Singapore hits back at “boring” classification with witty video
The Singapore Tourism Board posted a response to a city ranking by travel guide magazine Time Out which placed the city as second-most boring on a list of 32 metropolises, just ahead of Istanbul and behind Boston and Dubai.
The ranking was the result of an an anonymous survey by Time Out, which took into account criteria such as culture, food, drink, friendliness, livability, affordability and happiness. About 15,000 people across the 32 cities took part in the survey.
Chicago topped the index, followed by Porto in Portugal and New York City. Even though Singapore won praise for safety and public transport, it was rated the lowest for its arts and culture scene, with 83 per cent of respondents saying, “There is nothing exciting to do.” Singapore was also named “worst rated city” for drinking, apart from Dubai.
However, the Singapore Tourism Board begged to differ. It posted a 56-second video on its Facebook page, opening with the tongue-in-cheek claim “Singapore is boring…” ahead of a backdrop of the Universal Studios Singapore, the Formula One race, the city’s Artscience Museum, as well as a newly-opened bungy jump at Sentosa Island, among others
It further turned the spotlight to Singapore’s delicacies, including a two-dollar Michelin-star soy sauce chicken meal at a Chinatown food stall with the caption, “Everything is so expensive.”
Terrence Voon, the Singapore Tourism Board’s digital and content director, said, “We created this light-hearted response to let the audience have a glimpse of what Singapore can offer.”
Interestingly, the only other Southeast Asian city on the list, Bangkok, didn’t rank very well either and is just placed 24th.
Full Time Out list of exciting to boring cities:
- Chicago (138.2 points)
- Porto (137.9 points)
- New York (134.6 points)
- Melbourne (132.3 points)
- London (131.4 points)
- Madrid (131.1 points)
- Manchester (130.9 points)
- Lisbon (130.2 points)
- Philadelphia (129.2 points)
- Barcelona (128.4 points)
- Edinburgh (128.2 points)
- Tel Aviv (125.8 points)
- Austin (125.3 points)
- Paris (124.9 points)
- Mexico City (121.2 points)
- Shanghai (119.5 points)
- San Francisco (119.4 points)
- Berlin (119.2 points)
- Tokyo (117.7 points)
- Los Angeles (116.8 points)
- Zurich (115.3 points)
- Beijing (113.0 points)
- Washington, DC (111.3 points)
- Bangkok (111.0 points)
- Moscow (110.2 points)
- Hong Kong (109.6 points)
- Miami (107.9 points)
- Sydney (106.1 points)
- Dubai (105.3 points)
- Boston (103.7 points)
- Singapore (98.7 points)
- Istanbul (87.1 points)
The Singapore Tourism Board posted a response to a city ranking by travel guide magazine Time Out which placed the city as second-most boring on a list of 32 metropolises, just ahead of Istanbul and behind Boston and Dubai. The ranking was the result of an an anonymous survey by Time Out, which took into account criteria such as culture, food, drink, friendliness, livability, affordability and happiness. About 15,000 people across the 32 cities took part in the survey. Chicago topped the index, followed by Porto in Portugal and New York City. Even though Singapore won praise for safety and...
The Singapore Tourism Board posted a response to a city ranking by travel guide magazine Time Out which placed the city as second-most boring on a list of 32 metropolises, just ahead of Istanbul and behind Boston and Dubai.
The ranking was the result of an an anonymous survey by Time Out, which took into account criteria such as culture, food, drink, friendliness, livability, affordability and happiness. About 15,000 people across the 32 cities took part in the survey.
Chicago topped the index, followed by Porto in Portugal and New York City. Even though Singapore won praise for safety and public transport, it was rated the lowest for its arts and culture scene, with 83 per cent of respondents saying, “There is nothing exciting to do.” Singapore was also named “worst rated city” for drinking, apart from Dubai.
However, the Singapore Tourism Board begged to differ. It posted a 56-second video on its Facebook page, opening with the tongue-in-cheek claim “Singapore is boring…” ahead of a backdrop of the Universal Studios Singapore, the Formula One race, the city’s Artscience Museum, as well as a newly-opened bungy jump at Sentosa Island, among others
It further turned the spotlight to Singapore’s delicacies, including a two-dollar Michelin-star soy sauce chicken meal at a Chinatown food stall with the caption, “Everything is so expensive.”
Terrence Voon, the Singapore Tourism Board’s digital and content director, said, “We created this light-hearted response to let the audience have a glimpse of what Singapore can offer.”
Interestingly, the only other Southeast Asian city on the list, Bangkok, didn’t rank very well either and is just placed 24th.
Full Time Out list of exciting to boring cities:
- Chicago (138.2 points)
- Porto (137.9 points)
- New York (134.6 points)
- Melbourne (132.3 points)
- London (131.4 points)
- Madrid (131.1 points)
- Manchester (130.9 points)
- Lisbon (130.2 points)
- Philadelphia (129.2 points)
- Barcelona (128.4 points)
- Edinburgh (128.2 points)
- Tel Aviv (125.8 points)
- Austin (125.3 points)
- Paris (124.9 points)
- Mexico City (121.2 points)
- Shanghai (119.5 points)
- San Francisco (119.4 points)
- Berlin (119.2 points)
- Tokyo (117.7 points)
- Los Angeles (116.8 points)
- Zurich (115.3 points)
- Beijing (113.0 points)
- Washington, DC (111.3 points)
- Bangkok (111.0 points)
- Moscow (110.2 points)
- Hong Kong (109.6 points)
- Miami (107.9 points)
- Sydney (106.1 points)
- Dubai (105.3 points)
- Boston (103.7 points)
- Singapore (98.7 points)
- Istanbul (87.1 points)
