Wikimania 2009/Singapore

Wikimania 2009 official bids:
Brisbane - Buenos Aires - Karlsruhe - Toronto
Questions and Answers:
Brisbane | Buenos Aires | Karlsruhe | Toronto

A National Day Parade of Singapore, with a simulation of Singapore's skyline.

City details

Location of Singapore

The Singapore River and the skyline of the financial district of Singapore.

• Country: Singapore
• City proposed: Singapore
• Proposed dates: 31 July to 2 August 2009
• Contact person(s): Terence Ong, Chaerani and Tdxiang

• Singapore is a city-state located in Southeast Asia, which is 137km north of the equator. Singapore is near the South China Sea and the Straits of Malacca, and Malaysia is directly to the north of the island. A population of four million live in the city state with the world's second highest population density. Singapore has the highest standard of living in Asia and its the 22nd wealthiest country in the world. Singapore is one of the four East Asian Tigers and is a world city in Southeast Asia with an economic hub for the region. It has a liberal economy, being the world's easiest place to start a business. Singapore is also an arts and cultural area with major festivals and shows held here. It is also one of the safest places in the world to live in with a low crime rate. The country has an efficient transportation system with a large number of Singaporeans using public transport everyday.

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Singapore on Wikipedia

af:Singapoer • am:ሲንጋፖር • ar:سنغافورة • an:Singapur • frp:Singapor • ast:Singapur • az:Sinqapur • zh-min-nan:Sin-ka-pho • map-bms:Singapura • be:Сінгапур • bs:Singapur • bg:Сингапур • ca:Singapur • ceb:Singapore • cs:Singapur • cy:Singapore • da:Singapore • de:Singapur • et:Singapur • el:Σιγκαπούρη • en:Singapore • es:Singapur • eo:Singapuro • eu:Singapur • fa:سنگاپور • fr:Singapour • fy:Singapore • gd:Siongapòr • gl:Singapur - 新加坡 • hak:Sîn-kâ-phô • ko:싱가포르 • hy:Սինգապուր • hi:सिंगापुर • hr:Singapur • io:Singapur • ilo:Singapore • id:Singapura • is:Singapúr • it:Singapore • he:סינגפור • pam:Singapore • ka:სინგაპური • kk:Сингапур • kw:Singapour • sw:Singapuri • ht:Sengapou (peyi) • ku:Singapûr • la:Sabana Emporium • lv:Singapūra • lb:Singapur • lt:Singapūras • lij:Scingapô • li:Singapore • hu:Szingapúr • mg:Singapour • ml:സിംഗപ്പൂര്‍ • mr:सिंगापूर • ms:Singapura • nl:Singapore • ja:シンガポール • no:Singapore • nn:Singapore • nov:Singapore • oc:Singapor • ps:سينګاپور • pms:Singapor • nds:Singapur • pl:Singapur • pt:Singapura • ro:Singapore • qu:Singapur • ru:Сингапур • se:Singapore • sm:Sigapoa • sq:Singapori • scn:Singapura • simple:Singapore • sk:Singapur (štát) • sl:Singapur • sr:Сингапур • sh:Singapore • fi:Singapore • sv:Singapore • tl:Singapore • ta:சிங்கப்பூர் • kab:Singapur • th:ประเทศสิงคโปร์ • vi:Singapore • tg:Сингапур • tr:Singapur • udm:Сингапур uk:Сінгапур • vo:Singapurän • zh-yue:新加坡 • bat-smg:Singapūrs • zh:新加坡

Conference venue

This section is to be filled in later. Possible venues include the NUS, SMU, NTU or Raffles City Convention Centre.

Transportation

Green: Don't require a visa
Light Gray: Visa required from embassy or consulate
Dark Gray: Singapore

Travel visa

Citizens of most countries do not require a visa in Singapore of up to 30 days. This includes member states of the European Union, the United States and ASEAN countries (excluding Myanmar). This list may not be up to date. For the latest list, please visit ICA's website.

Visa Needed to enter Singapore

Afghanistan, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Egypt, Georgia, India, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzastan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, Pakistan, Palestine, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Yemen

Please note that the Hong Kong Document of Identity, Macau SAR Travel Permit, Refugee Travel Passport issued by the Middle Eastern countries, and Temporary Passport issued by the UAE, also require a visa prior to visiting Singapore.

Local transportation

Airport to conference venue

• Distance from international airport(s): 20 km from downtown, well accessible by public transport (rapid transit, bus, taxi)
  • MRT: Details to be added later
  • Bus:
  • Taxi:

Airfare costs

Following prices are for single passenger (>=12 years of age) return trips on economy class.

From Costs (in US$) North America Chicago Los Angeles Mexico City New York San Francisco Toronto Vancouver Europe Amsterdam Frankfurt London Moscow Paris Rome Vienna Warsaw

From Costs (in US$) Asia Bangkok Beijing Dubai Delhi Ho Chi Minh City Hong Kong 565.83 Seoul Shanghai Taipei Tel Aviv Tokyo Oceania Auckland Brisbane Melbourne Perth Sydney Africa Algiers Cairo Johannesburg South America Buenos Aires Rio de Janeiro Maracaibo

IATA code Airline offical website AC Air Canada http://www.aircanada.com/ AF Air France http://www.airfrance.fr/ AI Air India http://www.airindia.com/ BA Britsh Airways http://www.britishairways.com/ BR EVA Air http://www.evaair.com/html/b2c/english/ CI China Airlines http://www.china-airlines.com/en/index.htm CX Cathay Pacific http://www.cathaypacific.com/ EK Emirates http://www.emirates.com JL Japan Airlines http://www.jal.co.jp/en/ KE Korean Air http://www.koreanair.com/ KL KLM Royal Dutch Airlines http://www.klm.com/travel/klm_splash/splashpage.html

IATA code Airline offical website LH Lufthansa http://www.lufthansa.com/ MH Malaysia Airlines http://www.malaysiaairlines.com/ NH All Nippon Airways http://www.anaskyweb.com/ QF Qantas http://www.qantas.com.au/ SQ Singapore Airlines http://www.singaporeair.com TG Thai Airways International http://www.thaiairways.com/ UA United Airlines http://www.united.com/ VN Vietnam Airlines http://www.vietnamairlines.com/

Accommodation

Different types of accomodation are widely available, hostels, guesthouses and hotels of all classes are available. Deluxe hotels are near the venues, with a number of budget hotels nearby. Guesthouses and hostels tend to be located outside the city, but one can take the bus and MRT to town. Our city's public transport is fast and efficient, so time and efficiency is not a problem. For the last two choices, residence halls are available on site, and are located together with the universities in the western part of Singapore. Internet access is widely available at most places, with WiFi access and payable broadband for higher end hotels. Disabled access is available at most places.

In the city

Budget hotels

Budget hotels are a good option and are located in the city, though not very near the proposed venue. Some recommended budget hotels are listed below.

• Hotel 81 Bencoolen
• Hotel 81 Bugis
• Hangout @ Mount Emily

There are other hotels which are cheaper, but are located mainly in Geylang and Little India. There are a number of budget hotels in Chinatown, Balestier Road and Joo Chiat. These areas are located quite far away from the venue.

Deluxe hotels

Raffles Hotel, a luxurious 6 star hotel located at Beach Road.

For those who want a comfortable room and good facilities. A number of recommended hotels in the prime Orchard Road shopping belt and in the proposed venue's vicinity.

Tourist

• Allson Hotel
• Amara Singapore
• Bayview Hotel Singapore
• Holiday Inn Atrium Singapore
• Novotel Clarke Quay Singapore
• Park Hotel Orchard Singapore
• Rendezvous Hotel
• Golden Landmark Hotel

Business

• Carlton Hotel
• Grand Hyatt Singapore
• Grand Plaza Park Hotel City Hall
• Orchard Hotel
• Swissôtel The Stamford
• Singapore Marriott Hotel
• InterContinental Singapore

Luxury

• Mandarin Oriental Singapore
• Rafles Hotel
• St Regis Singapore
• The Fullerton Singapore
• The Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore

Hostels

Information to be written once venue is confirmed.

Local sponsorship

Information to be written once sponsorship is available.

Local team

We have a group of more than 100 Singapore Wikipedians, either living in Singapore or Singaporeans overseas.

• Terence Ong
• Tdxiang (Ding Xiang)
• User:Chaerani (just helping out..)
• Goh wz

Miscellaneous

Singapore is a tiny island state bordering Malaysia and Indonesia, easily accessed from the neighbouring countries. Organizing Wikimania event in Singapore should attempt to bring together Malaysian and Indonesian representatives too.

Some pictures of Singapore

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Self-evaluation

1. Singapore's government has policies which many Wikimedians might consider offensive or draconian, such as: tight media controls, severe penalties for drug possession, homosexuality and capital punishment.

   The team is planning to include a panel discussion during the event about Singapore's policies, and how they present an alternative view about cultural diversity to some other countries. Also touch upon how an understanding of this can help make Wikimedia a truly global organisation. Most websites are not banned but pornography is absolutely banned here. Satellite dishes are banned in Singapore, but that is not really a problem as there is still cable television and free channels. Global news channels can be received such as BBC and CNN and local news channel CNA gives quite an extensive coverage of the world. There can be an explanation of Singapore's laws during the event.

2. There is no Wikimedia local chapter in Singapore. Singaporean Wikimedians are quite a disjointed piece of community.

   There is enough time to build up the community and organise them. By getting the community organised in time (by 2008) should be fine. The community can be built together through collaboration and community cooperation. A larger number of active Singaporean users can be done by 2008.

3. Singapore is the 17th most expensive city in the world and the Goods and Services Tax has been raised to 7%.

   Compared to other cities in the world,

4. Weather
5. The weather in Singapore is hot and humid with August being one of the hottest months of the year in the country between 28°C to 33°C during the day, although temperatures go down to 23°C at night.

• Strengths of the proposed location

1. English is one of Singapore's official languages, and is spoken by almost everyone: no need for most Wikimedians to learn new languages. Those who can speak Mandarin Chinese have an advantage as Mandarin is widely spoken in Singapore.
2. Wifi is now widely available with the new free of charge Wireless@SG being implemented at many places islandwide. Some places do offer their own individual wireless networks, and are usually free.
3. Good and relatively cheap as well as an efficient public transport system. Public transport network serves nearly the whole of Singapore, be it bus, Mass Rapid Transit or Light Rapid Transit. Taxis are plentiful in Singapore and flag down fares range from USD1.70 to USD1.85. Also, the Mass Rapid Transit system is one of the most used rapid transit systems in the world.
4. There is good air, land and sea transportation links to Singapore. Singapore Changi Airport is one of the world's 30 busiest airports and has good air links with regional cities in Asia and Oceania as well as cities in the Americas, Europe and Africa. Singapore is accessible by land through two links with neighbouring Malaysia. The rail system is operated by the KTMB of Malaysia and it connects with the SRT at the Malaysia-Thailand border which goes on to Bangkok.
5. Central, equatorial location provides opportunity for Southeeast Asian, Australasian and Oceanian Wikimedians to attend a Wikimania who have previously been prevented from attending due to distance and cost.
6. Food is available in almost every corner of Singapore, number of places open 24 hours or till the wee hours. All types of cuisine are available from local hawker food to exquisite French cuisine.