With great delight, Suzy and I have made it to the island of Singapore, just south of the Malayan peninsula. The name Singapore comes from the name given to this island by Prince Sang Nila Ultama in 1299. This Srivijayan Prince was out looking for a new capital for his empire and came across this island. While on the island he saw a strange creature that quickly took into the bushes, his aide told him it was most probably a lion, hence the name “Singa” for Lion and “Pura” for city. We do know today that a lion has never set foot in Singapore so the beast the Prince saw was most probably a Malayan Tiger, but these are tales and only add to the city’s intrigue. We have heard a lot of Singapore, a great banking center, large manufacturing capabilities and great per capita income. Singapore is all of this. Singapore is known as one of the “Four Asian Tigers” and has seen quite a lot of economic growth. Founded by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819 for the East India Company, it took just short of 150 years for Singapore to declare its independence from the UK in 1963. Singapore has become the world’s fourth largest financial center and one of five of the world’s busiest ports. As for its per capita income, Singapore ranks # 3 in the world. Although Singapore is quite a diverse independent state you’ll be surprised to know that it is made up of almost 75% Chinese. Being a New Yorker, I was eager to explore Singapore and as I suspected, Suzy and I had a great time here. We stayed at the Riverside Hotel just a short hop from Clarke Quay; here we found some really great nightlife as we walked along the river. The food in Singapore was fabulous. Whatever we decided to do in Singapore, it was here for us. After three weeks touring Malaysia, we finally felt right at home.
