The compact centre of trade in Southeast Asia, and one that bears exploration.

To experience Singapore is to encounter a profound dichotomy. Few places can claim to have welcomed so many nationalities as the city-state, while fewer still are bound to the machinations of Mammon and the driven of banking and commerce. It is a shiny, clean, chrome place, as much defined by its functionality as its prosperity, and its size means it can be crossed in barely an hour.

And herein does the juxtaposition reveal itself. Singapore is home to over six million people: a number that should bring to mind an endless warren and the attendant scrabbling but, thanks to the prevalence of nature reserves and major parks, it retains a verdant stillness and the ubiquitous fug of Southeast Asia without descending into claustrophobia.

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Read more: A trip in time at the temple of Qing Xin Ling, Malaysia.

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Thus does one find Singapore: the city-state attracting a Babel-esque blend of global visitors that blends the modern and stands alone as the microcosm of Asia.