Singapore: An economy in the throes of change

Visiting Indians are unlikely to feel about Singapore that they have strayed into a typical Indian city, for no other reason than that they may not encounter any stray cattle on the city's tree-lined boulevards. But that has nothing to do with effective law enforcement against 'jay walking' of the bovine variety which, let it be said, the country indeed has an enviable reputation for.
No, the absence of stray cattle has to do with the simple fact that the economy boasts of practically no cattle in the first place. With a mere one per cent of the total land mass of the country being used for farming, agriculture is a negligible activity in the economic scheme of things in Singapore.
In fact, the Agri-food and Veterinary Authority lists a mere four goats and 123 oxen as having been slaughtered in its abattoirs during the year 2000. So, reverent Indians who are accustomed to starting the day with a darshan of the holy cow ought perhaps to try their luck at the Singapore Zoological Gardens rather than peer out of their hotel windows at the city streets below.