Straits Times 6 Sep 09;
As many a tourist in Orchard Road may be heard saying, the shopping and eating are splendid, the sights are reasonable - but 'is there more, something truly Singapore'?
The Chinatown Business Association has done better than tour companies in making Singapore's folk culture come alive. It has been organising walking tours in Chinatown during the Hungry Ghost Month, fully subscribed to. Enthusiastic attendees, mostly newly arrived foreigners working here, could verify for themselves what they might have caught snatches of in luridly produced and often misrepresented travel documentaries.
What did they think of the Taoist temple rituals, street processions and a getai performance, complete with a true-blue Chinese dinner? Immensely fascinating, for certain. An enrichment exercise, for another.
Seeking out living local culture is what the more sophisticated of travellers are doing, anywhere. They tend to travel with like-minded friends. More Singaporeans are venturing into African villages to observe manhood rituals, or trying to figure out why young men would risk their lives running with charging bulls in Spain.
As many a tourist in Orchard Road may be heard saying, the shopping and eating are splendid, the sights are reasonable - but 'is there more, something truly Singapore'? To paraphrase, what has the Chinatown association done that tour operators could not? They should make a fresh stab at including heartland events in their city tours - Chinese religious and folk festivities in season, Thaipusam, Malay and Hindu weddings, Peranakan feasts. Visits to HDB homes to see how 'real Singaporeans' live can be packaged, with some imagination.
Travel firms that offered these tours in the past said response was not good. One wonders whether it was the packaging effort that was not good enough. There are few tourists anywhere in the world who would pass up an opportunity to sample local life and living traditions. After the grand sights, the unforgettable delights are usually to be found well off the coach trail.
