Little India and the Arts District, 18th Sept

Smells, colors. Saffrons, reds and blues.

Little India is almost everything Singapore isn't. Messy, gritty, dynamic, full of shouts and sensations. As Sharon Zukin might say, "authentic."

Is it this way by accident, or on purpose?

Arts spaces (theatres, studios) coexist with bazaars and jewelry stores and immigrantspaces.

There is a palpable tension here, at least I sensed it - I was yelled at by a visibly agitated and probably insane  African woman who said something like "British cannot come here! British passports not welcome here!," looking at me. Good thing I'm not British.

There are surprises here. A beggar in a ditch. Backpackers and hawkers give a somewhat and refreshingly grimy edge that I haven't seen elsewhere on the island. This isn't so different than the (former) Lower East Side of New York or part of East London, with more tropical colors and heat.

That arts groups have 'seeped' into Little India is no accident. The adjoining district is the main Arts District, home to many large museums, galleries, studios, and "SOTA" - Singapore's School of the Arts, in a monumental, architect designed building. The creative vibe probably sought out the Colonial architecture, diversity, and comparatively low rents of the shop-houses as compared to the CBD and Chinatown (which gentrified earlier and more completely).

The museums and the Art School probably have a similar effect on Little India as the Covent Garden / Central St Martin cluster does on surrounding neighbourhoods in London, or the fashion and design schools of the Garment District / Chelsea in Manhattan. Seep, creep.

The "Stamford Arts Village" is a NACS (National Arts Council) sponsored space for performances, rehearsals, props, and storage room for a variety of creative groups that seem to need to audition / submit bids to get space in a competitive process.

Nearby, behind a gallery, I saw graffiti! Real, actual graffiti! albeit in a contained, designated space.

Still, the area and surrounding districts has a certain aura of artistic expression that one does not find on the Esplanade or at Marina Bay, or even in Chinatown, with its chic bars and 'experiential' economy.

These were always the ethnic quarters - Chinese, Indian and Malay, yes, but also Arab, Jewish, Armenian...

History of loud, multi-cultural exchange and dialogue and occasional shouting has left its imprint here and perhaps the embodiment of this history is the Bugis covered market, sort of the Covent Garden of Singapore, with hall after hall of bric a brac, food, colors, sex shops. Altogether wonderful. And delightfully NOT an air-conditioned, marble mall.

**
The tension I wrote about. TC Chang found that there is a tension between the immigrant (working class and poor) community and the hipsters, creative types and backpackers who coexist, each vying to use and even own the space.

Does this represent a Jane Jacobsean healthy mix, or the beginnings of entropy?

This area WILL change - construction indicates the arrival of a new metro line with a number of stations opening in the next 5 years. This will no doubt make the area more accessible and more popular with business types, and may cause a cleaning up of the facades, the replacement of immigrant shops with Starbucks and day spas. I hope this does not happen. I like this chaos and Singapore needs it.

**

Some other observations:

1. Singapore is a small island, but it is bigger that it seems at first! It takes longer to get places than one might expect - upwards of 40 minutes in some cases.

2. One DOES get used to the heat. I have, but only after many back to pack days of being outside. Now I hardly sweat. The weather does seem to have cooled, though, probably due to the beginnings of the (slightly cooler) Northeast monsoon.

3. Singapore can be expensive, but it is fair - tapered to assist those on low incomes, from students to the poor. Food at food stalls is cheap (2-3 pounds) and other things, from phone plans to the public transportation, seem subsidized and much cheaper than I'm used to. It all seems very 'pay as you go' - if you have the money, you can live lavishly, but if you don't, you can live. I like it - very utilitarian. And extends to the housing system, which I've written about already.

That's all for now. Off to China.