Quora Answer: What Do American Tourists Get Wrong about Singapore?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “What do American tourists get wrong about Singapore?”

Certainly not every American tourist is like this, but these are the general perceptions for many of them.  In the aftermath of the Michael Fay incident, it has been ingrained into the American psyche that Singapore has extremely strict laws, although they take it to extremes.  For example, I have been asked if people are hanged immediately for drugs, and caning for all manner of crimes and misdemeanour violations.  They think chewing gum is banned, which is the most mundane thing.  Some Americans think we have public hangings.

A persistent misconception used to be that Singapore is part of China, or near China.  In decades past, they equivated us with Hong Kong and Taiwan, and part of Greater China.  In the aftermath of that ridiculous show, “Crazy Rich Asians”, they think Singapore is overwhelmingly Chinese, when it is far more cosmopolitan.  70% of Singaporeans are Chinese, according to statistics.  That is not 70% of people in Singapore.

Americans are increasingly aware that Singapore is one of the wealthiest cities in the world.  But if they are coming here for the first time, they imagine Singapore to be a sort of Monaco in the East, where it is exclusively the playground of the ultra-wealthy, and everyone else is here to serve us.  Singapore is cosmopolitan, with diverse social classes.  We are more than some abode of the moneyed, elite; we are a living, breathing city state.

Some Americans, growing up with depictions of Singapore in movies such as “Pirates of the Caribbean”, or Mandripoor, in Marvel Comics, during the period of the Vietnam War and its aftermath onwards, still imagine Singapore to be a developing city in Southeast Asia, with opportunities for sex tourism.  This changed greatly with “Crazy Rich Asians”, which is the one good thing I would grudgingly give.  The Trump-Kim Summit also showed them we are far from depictions in movies of that era.

From direct experience, there are still Americans who come here thinking that the local women would throw themselves at them simply because they are American, or white.  They are surprised when they find the women here educated, cosmopolitan and independent.

Finally, due to reports on the cost of living, many Americans have the impression that Singapore is expensive.  The problem with these surveys is that they are catered to an expatriate audience, with their cultural food preferences.  Finding good Italian cheese or vintage French wine may cost more than back home in Europe.  But then, finding good Hokkien mee, and Hainanese chicken rice is next to impossible at reasonable prices in Europe as well.  These reports also cite the cost of cars and equivalent size housing.  Country estates in Singapore are expensive, and rare.  Deciding to rent your own ranch, is impossible.  We are not New Zealand or Canada.  If people live as we live, eat at hawker centres and take the train, prices are actually cheaper than many equivalent cities in Europe.