Perhaps in response to Pay And Pay in action?, a covert PAP PR operative* (Cousin of Secret Squirrel or his side-kick Moroccoo Mole?) persuaded an ang moh publication that is no friend of the PAP to publish a story that implicitly argues that it’s “fake news” that S’pore is all about “Paying And Paying”?
Jokes’ aside, seriously the story is all about the free or cheap good stuff available here, that value for money S’poreans (all part of the 70%) already know, but which the cybernuts (the noisy part of the 30%) deny the existence of:
[A] wide range of free and low-cost facilities and diversions. There are free parks to explore, free concerts, free health clinics and tons of cheap places to eat. A day out need not cost a small fortune.
The 184-acre Singapore Botanic Gardens (about three-quarters the size of the New York Botanical Garden) opened in 1859, and in its early days was an important center for cultivating plants, especially the rubber tree. Free to enter, it became a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2015 and is a spotless, peaceful patch of greenery, filled with people strolling (with or without dogs), exercising and bird-watching.
Gardens by the Bay was built on reclaimed land and is a marvel of engineering and sustainable design. I like how its climate-controlled greenhouse domes, superstructure artificial trees and green expanses contrast with the nearby central business district towers. The Singapore Symphony Orchestra stages free concerts around the city (sometimes at the Botanic Gardens). Music fans can also check out the rotating schedule of free shows at Esplanade, the performing arts complex with a roof inspired by the durian fruit.
Companies like Monster Day Tours and Indie Singapore offer free walking tours of Little India and Chinatown that trace the evolution of these enclaves. ION Orchard, a shopping mall known for its high-end designer stores, has a free contemporary multimedia art gallery on its fourth level, and free art is dotted around the city. My favorite freebie, Haw Par Villa, was opened in 1937 by the Aw brothers, the inventors of Tiger Balm …
Doubtless when the PAP passes the draconian laws banning Deliberate Online Falsehoods (See the 22 recommendations put up unanimously last Thursday by the 10-member Select Committee on Deliberate Online Falsehoods: the Wankers’ Party Sec-Gen was a member of the commitee), saying that PAP stands for Pay And Pay and that S’pore is “Pay And Pay” land will be punished by hanging.
Juz kidding leh.
*He “wishes S’pore well” and is constructive, and a nation-builder.
Thoughts of a Cynical Investor 