Fun fact time!
Singapore has almost no insects.
It’s true. It’s not something you would notice right way but after a while you begin to wonder why you aren’t being attacked by swarms of flying nuisances.
Let’s break down why Singapore should have a metric shit ton (Yes that is a scientific term.) of insects.
1) Near the equator. As far as I know every other place on Earth near the equator has insects.
2) Rain. In Singapore it rains so very, very much. And where there is rain there is collected water, which is baby-making central for mosquitoes.
3) Large amount of outdoor restaurants. Restaurants mean food garbage, and that means bugs.
4) Relatively calm weather patterns. Singapore is protected from much of the destructive weather patterns that plague most other island nations due to its geographic position.
5) Urban area means densely packed humans. Let’s face it humans are walking buffets for the bug populations of the world; we are messy and really easy to sneak up on and take a bite out of.
6) Singapore remains relatively forested. That’s right forested. Even inside the city there is plenty of natural vegetation either lining the streets or within one of the numerous little parks that seem to be at the end of every street.
Why is it that still, in spite of all the potential for insect-overload, is there an almost eerie absence of insects?
Well one might be the recent campaign by the Singaporean government to combat dengue fever, which has billboards and posters on every street urging people to dump out free standing water.
Another might be the unique construction of Singapore. Instead of having drains into the sewer that are at street level like in the US, Singapore creates drainage ditches that are cement lined about a meter down on the sides of the roads. My best guess would be that these were originally dug to keep the streets water free in the rain, but also have a bonus of moving water off the streets faster preventing bugs from doing-the-dirty in it.
Overall Singapore is also a very regimented and clean place. Not only do they take pride in their restaurant food, but they like to look good too. So in general everything is regulated. All the restaurants need to pass health codes, even the hawker markets on the streets, and every building has codes to adhere to. All of this helps reduce insect invasion.
To be honest after a while you begin to miss the little annoyances.
tylerkellyon 