Destinations

Postcard From Singapore

A mix of Chinese, Malaysian, and Indian communities — with a decidedly Western business sensibility.

I’ve got just a few hours before I board my flight home from a week-long part fam/part conference trip in Singapore and I can’t stop drinking in this view from my room on the 47th floor of the Marina Bay Sands.

It’s an awe-inspiring vista, for sure. But what boggles the mind is that this futuristic hotel— three 55-story towers connected by a rooftop sky terrace containing the world’s largest/highest infinity pool — is built on reclaimed land. As is the lotus-flower-inspired ArtScience Museum (on the right) and adjacent urban-park wonderland Gardens by the Bay. This all used to be open sea.

It’s my first time in Southeast Asia and it seems that I’ve chosen my transition to this part of the world well. Singapore, I’ve learned, is “Asia Lite” — a mix of Chinese, Malaysian, and Indian communities with a decidedly Western business sensibility. It’s easy for meeting delegates from North America and other corners of the world to feel welcome here and to navigate this city/country/island and its variety of impressive, state-of-the-art convention spaces. What’s a challenge is wrapping your head around the incredible sense of innovation and forward thinking that permeates this place. That makes me think Singapore is an inspirational conference destination, in the truest sense of the word.

Michelle Russell

Michelle Russell is editor in chief of Convene.