SECURITY

I live very close to one of the entrances to the Istana, the office of the President of the Republic of Singapore. If you drive on a road that is within fifty meters of my house this sign will greet you.

There are two things I know about first impressions. The first is that they are awfully hard to forget and the second is that they are nearly always wrong.

My first impression about security in Singapore is that they don't mess around. There are signs like the ones posted above, a secret police force, and in the subways you might catch the occasional glimpse of a guy wearing a red beret and wielding a machine gun. If the Singapore government is going to secure an area, enforce a law, or protect the citizens they will stop at nothing until the job is accomplished effectively. They have six hundred and ninety three square kilometers and they are going to run the best city that they can. They won't be bothered by criminals, terrorists, or people that disrupt the peace.

Don't get misunderstand me. It is not a perfect place. I don't agree with the BBC's assessment that Singapore is like Disneyland with the death penalty. You will still find a decent amount of graffitti and litter, but most people who travel frequently say that you will see far less than in other parts of Asia. Most of Singapore's vandilism seems to be in the form of crude copies of American rebellion patterns. I once saw the word "PUNK" spray painted on the side of a building.

I imagine that there is a downside to all of the security. I haven't been here long, but I have a hunch that there may be deep-seated injustices experienced toward the poor and certain racial classes. However, unlike America every citizen of Singapore gets to live in an HDB flat, really a decent place to live, and I haven't seen or heard of anybody going hungry.

As I live here longer I will see if my hunches come to fruition or if they are founded in needless American angst.