Walked down to the river today, for a nice lunch (thanks, Lynn, for the tip). As you walk about you can’t help but notice how upbeat and optimistic it all is. Employment doesn’t seem to be a problem; our hotel was seriously overstaffed, by UK standards, with about 4 employees for every guest. Every time you stand still someone comes up and offers to help you, which can get wearing after a while.

Great chrome and glass offices and malls are everywhere, all with escalators and water features. Sometimes their USP is unclear, though exclamation marks predominate. One I particularly liked was called the fx:1 academy, whose speciality was ‘abundance management’. Their slogans included ‘Adapt Optimal Trading Habits!’, ‘Lock In Profits Consistently!’ and – my favourite – ‘Earn Precious Pips!’ I wonder what it all means.

Everyone says Singapore is very clean, and it is. Street sweepers operate from cycle-powered rickshaws, with their brooms and bags of collected rubbish in the back. The ethnic mix of the place seems to be Chinese and Malays, with some Indians, but you notice that the lads on the rickshaws are none of these.

Back to the hotel to pack and wait for the taxi back to the airport, then to Perth.