one of the world’s most dynamic places forwork, living and business. It’s littlewon- der then that the Lion City is the regional hub of choice for many leadingmultinationals. Singapore has also been voted as one of the
visitors. The Singapore Arts Festival is another action- packed affair that has become a staple on the city’s calendar. Singapore also regularly hosts travelling exhibitions from all over the world in the many eclectic art galleries around the city, and there are also amyriad of world-classmuseums. Aswell as stages and paintings, Singapore also has a kick-
NEEDTOKNOW SINGAPORE
ing fashion scene and is an often-visited destination for pop- ular bands andmusicians. The island-state has a lively event scene,with the Singapore Grand Prix being the key event of the year. There is also entertainment and leisure activities galore, with the Wild Wild Wet water theme park, Universal Studios Singapore andManaMana beach club beingsome of the leisure options on offer. There are plenty of outdoor spaces aswell,with Singapore Botanic Gardens, East Coast Park and West Coast Park all featuring verdant greenery. Gardens By The Bay is the latest landscaped park opened in the city and the billion-dollar 101-hectare ‘superpark’ features rare plants in huge domed conservatories plus 16-storey tall ‘supertrees.’
VISA Nationals from a large majority of countries do not require visas for
social visits of a 30-day duration. TIME Eight hours ahead of UTC/GMT. CURRENCY The official currency is
freest economies in theworld and, for six years in a row, the city has come out on top of the World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business Report,’ which ranks Singapore as the city with the best invest- ment potential and Asia’smost network-capable country. Foreign talent also rank Singapore as the best place in Asia to live,work and play, andin the last fewyears it has become a playgroundfor Asia’s well-to-do. In 2011 Singapore had the highest den- sity of millionaires in theworld,with 15.5 per cent of all households owning at least one million US dollars in net assets. Singapore is also the only Asian city to boast AAA credit ratings from the major credit rating agencies –Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s, andFitch–andthe city-state alsohasone of the world’s highest gross domestic product at purchasing power parity per capita, with an unemployment rate that has not been above four per cent in over a decade. The Singaporean economy depends heavily on the indus-
Singapore Dollar (SGD). The US, Aus- tralian Dollars, Japanese Yen, British Pound and Euro are also accepted in
most major shopping centres. FLIGHTS With over 5,400 weekly flights by more than 85 international airlines, the award-winning Changi Airport connects Singapore to over
200 cities in 60 countries. CLIMATE Warm and humid all year round with the daily temperature
averaging around 20 degrees Celsius. LANGUAGES The four official languages are English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil. English is the working language widely spoken throughout.
BUYING AND DINING Another kind of culture that Singaporeans take seriously is their dining and shopping culture, which are seen as national pastimes. Just about every brand under the sun is available and there are stretches of world-class shopping malls in every district. There are also smaller boutique local brands and shops as well, many of which have become successful in their own right. In addition, although seen as one themain financial and business hubs of Asia, Singapore is also con- sidered a culinary hub. The diversity of food is actually touted as a reason to visit the country. The variety of food representing different eth- nicities is seen as a symbol of Singapore’smul- ticulturalism, and food is adored and treasured here to an almost sacred level.
MICE POWER All these great events, entertainment and food not only boost tourismand make Singapore a better place to live, but they also make the city an attrac- tive destination for MICE visitors. According to
try and service sectors, but it is also theworld’s top logistics hub with the port of Singapore being one of the busiest in theworld. On a global scale, Singapore is the one of the world’s leading financial centres, theworld’s third-largest oil refining centre and theworld’s second-biggest casino gambling market,with Sin- gapore having overtaken Las Vegas last year.
SCULPTING CULTURE But, Singapore has a lot more to offer than just facts and fig- ures. Although once seen as an uncreative and authoritarian country marked by sterile chewing-gum-free efficiency, the once staid and sanitised image has long been shed off and the city is well on its way to becoming a ‘Global Arts City,’ which is the title of a government campaign that has kick- started the local arts and culture scene. In January the sec- ond edition of the highly-lauded art fair Art Stage Singapore went down as a success with the show featuring 133 partici- pating galleries from 19 countries, and receiving over 31,000
this year’s Global Rankings fromthe InternationalCongress and Convention Association, Singapore has actually been voted as Asia’s Top Convention City for 10 years running, and the city came out top of the roost this year again.When one takes the business-friendly culture and world-class infrastructure of the city into consideration this award actually comes as no sur- prise. In fact, the city boasts some of the best MICE venues in not just Asia, but globally. Some of the top meeting and event venues in the city include Changi Exhibition Centre, the inte- grated resortMarina Bay Sands, ResortsWorld Sentosa, and the Singapore Expowhich also just openedMAXAtria, a massive purpose-built MICE venue which would be of interest to PAs organising events. There are also over 100 hotels in Singapore so you can find a suitable place for delegates to stay, with the majority of these coming well-equipped with professional meeting facilities, full serviced business centres and broadband internet access.With a lot more venues and events in thewood- works and visitor arrivals not looking to slow down any time soon, the powerhouse that is Singapore is clearly on the up. The super city is definitely one place to keep an eye out for. E
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