By Alan Behr
From Tribune News Service
For anyone from the West who has not yet traveled to Asia, Singapore is a good starting point. Call it “Asia lite”—a cultural sampler in a clean and safe environment where nearly everyone you meet likely speaks English. The population of 5.6 million fills an island city-state slightly smaller than the five boroughs of New York City. Their numbers, in descending order, include Singaporeans are ethnic Chinese, Malays, Indians, and Eurasians. They are Buddhists, Christians, Muslims, Taoists, and Hindus, and a robust percentage are none-of-the-above.
The island is famously spotless, filled with new office and apartment towers that replace the barely old with the regularity of a new season’s cornstalks. It is conspicuously prosperous: If you are in need of Prada, you are never far from one of the brand’s five boutiques. As in Switzerland, you may get the vague impression your restaurant’s maitre d’hotel is richer than you are….