Vacation: Part 2

I made a quick decision and purchased a ticket to Singapore. My intention was to meet up with my sister, who stated that she would be passing through for a few days as part of her world tour. Unfortunately, prior travel plans delayed my departure date and I ended up missing her by a day and a half. (I also missed the arrival of a friend I really wanted to see by a day.)

This left me with two day of pure tourism to explore the city of Singapore. With a few hours before my departure, I can say that this city mesmerizes and infuriates me simultaneous.

The city is quite stunning in all aspects. In my two days, I experienced cultured theater, diverse ethnic foods, breathtaking architecture and city planning, and stunning wildlife. Of all the cities I have been to in SE Asia, I can say without doubt that Singapore is the most developed, cultured, and diverse.

Nonetheless, Singapore gives me a feeling of covetousness and jealousy. This feeling does not come from a desire to live here. Although, I think it would be a very easy city to live in. What infuriates me is that Singapore has it made in every way.

Singapore has made it, while the rest of the world is sitting in second gear. The city is proof that good governance, investment in education, and fostering good economics works in the long-run. By no means is Singapore perfect. By many measures, I am sure that it ranks lower than it should, but in the ways that count the most they have succeeded. Primarily, they have succeeded in giving each of its citizens the opportunity to grow as an individual and achieve their personal dreams.

The rest of SE Asia has achieved this only to a partial degree. In the case of Cambodia, the country has barely begun. In Cambodia, only the luckiest are able to rise by their merit and hard-work. The majority of adults must be satisfied by the hope that their children will have a better life and opportunity than they did.

However, on reflection, it is not Singapore's success that infuriates me, but the rest of the region's inability to achieve it as well. Singapore caught up with "Western world" in about 50 years, which means that Cambodia has at least 50 more years to go. Half a century seems like a long time, and I question whether I can maintain a positive outlook on development if the path is so long.

What I will take from my brief time is Singapore is not despair but renewed hope. Singapore is an oasis of development and achieved dreams in a world full of slow change. For a few days, I had the opportunity to eat in nice restaurants and enjoy museums without second thought. I reunited with a past friend and met a new one. I walked along pristine sidewalks and alongside buildings that reached into the sky. I passed luxury sports cars and never had to wonder how much the owner of the car had stolen from public coffers. For 60 hours, I did not see a single beggar, a single child out of school, nor even a stray, sickly dog.

What I am left with is a thought, "If Singapore can achieve it, why not Cambodia?"