29I will make my peace the moment I reach Singapore, I promise. The flight crew are already walking down the aisle, checking safety belts, as the plane prepares for descent. Despite myself, eagerness rises as I press my face against the window trying to see what’s below the clouds. There’s another half hour of flying to go but I’m already imagining the island coming into view, a nexus of luminance against the dark sky, a spider’s web of shimmering jewels. Soon, very soon, the lights of the apartment blocks along the coast will come into view, then the numerous ships and vessels crowding her harbour and hugging her eastern coastline, the iridescence of streetlamps and buildings growing brighter and brighter as the plane glides down. Soon, very soon, I’ll land once again on the little fart t
