新加坡，人人都说那是个美丽的艺术之都，是个富饶安逸的地方，究竟是怎么个美、怎么个安逸法？这次我参加了北京旅行社的“新加坡一地自由行”，脚踏实地体验了一回。
　　
　　语言是基础，否则你连乞丐都没得做
　　
　　因为飞机晚点，我弄不清将什么时间抵达新加坡，于是一登机就冲那浓眉大眼的漂亮空姐问：请问几点到新加坡？空姐冲我只是笑而摇头，于是又问第二个，“不懂”!这一个用了两个平声“不懂”的，显然是生硬的华语。此时我猛然发现，这机组人员都不是中国人，我乘坐的是印尼航班，乘务员全是印尼人。我只好不再言语，扳着指头算从北京到新加坡约6小时，那么我应在半夜11点才到新加坡，我给接我的人用手机发了信息。在机舱里，我们听着一句也没听懂的华语、英语的交替广播，靠的只是在空姐的手势下关掉手机、系好安全带等。
　　我第一次感觉到语言不通所带来的障碍。当空姐问及：water(水)？coffee(咖啡)？时，一个个旅游者都成了不会说话的小孩子，他们或点头哈腰或摇头晃手，指着orange juice（橘子水）说要water（水），想要rice（米饭）却拿了noodle（面条），打哑语弄得笑话百出。当空姐问我要什么时，我想说“要饭”觉得不妥，心里想吃米饭可是不会说，想做手势但又表达不出来，想指指点点，可盒子封着看不见，于是我只能碰运气随便要了一个，结果是面条。此时想起曾有一位同仁讲述过，他去欧洲旅游，出门时忘记取钥匙牌，后来开车时间要到了，他去房间取行李进不了门，找来服务员和酒店保安，向他们比划了半天索“钥匙牌”，但他们就是“不懂”。眼看车发动了，他急得双脚一跳冲向那房门，同时一脚向门踹去。“OK，OK.”他们飞速阻止这一鲁莽行为，同时也总算知道了需要钥匙。所以我的第一个经验是，要做个现代“玩”家必得学点英文，否则你就得随身带本英汉小词典，至少你要把“米饭”二字学会并牢记，否则你出了国门连乞丐都没得做！
　　
　　鱼尾狮，新加坡的标志传说
　　
　　新加坡位于东南亚，是马来半岛最南端的一个热带城市岛国，面积682.7平方公里，属热带海洋性气候，常年高温多雨，年平均气温24-27℃。所以一下飞机，从北京裹着的一季冷气一瞬间便被消释在新加坡摇滚的热浪里，人一下子就像蜕了茧壳的蚕，轻松得只差展翅起飞了。
　　去哪里玩？这是每一个“自由行”旅游者从机场出来后第一个要考虑的问题。“去鸟公园!那里是东南亚最大的飞禽公园，里面有各种各样的奇形怪鸟”。在新加坡南洋理工大学攻读MD(医学硕士)的女儿向我首推此景点。可我首先想看看这里的民族风情，于是去新加坡标志河，在那里听鱼尾狮的传说。鱼尾狮像位于新加坡河畔，安德森桥边，矗立于新加坡河入海口，凝望着大海。它的上半身是狮子，下半身是鱼，像高8米，重40吨。有关它的传说，在鱼尾狮像后的四块石碑上有，在圣淘沙公园里有，在人们的口传中更有：
　　据马来史籍记载，公元1150年左右，苏门答腊的室利佛逝王国王子乘船到达此岛，看见一头黑兽，当地人告知为狮子，于是这里遂有“狮城”之称。由于当地居民受印度文化影响较深，喜欢用梵语作为地名，新加坡是梵语“狮城”之谐音，而狮子具有勇猛、雄健的特征，故以此作为地名。
　　根据马来人的记录，狮城传奇来自斯里维查雅帝国的王子桑尼拉乌塔马。公元11世纪，发现了位于东西方交汇点的新加坡岛屿，帝国王子在登陆的时候遇到一只奇怪的野兽不让他上岸，后来他才知道那是只狮子。于是，王子将自己的王冠摘下送给了这头体型巨大的野兽，戴上王冠的野兽忽然变成了一只狮头鱼尾的“鱼尾狮”，终日守卫在新加坡海岸上。后人便把它视为新加坡的标志和象征，塑其像与国民朝夕相伴。
　　
　　更具文化多样性的民族大家庭
　　
　　
　　据说新加坡有绕城的观光巴士，成人只要买一张5新币的通行车票，便可上下3条路线的巴士周游全国，我决定一试。
　　新加坡有条华人街俗称“牛车水”，英文是Chinatown，外国都叫唐人街。街道较宽，因为刚过圣诞节又临近元旦，所以街道两边既有大红大绿象征中国年俗的“福”字、灯笼和彩柱，又有象征西方年吉祥物的圣诞树。唐人街最大的建筑是唐城坊，这是华人传统文化的集聚地。这里晚上会有卖艺的、卖唱的，玩杂技的，还有许多卖华人传统服装、手工艺品的。我正巧穿着今年夏季刚上市的一件碎花短袖唐装新款，一位店主指指我的衣裳问：“你在哪里买的？”我笑答：“中国!”她说一看便知是在中国买的，好典雅!那一刻，我很得意，因为我这件衣服其实很廉价，而且是在中国西部一条顶小的商品街上买的。在唐人街最具吸引力的正宗的中餐馆，如川菜馆、天津馆和火锅店等，除此还有挂着北京同仁堂招牌的中药铺。
　　徜徉在这个传统与现代交汇的社群里，我又想起前日在机舱里一句也没听懂的“华语”广播。朋友甲说：“是华语吗？你能确定？你可知新加坡国语为马来语？”呵，真的？这无不令我惊讶，要知新加坡人口中77.3%是华人，14.1%是马来人，7.3%是印度人，1.3%是欧亚混血人种和其他民族。而且中国大陆现在来新加坡的人越来越多，其中很多都是高级知识分子和技术工人。他们要么讲华语，要么讲英语，印度泰米尔语也是常用语言之一。所以地铁里面播音员播报乘车注意事项时，一般都是先英语报一遍，然后是中文，然后再是马来语，最后是泰米尔语。
　　看着身边的新加坡人，我突生一种感觉，我觉得人真是种奇特的动物，大家都是人却说着能表达相同意思的不同语言，再说国别不同，行为艺术上也有很大差异，你在这里可以发现世界上的人其实都在按自己的方式生活着。所以，你对你身边的人在生活方式上有什么不适宜的做法，你没必要感到奇怪，人们可以选择自己的生活方式。
　　晚上我在留学生们租住的经济楼下住宿，看见新加坡人在办丧事。灵柩后墙挂着大红刺绣精美布景，上面用中国丝线彩绣着花草鱼虫。令我大惑不解的是，灵前的挽联、孝布、孝棚全是黄色而非白色，棺材也似一只精致的黄色皮箱，灵堂前念经的和尚也同样披着黄色袈裟，那些吊唁的人们倒是全穿白色T恤。朋友说橙黄色在印度象征牺牲，也是教士法衣的颜色，这也可能与佛教有关。因为新加坡是个信教的地方，主要宗教为佛教、道教、伊斯兰教、基督教和印度教，东南亚的华人很多都是信佛的。
　　（本文摄影曹扬榭子丁亮）
　　
　　My Impressions of Singapore
　　By Xie Yaping
　　Long before I visited Singapore, I had heard so much about the country's luxury and leisure. But what impressed me most during my visit to Singapore toward the end of last year was not its luxury and leisure but its cultural diversity.
　　My flight was late, which added to my uneasiness when I suddenly realized that it was an Indonesia flight. None of the cabin stewardesses spoke Chinese. The Chinese language used in the broadcast system or by stewardesses was totally beyond my understanding. And I don's speak English at all. So, when the food cart came to me, I pointed blindly at a lunch box. It turned out to be a box of noodle while I wanted rice.
　　Fortunately, the language barrier lasted about 6 hours in the air. The plane touched down at last. Beijing's winter vanished immediately as soon as I walked into the Singapore's summer heat blowing into my face vehemently. I felt as if I were a bird and could take wings into the sky.
　　
　　After my arrival, a visiting schedule became my first priority as a tourist there. My daughter, who was taking a post-graduate course at Nanyang Technological University there, suggested that I visit the park of birds. it is the largest bird park in southeast Asia. You can see all kinds of birds there!?But I wanted to see the tourist icons of the capital city first. So I went to see the half lion and half fish creature called Merlion and other tourist attractions first. The 8-meter-high and 40-ton sculpture is the symbol of the city. There are stories about the lion and the discovery of Singapore centuries ago.
　　I had heard that a sightseeing bus could take me around the garden city and a ticket would cost 5 Singapore dollars. So I took a bus and went to Chinatown. Since it was just after Christmas and before the New Year's Day, the Chinatown was luxuriously decorated with western Christmas trees as well as Chinese red lanterns and red posters with the Chinese word Fortune in the center. The Chinatown had Chinese restaurants and shops whose trade logos looked familiar. I strolled in the streets in a dress I had picked up back home in the summer. A shop owner asked me curiously,here did you get this??I replied, hina!?The shop owner said, ow graceful it looks! I knew it was from China at the first sight!?I was proud and pleased. Actually I had bought it at a very small shop in western China.
　　On one occasion, I remembered the Chinese instruction broadcasted on the inbound flight. So I asked a friend why I didn's recognize a word. are you sure it was Chinese??I was surprised to get this response. I was told that Malay is one of the official languages of Singapore. When I learned more about the language situation in the island country, I was amazed.
　　In Singapore, different cultures coexist. A Malay woman wraps her hair with a scarf even though the weather is hot. An Indian woman wears an additional piece of cloth even though she already has a skirt on. Chinese immigrants or their descendents in Singapore are not hongguo Ren?but ua Ren? The difference is the former stresses the country of China and the latter refers to the Chinese race only. So it is politically incorrect to call a Singaporean Chinese as a person of China.
　　Outside the low-income rental building where overseas students and I stayed, I watched a mourning ceremony. On the wall behind the coffin hung a large piece of silk fabric in bright red with flowers, grass, fish and insects embroidered on it. To my confusion, the elegies were written on yellow fabric and the temporary mourning canopy was covered with yellow fabric, not white ones as seen in China. The coffin, which looked like a fine leather case, was in the color yellow. All the monks chanting Buddhist scriptures also sported cassocks in yellow. However, visitors who came to express their condolence wore white T-shirts. It is said that Singaporeans have many religious beliefs. The color yellow refers to sacrifice in India and many Chinese residents there are Buddhists.
　　 (Translated by David)