Move over Thailand. Singapore’s government has decided that, at least for the duration of September’s IMF/World Bank meetings, it will usurp its regional neighbour’s soubriquet, “the land of smiles”. In a speech in June, prime minister Lee Hsien Loong exhorted Singapore’s citizens to greet its estimated 16,000 visitors with “4 million smiles”, a rough approximation to the city-state’s population, stressing the importance of showing the “human face and touch of Singaporeans”.
Chris Leahy,
September 01, 2006