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Show Singapore Continued From Page H-- 7 of religious worship each built in the contemporary style of the early immigrants faith. According to the tourist Christian churches are in board, Georgian style; ornate Chinese temples are built to the Godness of Mercy, Kwan Yin. There are Indian temples with their dazzle of deities, and Moslem mosques, comparatively austere All are found adjacent to each other in crowded Chinatown, the oldest segment of the city and a must attraction for the Singapore visitor Both little India Chinatown and have retained the character of the old Asian bazaar, and a tourist can walk down both discovering little doorways crammed with a kaleidoscopic range of handicrafted items Chinatowns morning markets, jammed with lots of lotus, roots, ginger, cabbage, scallions, carcasses of meat, live fish being clubbed and cleaned, eggs streaked with mud land celery and grapes from California), are best seen from a trishaw. ALSO FEEL FREE and safe to hike down Arab street, where Malaysian jewelry are basketry and sights to behold, or down the narrow tunnel of bizarre souvenirs, tacky tapestries and batik dresses and shirts, along Change Alley by Cbffoid Pier. And, dont pass up Thieves Market Shopping is a favorite pastime in Singapore, which has the reputation of being a shoppers paradise of the Far East A tourist can find anything from carvings and silks from Thailand, leather from Italy and inexpensive camera equipment in the citys ultramodern, indoor air conditioned high-ris- e shopping complexes along Orchard Street. Whether brow sing in outdoor shops or luxury department stores, bargaining is still the name of the game, even when prices are marked Be careful Often shopkeepers will give a 10 percent discount as "a special " But if you are a price for you persistent bargainer, you can usually get the price lower You cant expect cash refunds. However, the shopkeepers usually give a credit toward the purchase of other merchandise AND, Ms Nalpon said, because Singapore is .mall, there is great control over imitation goods They have a consumer association which does regular checks on retailers to make sure what they are selling is genuine, or the product does what the advertisement says it should do But, dont linger just in cool shops. Sightseeing in the magical country, even in the hot and humid climate, is also a delightful way to be truly integrated into the mood of the country. Singaporeans take pride in their Chinese Gardens, a lovely landscape garden based on styles of Pekings summer palace , the Jurong Birt Park, featuring 7,000 exotic birds, and Mount Faber, where a tourist can catch a view of the entire city. Tourism is the fourth largest industry in Singapore. Last year there were 2 83 million tourists, which is more than the population of the country. Ms. Nalpon said by 1985 that number should be increased to 4 million. Singapore welcomes all races and creeds, but persons arriving there must not only be well groomed, with hair not reaching below the collar or covering the ears, bubfollow strigent laws enforced by the government. All persons in the country, including Americans, are subject to Singapore Misuse of law, and the countrys Drugs Ait carries heavy penalities against the misuse of soft as well as hard drugs IN FACT, THE death penalty is mandatory for anyone arrested with more than 15 grams of heroin or more than 30 grams of morphine. A person arrested with less than 15 grams of marijuana is subject to a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison andor $20,000 fine Although the head of state in Singapore. the prime minister, is a Cambridge-educated law7er and voting is compulsory for all citizens over 21 years of age for members of parliament, elected every five years, one Singaporean said his land is one of you can't do that, you "prohibition" can't do this That is. unless you want to In Singapore, she said, it is socially unacceptable to have more than two children, because there is such a need to control population growth. Housing is difficult to find, even though $8 to $9 million a day is spent on building. Over 50 percent of the people live in Housing and Development Board high rise buildings. The current rate of HDB building is 30,000 a year. Yet, according to Liu Thai Ker, chief executive officer of HDB, there were 76,000 applications on the waiting list to buy flats in 1980-8- 1 (an increase of 27 percent over 1979) and 8,973 (an increase of five percent) to rent flats. Persons, including many Americans, not living in MDB units pay up to $1,250 a month for rent, plus an additional $100 a month for utilities. If the apartment has central air conditioning, they pay up to $3,250 a month for rent, plus $600 a month for utilities. BUT UNLESS YOU are so intrigued by Singapore that you are planning to move there, worry more about making hotel reservations for your visit to the beautiful city. There are 72 tourist class hotels in Singapore, which range from the American Hilton and Holiday Inn chains to the Shangri-l- a Singapore, a hotel set in coconut trees, palms and other tropical plants where the atmosohere is resort-like- . Or you could stay at the famous Raffles Hotel, where Hayley Mills and Sir Noel Coward stayed, Haile Selassie, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau were entertained, and where Somerset Maugham found inspiration for his booksThe Moon and Sixpence and Of Human Bondage. Ms Nalpon said hotel rates arent controlled. There is a free market policy, and currently they have an occupancy rate of more than 80 percent all year-rounBook a hotel before you go to the oaradise island of Singapore. 700-roo- be fined The fine for littering is $500 If you drive your automobile into a restricted zone la special downtown area), without license or without four occupants, from 7 0 15 am. you will be fined $50 30-1- There are other For examcan't smoke in elevators or cinemas and concert halls; cant build open fires on construction sites, or breed mosquitoes without a fine do-no- ts ple, you AND, ACCORDING TO Ms Nalpon. families are encouraged to have only two children After that, they will have to pay more fees in government hospitals and get less priority for the sclools they choose to place their children in Believing a photograph will take away part of her soul, an elderly Chinese woman hides her face from the camera in Chinatown. |