There is probably not a single travel guide about Singapore that does not mention the Singapore Zoo, the Jurong Bird Park, Universal Studios Singapore, Marina Bay Sands, Sentosa, Botanic Gardens, or Gardens By The Bay.
There is also probably not a single travel guide (especially in recent years) that does not mention Little India, Chinatown, Kampong Glam (Haji Lane) or Joo Chiat/Katong.
However, there's hardly mention about the neighborhoods, the heartland estates, or even the out-of-town areas (where it's assumed that tourists will not be interested to go).
But, why?
Why is it assumed that tourists will not want to visit the housing estates where 90% of the locals live?
What is so un-touristy about an estate like, say, Bukit Batok, Yew Tee, Sengkang, Tampines or Hougang?
What is the problem with showing tourists the estates of Queenstown, Toa Payoh, Telok Blangah, Teban Gardens or Lengkok Bahru?
We've had royalty and dignitaries visit Queenstown and Toa Payoh before, haven't we?
Them being visitor-worthy, however, is beside the point.
What is the point (to me) is that these estates are where every one of us born (and bred) on this island are familiar with.
We might not have had an opportunity to step into one.
We might not have had the opportunity to eat at a coffee shop or a hawker center, but there is no way that we would not (at least) have heard of one.
It is impossible to dwell on this little island of ours (never mind how or where your home is) and not be aware of a heartlander housing estate or two.
Even if you were to stay at the remote (exclusive) Sentosa Cove, you can see the towering blocks of Cantonment and Telok Blangah right across the water on both sides.
Perhaps it might be that I'm a heartlander girl.
So maybe I'm the jiak kentang kind who can barely string a sentence together in non-classical Mandarin when ordering from the hawker center or the aunty in the bakery downstairs.
And maybe I'm the kind whose accent ends up sounding weird when ordering a simple thing like chye tow kuay-bai- bu yao la- dabao from the coffee shop.
But I appreciate my estate, the heartland where I live, and I cannot find a reason that it should be concealed away from the eyes of incoming visitors- business or pleasure.
So I took a couple of pictures.
From two perspectives.
From the perspective of the visitor.
And the perspective of the resident(s).
What you see from the outside looking in, and what you see from the inside looking out can genuinely surprise you.
Perhaps that's what keeps some of us looking out, and what keeps some of us looking in- and about.
