Singapore - A brief introduction
Singapore is not just a small island. It is also a very flat
island. Most of it is less than 15m above sea level and its
highest point is Timah Hill which soars to 162m.
Singapore’s Climate
Singapore is near the equator and in the monsoon region. The
average monthly temperature varies from about 27 degrees C in
June to 25 degrees C in January and the difference is not
noticeable. The wettest time of the year is November-March and
the period with the least amount is May to September. Not that
it makes very much difference. Rain falls somewhere on the
island every day of the year. Which is why it is very green. Do
not let the rain worry you. In the constant warm temperature you
very quickly dry out.
There is not much left of the original Singapore. There is a
fragment of evergreen rain forest preserved around catchment
areas and some mangrove vegetation survives in the Kranji area
on the northwest side of the island but otherwise it is all
cultivated in one way or another.
The city is in the south of the island but, in truth, most of
the island of Singapore has now been built up and over.
At one time it looked as though every old building in Singapore
would be knocked down and replaced with a new and shining
skyscraper. Eventually the penny dropped and the government
decided that refurbishing rather than demolishing the
once-common Chinese shop-house would not be a bad idea. And
keeping the Raffles hotel (just changed hands) operating in its
old premises but with a new style was part of the campaign.
Nevertheless the Housing and Development Board (HDB) has changed
forever the face of Singapore and has housed a staggering
four-fifths of the population high-rise HDB flats located in
housing estates and new towns.
Languages spoken in Singapore
About three quarters of the population of Singapore is Chinese
with Malays next and Indians the third.
But it does not break down as easily as that. Nearly half of the
Chinese originate from Fukien province and speak Amoy; a third
is from Swatow and speaks Teochew and most of the rest are
Cantonese. That is three different dialects which are not
understandable by all although, of course, written Chinese is a
unifying force.
The Malays are pretty much one group although some of them speak
Indonesian dialects which although very similar to Malay have
some vocabulary differences. The Indians are the biggest mixture
of them all. The majority are Tamils but there are also
Malayalis and Sikhs as well as Pakistanis and Sinhalese.
There are four official languages - English, Mandarin Chinese,
Malay, and Tamil. And there is a fifth which although not
recognized officially, is distinct enough to be the subject of
several learned papers. This is Singaporean which is Singapore’s
very own version of the English language.
It contains words and grammatical from all the languages of
Singapore. Therefore “Must be, lah” is an affirmative
declaration while, “What to do now, lah?” is an expression of
helplessness in the face of fate. It is a lovely and expressive
language based totally on English.
If you speak English you will never have language problems in
Singapore.
This article is by Gareth Powell who runs
www.travelhopefully.com
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