Yes I have seen the changes and felt it on my skin.
It is 60 years since first time I set foot in Singapore, (1959) as a 15 year old Deckboy.
It was then a self-governing British Crown Colony. Singapore joined Malay Federation, Sabah and Sarawak to form Malaysia only in 1963. Singapore was thrown out of Malaysia in 1965 to become an independent nation state 09. Aug. 1965.
I visited regularly in the bad year of race riots, worker unrest and political infighting that followed, but also saw the joy when they became part of Malaysia and the uncertainties that followed after independence. How could a small island with no resources, no hinterland and very little industry survive on its own? (HK rioters should ask themselves the same now)
I kind of drifted ashore in 1967, when I was 2nd Mate on small ships that run between Singapore and Pekanbaru on the Siak River, a short trip with plenty of time in Singapore between runs. Singapore became “home” to me when the ship I was on got sabotaged and caught fire in Pekanbaru.
She was towed back to Singapore (with me functioning as “River Pilot” on the tug):
(Pictures from Smit’s in-house magazine)
I spent three months in Singapore for enquiries and looking after the wreck until it was sold, which cemented the place as my home for the next 49 years. (with short periods away)
The changes between then and when I left in 2016 (back for the first winter though) has been amazing. But the really BIG changes was from just after independence and until the late 1970s, when it changed from dirty crime and corruption ridden colonial backwater, to a clean, safe and corruption free metropolis and a trading, communication and manufacturing hub.
After that it has been “more of the same”, with more big buildings, more roads, more stress and more foreign influence.
The days when being an “Ang Moh” was a big thing has long gone. Today it is more of a burden than an advantage. Mass tourism and an influx of people that does not respect or appreciate local customs and culture is one thing, but the arrogance of some (that has little to be arrogant about) has turned many Singaporeans against the so called “foreign talents”. Personally I have never felt and animosity against me, but I do hear the “coffee shop talk” and it is not alway respectful of their former “Colonial Masters”, or other Caucasians.
It is still a good place to live for foreigners that respect local ways and don’t think that their nationality or race is giving them immunity from the law. There have been too many examples of that lately. (I still follow local news)
BTW; I’ll be back for this coming winter and will be able to judge the situation for myself, not just from what I read, see and hear from family and friends that live there.