Malling Around Singapore

Last week, I attended my husband's final photography class. Their assignment was to take nighttime city skyline photos from the Esplanade performing arts center. Arrive by 6:45...it's about a 10-minute walk from the City Hall MRT station, his teacher informed. Easy enough. As we started our 10-minute walking commute from train to Outdoor Theatre, I took notice of something that has been ever present but until that moment I didn't
truly perceive. When someone gives me directions then attaches a walking distance to the end, I expect to traverse streets and pass buildings or neighborhoods. I don't expect a 10-minute walk through an air conditioned mega-mall fighting crowds of eager shoppers. But the reality is, most of my Singapore
commutes involve this.

To get to the 9 km rural canopy and park hike, you must navigate through underground tunnels, walk through a mall, and pass numerous shops attached to the MRT station. To access the Harborfront Ferry Terminal for any jaunts to Indonesia or to enjoy the weekend on Sentosa Island, you take a 15-minute walk through one of the city-state's largest malls, VivoCity, and never step foot outside.

Even with commutes involving outdoor walks, you can't escape the masses of consumerism that seem to permeate Singapore and its culture. Every Sunday when exiting the Toa Payoh MRT to attend church, we pass through long outdoor interconnecting corridors of clothing, food, and toiletry shops catering to the almost 120,000 residents who live in the surrounding buildings. The area where I take Chinese classes (Bishan) is hubbed around a 5-story mall with movie theatres, food courts, grocery stores, and more shopping than most mid-size American malls.

To be fair, while living in Chicago and commuting via "L" train to various locations in the city, I would pass many boutique shops and even malls (especially along Michigan Avenue). But the phenomenon is different here. Chicago malls stand alongside office buildings, freestanding department stores, and restaurants with a generous and relatively proportional speckling of each. In Singapore, the sheer concentration of malls and shops is simply unfathomable. The commute to and from our home base MRT stop serves as a perfect example, boasting more than 20 malls one way (I'm not exaggerating).

Whether you are commuting to and from work, sightseeing, or just killing time, there is no way to avoid malling around Singapore.