Hong Kong versus Singapore

It’s late, I’m tired, and I’m home. Or, at least, where I call home for now. Hong Kong has welcomed me back with mild temperatures and a typically cacophonous MTR (that’s our equivalent of the Tube or the Subway). I think I’m glad to be back, but Singapore surprised me with its unlikely charm in the end, despite so many warnings of its sterility and lack of personality. In fact, Singapore stacks up favourably on many factors when compared to Hong Kong.

1. Food

Singapore’s array of cheap eats is vastly superior to Hong Kong’s. The confluence of Chinese, Malaysian, Indonesian, Indian and Western cuisines makes for a myriad of scrumptious lunchtime options. The very presence of the Maxwell Food Centre, with its famously delicious and negligibly cheap offerings ranging from Hainan chicken rice (its name doesn’t do justice to its succulence) to curry served on banana leaf, kicks the arse of anything Hongkie Town has on hand.

2. Nightlife options

Expats who have been in Singapore a long time tend to gripe about the somewhat boring nightlife, but from what I can tell, it at least escapes the uniformity seen in Hong Kong. While there, I visited or strolled past bars and clubs ranging from dodgy dives to swept-up swanky clubs in districts by the river, by the sea, in Chinatown, and by bridges. I saw a passable live band playing covers of songs not by the Black Eyed Peas but by Jeff Buckley, and I went to one infamous establishment fondly known as Four Floors of Whores (a.k.a. Orchard Towers). If you ask me, that beats anything Lan Kwai Fong, Wan Chai, or SoHo has to offer.

3. Cafés

They were tough to find — and I only came upon them by pure luck — but within one narrow street that looked as if it could be found in a Mediterranean village, two cafés stood apart from anything to be found in Hong Kong, on just about every count: class, lack of pretension, artsyness (sorry, but I’m one of those romantics that believe the two latter terms aren’t mutually exclusive), good music (well, good in one; at least passable in the other), and a good menu. Cosy red couches amenable to slumping were also appreciated. If you go to Singapore, visit Haji Lane, the next street over from Arab Street. It’s the one lined with people smoking hookah pipes while sitting on Persian rugs on the sidewalk.

4. Little India

Singapore’s Indian enclave puts Chunking Mansions to shame. Colourful colonial buildings, bustling streets packed with charm and curry shops, backpacker hostels and grungy bars, and a 24-hour mall crowded at 4am and boasting two floors of gold. Who could ask for more? Dickheads without taste, that’s who.

5. Silence

I guess it could weigh on you after a while, but there are many pockets of Singapore that are agreeably sleepy. An escape from the noise of the city is not at all difficult, and sometimes unavoidable. I’m not sure if that would lead to more or less drunkeness, but in different moods each state has its advantages. In the meantime, it’s nice to be able to avoid car alarms and honking horns when you need to.

Okay, so in at least five areas, I’d rate Singapore over Hong Kong. It’s probably also less polluted. And its architecture is more varied and interesting. And there’s a great river. But Hong Kong still probably has an overall edge. For excitement, a range of good beaches, hiking, a more tolerable climate, and a not-so-authoritarian government slightly less inclined to micromanage its media, Hong Kong is still tops.