One of my friends has a website on which he has a list of at least 200 answers to the question; "How do you know you have been in Singapore too long". One of the answers I particularly like is; "When 'walking distance' means 10 meter".
Honestly, it appears Singaporeans detest walking and will generally go out of their way not to have to do it (shopping spouses being an exception). Coming from Europe I am used to having to walk to school, the shop, my grandparents, work or wherever, sometimes if you see the bus leave right in front of your nose you decide to walk the 4 or 5 stops. This is not long-distance trekking by any means, between 1 to 2 kilometers, maybe a bit more if it's a nice day and time permits, I regularly walked a good 5 to 6 km from the centre of town to my house.
The important thing to note though is that nobody thinks it weird, in Singapore you are likely to be considered out of your mind. When I was still living in a hotel in Balmoral Road I used to walk to Cuppage for diner or supper and then walk back, if you mention something like that to a Singaporean he or she will look at you like you are mad.
More recently I sometimes walked my daughter to kindergarten (usually my wife did it), close to 1.5 km I estimate. On the way there we passed parents or maids with little kids wearing the same uniform as my daughter, some of them saying hi to her, and wondered what they were waiting for. Thick as I am I even had to ask my wife, guess what, the school bus. I was totally stunned for the last one we used to pass was no more then 500 meter away from the school with no major intersections or whatever in between. If you think it unique? we now live somewhere else and while my daughter waits for her schoolbus (about 5 km, ok) there is a cluster of uniformed toddlers waiting for another, did not seem too weird till I noted the school emblem on the bus, the one from the school just down the road, the one we can see from where we stand!
This may seem funny but it also results in people walking out of their block and immediately hail a taxi, even though there is a taxi stop, with a queue some 50 meters away. The worst part, taxis actually stop to pick them up in full view of people waiting, with kids and groceries, I hate that, but that's another story.
While reading this, bear in mind the worry about the (child)obesity levels by the public here.
Maybe its the heat that keeps people from using their legs, it certainly does not make you feel 'refreshed' after a walk, but it seems a waste of so many neat pavements that will never be used and sweat you do anyway.
As for me, I still merrily walk from Raffles City to the other end of Beach Road after lunch, wipe the sweat away and act as if I cannot understand my colleagues surprise.
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