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"Singaporing" Manila – Reversing the Reality Part 1

I stayed in Singapore as an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) for one year and half. To be honest, I like staying in this country. However, I don’t love working in this country, the main reason why I only worked that long. But I could definitely say that I’ve done my mission of working abroad for good. I saved some. I helped some. Now, I am with my wife and my dogs, plants, and living and working in my own house. Simple life is the result of my short patience and sacrifices while working in Singapore.



I am a kind of OFW who is very thrifty when it comes to travel and leisure. If it’s about spending for fun, I could definitely say that I am at the bottom of the list. Instead, what I like to do is explore those places where I will spend less or almost nothing and during off season when fares and cost of tickets are low. I am talking about places in Singapore. As you know, this country is very small in terms of land area. It ranks 190th(out of 249) in terms of total land area. With excellent transport system, you can be at the other end or corner of Singapore in just one hour or even less. So what I am doing is plan my trip, allocate some budget for transportation and snack, and then go explore the places that are of interest to me. At the end of each travel day, I go back home happy and without so much expenses. This is how I used to live in Singapore.

There are lots of interesting places in Singapore if it’s about the tourist attractions. On my perspective, yes they are indeed interesting. But for me, there are places that are even more interesting than these tourist spots. These places are probably the least viewed or photographed places in this country if I am to assess it. There are two important things on why I want to share with you these very interesting places. First, I want to share with you Singapore’s beauty from a different perspective. Second, I want to reveal some things that could be useful to someone else’s country. On my case, it’s the Philippines which I want to benefit from these useful things that I will share on this blog post. As you continue reading this blog, you will observe some things that are not only beautiful but are also useful to the Filipinos if they adapt it this country. Why I entitled this as "Singaporing Philippines", you will find out.

Singapore’s Beauty
I wrote about “When Philippines Becomes Singapore, What Would it be Like” in 2013. On this post, you will see the way of life in Singapore. On the streets, parks, MRT stations, malls and offices, I shared some photos on how people spend their everyday life in Singapore. In the later part of the post, I did a slight comparison with the way of life in the Philippines. I also added that “there seems to be no effective system at all on our roads, offices and cities. There is nothing wrong with benchmarking our country with Singapore if the objective is for ours to become a more progressive country someday”. To further support these claims, here is another batch of photos that will reveal more of Singapore’s beauty.













You've just seen some of Singapore’s beauty through these photos. On the later part of these blog, I am going to share the beauty which I am referring to as "places that are even more interesting than these tourist spots". Now, let me post this question. Compared to the Philippines, do you think the beauty of our country is close to becoming Singapore or are there still more improvements needed?

Let me share with you this time some story about the National Capital Region of the Philippines – Metro Manila. What beauty are inside this region and what are those that are not. That story would be on Part 2 of this blog post.

Continue reading Part 2 of this post: "Singaporing" Manila – Reversing the Reality Part 2


About the Author
Noriel Panganiban is a Filipino blogger who's like any other ordinary Filipino, has experienced the real way of life in the Philippines. Noriel has a mission and that is to bring positive changes in this beautiful country. With blog posts like this, he believes that he is able to carry out that mission even in little ways; that if someone has read his post, that triggers the start of an awakening. You can read more posts about the Filipinos and the Philippines from this blog site. For more information about Noriel and his vision in life, you may also visit www.knowriel.com.

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