City Spotlight: Singapore

 by Julie O'Hara

Separated from Malaysia by a narrow causeway, the tiny island city-state of Singapore is a marvel of urban planning. Within 270 square miles are lively waterfront entertainment areas, chic shopping districts, protected natural habitats and beautifully preserved colonial architecture. Add pristine public spaces and a state-of-the-art rail-transit system, and you’ve got a city tailor-made for visitors.

After Sir Stamford Raffles claimed Singapore for the British Empire in 1819, the city became a center of international trade, drawing diverse groups of people seeking economic freedom. Today, Singapore’s heart lies in its bustling ethnic neighborhoods, where two favorite national pastimes — eating and shopping — are practiced with zeal.

Singapore’s population is 77 percent Chinese, so it’s no wonder the city’s Chinatown neighborhood pulses with life. Begin your visit at Thian Hock Keng Temple, built in 1821, where early immigrants gave thanks for safe passage. To get a sense of what life was like for the new arrivals, visit the Chinatown Heritage Centre, constructed in one of the neighborhood’s narrow, multistoried shophouses.

Throughout Singapore, residents dine daily at excellent hawker centres — open-air food courts where vendors often prepare just a few specialty dishes each. At Maxwell Food Centre, you can sample Chinese dim sum, Indian curry or Hainanese chicken rice. Across town in Little India, the scent of ripe mangos and the sight of elaborately designed temples compete for your attention. Shop for all manner of souvenirs and colorful sari fabrics at the 24-hour Mustafa Centre.

Start a night out at one of the many restaurants on Boat Quay at the east end of the Singapore River. Hop on a bumboat to Clarke Quay, where you’ll find more restaurants and bars built into former shipping warehouses at the river’s edge. For a fascinating break from city life, spend a few hours at the Singapore Zoo. Its “open” concept gives animals spacious areas where moats and other natural obstructions serve as barriers. Free-ranging orangutans and energetic baboons are a treat.

No visit to the Lion City would be complete without a stop at Raffles Hotel, a genteel monument to the colonial era, where literary figures such as Somerset Maugham once passed the time. Escape the tropical midday heat at the hotel’s Long Bar and order the deceptively potent Singapore Sling. The drink was invented here around 1910.