The Singapore paradox and the style of Generic Individualism

摘要

Many people apparently dream about the Queen of England, but probably more have fantasies about Singapore, its extraordinary success over 50 years of being an independent state, and its problems as a corporate state. Singapore Inc, like iconic buildings sprouting over the globe, is a living Rorschach test. Foreigners project their wishes and fears onto the city-state. Some claim it is the 'only city in the world to grow greener as it grows bigger, richer and denser'; others believe William Gibson's infamous jibe that it is 'Disneyland with the Death Penalty'. Such generalisations are invoked by outsiders, even those resisting the lure of stereotype. In 1995, Rem Koolhaas lamented the way Westerners pigeonhole the Modernist city with ironic labels such as Theme Park - and then immediately did the same with his 'Portrait of a Potemkin Metropolis'. Like a good Rorschach blob, the city provokes a response, revealing some truths, though these often tell you more about the viewer than the viewed, as the famous Swiss inkblots should.