A Community

It is an interesting perspective to live amongst the people of Singapore, in a area that is truly tourist-free and as far as I can tell representative of Singaporean life.  In a city with a population nearing 5 million in only 263 square miles space, one might wonder just where all the people live.  What is more, 23% of that area is comprised of reserves, rainforest and resevoirs.  I make this point merely to point of the shortage of land, as
certainly these things are important.

The answer - they build up.  Thousands of flats stretch across the island everywhere one goes.  In spite of the land constraints, people and local communities seem vibrant.  The local shops stalls and foodcenters bustle.  In the community areas I have seen already in my short time out here, entire buildings of people gather to watch basketball games, and gather together for community meals.  Of course part of life is death, and yesterday I saw a funeral ceremony in the commnn space below one of the blocks for someone who died who must have lived in that buikding.  A day prior, there was a wedding in the same manner one block over.  There are no individual lawns, no individual gardens, no individual pools, nor basketball hoops, nor really anything.  Rather, people seem to share and use all that is collectively and happily with one another. 

It is a certain change from back home, where everything is so spread out and isolated in many ways.  A change that assures one is rarely alone.  Of course if one wants to be, he or she has simply to walk to a nearby park, resevoir, or reserve.