Whenever we travel, there’s an inherent expectation that we will experience the best a place has to offer, whether it be through dining at the finest restaurants, taking part in various cultural practices or even simply staying at the best hotel.
We forget that within every place lies a side we don’t often get to see. Our focus on “having a good time” blinds us to what realities might be staring back at us through our tinted tour bus window.
With the rise of the “socially conscious” traveller we are in the beginning stages of recognising not just the impact we have on a place, but also how oblivious we can be to the not so obvious.
There are some of us who choose to opt for volunteering trips abroad – perhaps to teach at an underprivileged school or to offer a building hand for Habitat for Humanity, though I cannot help but question whether this is more to put our guilty minds at ease or for a sense of genuine social responsibility as “global citizens”.
We sign on to eco-tours out of an honest effort to be more conscientious, but are often at risk of being fooled by (most simply put) very, very good marketing. The “green tour” may not be as sustainable as we thought … or, even worse, be doing more damage than good.
Essentially, in our honest efforts, we fail at the first hurdle and we do not research as in-depth as we probably should. We take others’ word for it that this time, it’ll be different, that this isn’t just another ‘money-making scheme’.
When it comes to visiting an urban paradise like Singapore, it is pretty safe to say that “sustainable tourism” isn’t on the brain. With its ultra-modern architecture, seamless public transport system, high carbon footprint but tree-lined streets, what could there possibly be to worry about? There is no poverty here; no marginalised population – life is perfect.
Except it isn’t.
Colorful facade of building in Little India, Singapore (Image credit: platongkoh/iStock)
I recently took a Singapore guided tour of a different kind, which aimed to show me what so many of us have too quickly overlooked – the fact that Singapore, just like any other major city, has an unglamorous underbelly.
A side to the city that shows us it’s not all leisurely brunches, cocktail bars and shopping malls bursting with designer brands.
The Thought Collective Diverse-City Trails (organised by Singapore-based, The Thought Collective and Ben and Jerry’s ice cream) was built with this exact intention. To spark awareness and discussion about the overlooked and often harsh realities of the place we are in and inform our sense of social awareness.
This is not simply a “heartland tour” to get the “authentic Singapore-local experience” as so tediously and often promoted by tourism boards. But don’t worry; there is inevitably still an element of that too. It also does not entail visiting a “typical hawker centre” or “mingling with the locals” over kopi and chat. Instead we toured the humble neighbourhood of Toa Payoh, paying a visit to some of the HDB blocks, observing how their architectural design has adjusted over the years and the surprising (and sometimes negative) impact it has had on the sense of community there.
For example, why are people so much more familiar with each other in one block but everyone in the next are complete strangers to each other? How was this influenced by the factors as simple as the length of the corridors or the design of the community space below?
How is neither apartment block aware that they neighbour one of the poorest HDB buildings in the country? And, if they are aware, why is there no sense of social responsibility to help their underprivileged neighbours?
By stripping away the rose-tinted glasses we generally wear on holiday, it forces us to confront the realities that many of us are unprepared for. For a brief moment, it tears our eyes away from the grandeur of Marina Bay Sands, allowing us to instead focus on a side that probably most of us will never get to see unless we look for it, assuming we have even heard of its existence.
While most paid tours will usher a group of compliant tourists around a national monument (which, chances are, you are not actually that interested in looking at to begin with), these tours show you a side you maybe never intended on seeing when you first planned a trip to Singapore.
In short, you need to actively seek it out but when you do it is both illuminating and educational. Above all it is eye opening and heart wrenching in ways that I did not anticipate a tour could be.
While it may not be everyone’s idea of a “holiday”, for the increasingly socially conscious traveller, it is definitely a step in the right direction and is one I am truly glad to have experienced.
The Thought Collective Diverse-city Trails offer three tours – Little India (every Friday from 6pm to 7.30pm), Toa Payoh (every Saturday, 10am to 11.30am) and Jalan Besar (every Sunday from 10.30am to 12pm), each designed to address different social concerns.
Click here for more information on The Thought Collective.
The post The Millennial Traveller: Tours of a thoughtful kind appeared first on WIT.