The American influence is omnipresent in Singapore. Televisions on the public buses screen American shows and advertise American movies ("Must Love Dogs" is getting a lot of promotion out here). American brands are everywhere-- I can probably find almost any store out here that I could find in the States. For that matter, the Scandinavians also seem to be doing well, as many people have Nokia phones and I live right next to an IKEA (in fact, my first ever visit to IKEA was here in Singapore). One of the cool things about Singapore is that it is such an interesting mix of cultures. Not only is the Western influence unavoidable, but, of course, Asia has made its mark here as well. Today, when I was talking with my research advisor about the different ethnic areas of town-- Little India, Kampung Glam (Malaysian), Arab Street, China Town-- he made the comment that Singapore is actually "one big China Town." In many ways this is true, as the Chinese make-up by far the largest proportion of Singaporean people and the Chinese way of doing things is reflected in government and business. Singapore has differentiated itself from China, however, in promoting its multiracial society. I am still trying to grasp how exactly this all works, as it seems clear to me that many people associate with those from their respective ethnic and language groups (walking down the street you may pass different small groups of people speaking in Mandarin, Hindi, Malay, and other dialects), but at the same time nearly everyone in Singapore speaks English and groups communicate with each other through English. Also, I believe the government has an official policy of trying to make the different groups mingle- for example, in their housing scheme there are quotas (or something of that sort) that say, for example, "so many Malays must live in this neighborhood, or building, so that the neighborhood remains multi-racial." It's all very structured. Probably the most structured/regulated place I have ever been. I have yet to decide if I think the regulations are too invasive, or rather, easy to live with.