Day 54. Singapore.

We started our day at the Merlion statue, which is part Mermaid, part lion. Singapore means lion in Malays. The person who named the country "Singapore" thought he saw a lion when he arrived, though the locals believe he saw a tiger since there are no lions here. This huge Merlion is a fun tourist stop. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable in explaining so much of their rich heritage. She told us that Singapore is a nice place to live, but there are many drawbacks that cause a lot of anxiety for the locals. 90% of the people live in the city. They have to get on a waiting list and must be married to buy a home (which is really an apartment/condo) and it can take 3-5 years to get a home. It's very common for newlyweds to live with their parents after they get married for several tlyears till they get their own home. The traffic is a 1000 times better here than Bali & Jakarta because the government controls how many cars can be licensed here and they pay almost as much for a 10 year license plate as they do for a 1 BR condo (roughly $100K). There are over 6 million people in Singapore, but the country imports all of it's food from Malaysia. There is very little Green space to have a garden. Only 15% of their food is grown here. Also, they don't have their own water. They import it from Malaysia too. However, Malaysia is running low on water, so they've informed Singapore that they're no longer providing it after 2062. Medical and retirement are also worrisome because there isn't a pension system here. They put 20% of their paycheck into a government operated fund and their employer pays 12% into it. With inflation, many are opting to work past their retirement age of 60 (soon to be 67) because they're concerned that their money won't last.Read more