Having been to both the UK (obviously) and Mongolia before this summer my reflections on them would be relatively pointless. They wouldn't have changed much and wouldn't be very interesting for me to even think through.
Japan and Singapore however are a completely different kettle of fish.
Similar to S Korea I adored Japan. It was polite, safe, friendly and everything was very distinctly Japanese. There is a fierceness to maintaining the culture and way of existence in Japan that I respect a lot. They are proud of who they are and it is magical experiencing their world from the outside perspective.
It was massively overwhelming at times and the resistance to communicating in English (even when they speak it perfectly well) can be frustrating for a non-Japanese speaker. But you can bet if I was there for longer than a week I would end up with some functional Japanese. That's more than can be said for my Cantonese after a year in HK.
Singapore feels more sterile and far less interesting . The tour guide described how the government enforces cultural mixing which seems to have led to a smooshing together of all cultures; losing all of the defining characteristics to leave a bland hotch potch (a bit like Singlish but on a massive scale).
Singapore appears in my eyes to demand an amalgamation into a whole - you may be Chinese but you must display Malay/Indian/British traits too otherwise you are not tolerant enough for Singapore. Everyone and everything seems to be halfway between multiple features, like a teenager trying to fit in with every group in school and therefore ending up everywhere but fitting in nowhere.
Isn't the beauty of the world in the differences around it? The experience of something alien, almost incomprehensible to your way of life and the acceptance of it being that way, abiding by the difference and accepting it for what it is - a defining feature of someone else's culture/belief. And I recognise that I am reflecting on something that is different and saying I don't like it - I'm not saying it's wrong, just that I can only see what is being lost and not really gained.
Surely taking something and forcing it into a diluted mix of cultures is not tolerance at all? I know this process has always happened but can't help but think it will only happen more and faster with our ridiculously interconnected world.
Which is why I love Japan's defiance at maintaining their "Japaneseness" and will never like Singapore. I'll accept it for what it is (different from the rest of the world) but I will never like it.
