Asia 101: Singapore offers airmen a spicy, one stop, East-meets-West feast

Airman, Feb, 2002 by Louis A. Arana-Barradas

That makes the city a study in contrasts. It has a Chinatown -- home to the city's oldest Hindu temple -- Little India and Geylang Seral, the Malay community. Mosques, churches and temples stand side by side, making Singapore a different kind of melting pot, unlike the United States, said Johnson's wife, Jeanine.

"Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Christians and Jews all live side-by-side," she said. "And they get along. You don't see the hatred here like in some parts of the world."

Tie all those things together and Singapore becomes the perfect place to learn about the new Asia, said Master Sgt. Greg Schouveller.

"A lot of people joke about it -- say Singapore is Asia 101," said Schouveller, the squadron's chief of transportation. "But if you don't know anything about Asia, its people and their culture, this is the best country to learn about it. And everyone speaks English."

The neighborhood

Home for all the squadron's airmen and their families is Sembawang. It's a peaceful residential section in the northern part of the island. Where the traffic is sparse. Most days, it's a 30-minute taxi ride from downtown Singapore.

Huge shade trees line the streets there. Nannies push baby strollers down them as kids ride their bikes or romp in well-kept playgrounds. And sometimes, noisy long-tailed macaques monkeys chatter at them from the trees.

Americans live in a cluster of huge British colonial homes built in the late 1920s and 1930s. The Brits built them high off the ground back then, mainly to keep animals from joining residents for dinner. Today, their thick white walls and ocher terracotta roofs stand out from the lush green rain forest that surrounds them.

The area, which residents call "the neighborhood," is also home to American sailors and Australian, New Zealand and British service members and their families.

It's not like any base most airmen have seen.

Christy's lived her whole life on military bases surrounded by big fences and guarded gates. But this neighborhood has no fences. No gates. No cops with berets on the beat.

"At first, not being fenced in was kind of scary. I mean, back in the States, that's what distinguishes a base from the town it's in," she said. "But now that I've gotten used to this form of life, I don't think I'd want to live any other way."

That doesn't mean there's no security. It's just not obvious.

"There's little crime in Singapore. And some strict laws," said Tech. Sgt. Carl Mitchell, the squadron's operations resource manager. "I have peace of mind knowing my family is safe."

Also missing are landmarks common at most Air Force bases. There's no hospital, exchange, golf course, bowling alley, commissary or school. No hangar row. And no support and maintenance shops.

But there's an aid station, two community centers with restaurants -- one has a pool and tennis courts -- a library and gym. There's the obligatory ball field. And a church, too. Plus, there's a small Navy-run convenience store at the terminal.

Since it's such an integral part of the surrounding community, it's easy to drive by and miss the airmen's enclave.