Sheilaclapkin's Blog;

More Singapore. I was really connected there: This photo was taken as we sailed away for another adventure.

My brother Tommy from another mother wrote me after viewing my photos of modern Singapore of his observations of Singapore in the late 40’s.  He said at the time he was here, the tallest building was only three stories and when he saw the photos of the ultra modern city he was amazed at the transformation.  I asked a local lady how Singapore gets the enormous amount of money it must take to build the city that is  continuously involved in constant construction and maintenance. She said it comes from foreign investors.  Anyone interested in a good business tip, here it is.  Plus you need to know there is no unemployment or homelessness here according to our verbose Taxi Man!

Our taxi driver to the ship was so informative. He said that they have built casinos in Singapore and the tourist trade has soared 30%. He also said that if Singaporeans want to go to the casino it is a one hundred dollar fee, but free to tourist guests. They do not want their citizens gambling.  Also, if you are caught littering, the first time you are fined $150.00 plus sent to counseling and the second time $300.00 plus sent to counseling. On the third time, if there should be a third time, you are fined $500.00 plus you are put to work scrubbing the streets. The ethic of a clean city it is not just the fear of the money fine, the counseling or the scrubbing the streets, I think it is pride and a genuine caring about the look of their beautiful city that keeps everyone from littering and ruining such an important tradition which is known and  envied around the world.

The governing officials in Singapore make huge salaries, so it was just decided that they would take a 40% cut in salary. The Prime Minister makes over 4 million a year.  He can still get along with a 40% cut. Don’t feel sorry for him; don’t feel sorry for other officials, they will do just fine.

Our hotel offered an 8-person dinner with all the trimmings for only $7,000. Skip and I got a kick out of the price. We ate Mandarin Oranges and power bars in the room.  Actually our lunch was $122.00, so we economized for dinner. But you saw the photos and the view, well worth the $$$.