Statues of Shanghai and Singapore
One of the things I noticed about Shanghai was a lack of Communist-inspired monuments. They are here. but generally remain in places where it is expected. A more common sight are the modern statues that appear in the city’s retail and business districts. Capitalism rules!
The men with briefcases is in the Pudong area, just a short stroll from the the Jin Mao tower, the first one – a woman using a cell phone – is near my office in Xujiahui. Other similar works are scattered throughout the city. I’ve seen couples with baby carriages and various poses of men doing business.
In Singapore, there were similar statues of everyday life – although they were renditions of of times past. Via my little odd forest’s and Jean Snow’s flickr photostreams come the following.:
Along the Singapore Riverwalk and surrounding the Esplanade, there are statues of things such as shirtless old men squatting on stools (as opposed to sitting) and playing mahjong and Chinese laborers toiling.
In Shanghai, you don’t have statues of such things – but you don’t have to go far to see laborers toiling or old men squatting on park benches.
In either city, it’s pretty normal to see women on cell phones or men with briefcases , but in Singapore it would seem odd to immortalize the commonplace. I’m guessing that the absence of older lifestyle statues in Shanghai is based on the same logic.
A statue of an emaciated laborer isn’t needed in Shanghai because such things aren’t yet a rarity.