But after crashing into the ranks of the developed world in just one generation,
Singapore is now using its money to generate what Prime Minister Lee Hsien
Loong calls the missing "x-factor". Five years from now, when the construction
dust settles, Singapore is expected to have two major casino resorts, a cluster
of museums with decent collections and other new attractions aimed at keeping
tourists and investors coming. "Global cities like London, Paris, New York and
Shanghai are continuously re-making themselves, so all the more must we," Lee,
son of Singapore's independence leader Lee Kuan Yew, said Monday on the eve of
National Day.
It won't take long for some of the more radical changes to happen. The same
place that once banned US magazine Cosmopolitan for being too racy for local
women will have its own permanent Crazy Horse nude cabaret show starting
December at an all-night entertainment district called Clarke Quay.
The Paris-based troupe may seem tame alongside exotic sex shows on offer in
other Asian cities, but the arrival of Crazy Horse here marks an important
change for Singapore, where until two years ago dancing on bartops was banned.
Government censors have also been easing movie classification rules, allowing
mild sex and nudity to be shown to viewers who are at least 21 years old, but
restrictions on inflammatory political and religious debate remain. "It used to
be Singapore was just Raffles Hotel only, but we have matured a lot as a
destination," said tourism industry consultant Christopher Khoo, referring to
the stately British colonial landmark.
Khoo said the new entertainment attractions would encourage tourists to stay
longer than the current average of less than three days. "Half a day longer
translates into almost 20 percent extra in tourism receipts," he said. Born on
August 9, 1965 after leaving the Malaysian federation, the Republic of
Singapore had few cultural attractions to offer foreign visitors until a
state-sponsored museum-building frenzy began in the 1990s.
The jewel in the crown of the arts promotion drive is the three-year-old
Esplanade performing arts center along the shoreline, billed as Singapore's
answer to the Sydney Opera House. It cost more than 300 million US dollars to
build and boasts ultramodern music and theater facilities as well as spiky
curved roofs that earned it the nickname "durian" after the pungent Asian
fruit.
AFP
