So I’ve been back in Singapore a couple of times recently and as I was passing the Singapore Tourism Office, I saw this …
Now I love Singapore – I look back on my 4 years living there very fondly – but even I, as a big advocate of the place, thought that was quite a big ask so being an inquisitive/cynical sod, I thought I’d pop in and see what they had to back up that claim.
Sadly for Singapore Tourism, my concerns weren’t without cause …
Dear oh dear ,.. how many ‘reasons’ do you think are there?
Eighty … at a push?
It wouldn’t be so bad if it was January 2009, but it’s December – so unless something major happens, I doubt they’ll get another 1,929 reasons in the next 14 odd days.
The good news for STB [Singapore Tourism Board] is they’ve just hired my friends at BBH – including Freddie – so things are bound to take a big step for the better, however the moral of the story is …
1/ Realise people – even highly nationalistic people – don’t care as much about this stuff as the tourist board.
2/ Tourists don’t give a flying shit about this stuff compared to the tourist board.
3/ If you have unrealistic expectations – not just about the level of public involvement, but your situation – then you’re going to get burnt, especially if some pain-in-the-ass British bloke is walking by.