What makes people happy in Singapore?

Nothing's quite as close to our hearts as hawker food. Visit any hawker centre in Singapore and you can find anything from wok-kissed char kway teow to crispy, fluffy stacks of roti prata – the diversity of hawker dishes available really leaves Singaporeans spoilt for choice. And though it's getting harder every day, it's still possible to get a plate of hawker fare for under $5. Cheap and good? It's no wonder that hawker food makes us happy. 

You know, the coffee shop downstairs. Different from hawker centres and food courts, neighbourhood coffeeshops are a smaller cluster of hawker stalls typically located beneath public housing blocks. You can usually find an economical rice stall, a Western selection, a drink stalls, and sometimes a famous stall or two. Don't bother to dress up for trips to the coffeeshop – head down in your ratty and old school shirts and flip flops for a quick lunch or supper run. Then again, its convenience and homeliness are the very things we love about it. 

Who keeps an ear out for the ringing bell of the ice cream cart at HDBs? Or makes a beeline for them along Orchard Road, ignoring all the other dessert shops available on the famous shopping street? We do. Whether you like your raspberry swirl or sweet corn, wafer biscuit or rainbow bread, the ice cream from these carts are a sweet reminder of simpler childhood days – and it tastes extra good for it. 

If we're talking about day-to-day living, nothing's more of a bummer than buses or trains that break down or don't come on time. In ultra-efficient Singapore, that is certainly cause to raise a fuss. Thank goodness, then, that Singapore's public transport system is second best in Asia. Six MRT lines and a fleet of more than 3,400 buses connect almost every corner of the city. Buses and trains come on time – you can practically stalk them on the digital boards or MyTransport.SG app – and though we've had more train faults in recent years, these occurrences are still few and far between. Did we mention that our trains and buses are ultra-clean too? 

We're not called a 'city in a garden' for nothing. When the stressors of city life get too much, it's surprisingly easy to find a green space at a pretty neighbourhood park or in one of our nature reserves. They say nature heals – so it's no wonder that being out and about in the great outdoors is something that makes people happy in Singapore. 

You know we're serious about cleanliness when we've got a SG Clean Taskforce and Clean Ambassadors, and control offending substances like bubble gum. The efforts have paid off – 95 percent of respondents to Time Out's survey in 2022 agreed that Singapore is a clean city. It's good to see that most Singaporeans don't take our trash-free streets for granted. After all, we wouldn't be much happy having to wade through cluttered streets or walk past a choked-up waterways and rivers. 

Many appreciate Singapore's multiracial society. It certainly does mean we get the best of all worlds – from our food and art to our architecture and language. There's joy, learning and connection to be found in our differences, which explains why many consider our vibrant cultural fabric a source of happiness. 

Don't mistake our reserved natures for unfriendliness. Singaporeans may not always make the first move, so to speak, but start a conversation with us and you'll find that most are polite and cordial, and given enough time, even warm. Once you're past being strangers, Singaporeans can be as kind, outgoing, and sociable as anybody. Skeptical? We're at the very least 'not rude' according to this survey – and we're happy with that. 

We're being tongue-in-cheek, but that's according to one Time Out Singapore Instagram follower. After TikTok's Singaporean CEO Shou Zi Chew testified in the United States House of Representatives, the internet was in a tizzy over his fresh-faced looks as well as his composure in the face of some heated grilling. Born and bred in Singapore, Shou Zi Chew has got an impressive resume to boot – so it's not a surprise that he sends some hearts aflutter.