It is so very nice to run into you here on Medium.

I had just finished work on the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, and found myself on a plane to Singapore to work on your 25th Anniversary of Nationhood exhibition. A couple days after I arrived, I met Lee Kuan Yew. I had very clearly mis-understood my job. I was not there to design their exhibit. I was there to teach my craft to young Singaporeans. I told him that’s what we do in Jewish families” and he laughed. He was interested in the cultural planning process I’d been developing (and hoped to promote in the states). After we discussed the process, I did as he asked, and integrated it into the exhibit design process I taught his students. Thanks to that conversation, we were given access to cultural resources — beyond anything we could have hoped for.

I was assigned eleven students and as you might expect, they taught me more than I taught them. I cannot tell you if I’m correct, or my ego is talking, but I remain convinced that the secret to Singapore’s success is its dedication to its own, multi-cultural heritage.

I left Singapore and backpacked north and finally reached the Great Wall of China. As you say, Singapore is different from other ASEAN nations.

I still read the Singapore Straits Times. You have a stunning and inspirational country and so, so, so much to be proud of.