Correction Appended
SINGAPORE— EVEN the dead get air-conditioning here, less than 100 miles from the Equator.
Every day in Singapore is a dog day, with suffocating humidity and temperatures regularly reaching the 90's. When asked to name the most important invention of the 20th century, Singapore's first prime minister and elder statesman, Lee Kuan Yew, singled out the air-conditioner.
Lim Swee Say, Singapore's environment minister, told air-conditioning executives last year: ''Air-conditioning plays a crucial role in our economy. Without it, many of our rank-and-file workers would probably be sitting under coconut trees to escape from the heat and humidity, instead of working in high-tech factories.''
It makes perfect sense, then, that this sweltering place is taking the concept of central air-conditioning to a higher level, and making it mandatory.
On a patch of land reclaimed from the sea, workers are digging tunnels that will carry natural gas, electricity and telephone lines to what the government has decided will be a new downtown area, called Marina South. But the tunnels will also carry cold water that buildings will use in place of their own air-conditioners in order to keep cool.
The water will come from a central plant, essentially a giant water cooler, inside the area's first building. District cooling, as this system is known, is nothing new. American cities like New Orleans, Nashville, San Diego and Baltimore have for years been switching to district cooling as a cheaper alternative to single-building systems. Singapore, however, is adding its own twist.
While cost considerations often lead owners of American buildings to make the switch, the developers in Marina South will not have to consider the issue at all: true to its reputation for central control, the government here has mandated that they use district cooling.
''It has better energy efficiency, consumes less water and takes up less land,'' said Yeo Yek Seng, deputy chief executive of the Energy Market Authority of Singapore.
The roles of the air-conditioner here go far beyond comfort. Singapore has used it to transplant the business routines of temperate lands into a tropical climate. More than a status symbol, the air-conditioner is a metaphor for the control that Singapore exerts over many aspects of life, from labor and finance to its media and political debate.
''Singaporeans have thus far been willing to enjoy the comforts the system provides while enduring a high degree of control by the central government,'' said Cherian George, author of a collection of political essays entitled ''Singapore: The Air-Conditioned Nation.''
Before air-conditioning, commerce was confined to the cooler morning hours. ''By 11:30 a.m. it was gin and tonics,'' said John R. S. Kirkham, an Australian who grew up in Singapore before World War II and now runs an air-conditioning consulting firm here.
After Carrier, the American air-conditioner company, entered Singapore in the 1950's, the machines quickly found their way into fancy restaurants, banks and government offices.
It was not long before anybody who was anyone, from expatriate managers to Chinese tin tycoons, had an air-conditioner. After wigged British justices got theirs, local lawyers soon followed; those lawyers included Lee Kuan Yew, then a young man struggling to reacclimate himself after a stint at Oxford.
Shopping and dining in air-conditioned buildings became a mark of upward mobility. ''Escaping into A.C. was a way of escaping your past as a poor country,'' said Chua Beng Huat, a sociology professor at the National University of Singapore.
FOR decades, though, air-conditioning remained rare in average households. In 1988, fewer than one in five had it. By 1998, nearly three in five did, transforming Singapore's architectural landscape. Breezy balconies and the dirt and insects they admitted were forsaken for high-rises bristling with wall units.
For some, air-conditioning is a matter of both life and death. At the Ji Le Memorial Park, $7,000 buys a his-and-hers niche where cremated remains rest in climate-controlled peace. ''Chinese are very superstitious,'' said a Ji Le caretaker, Rick Chu. ''Now they're enjoying the good life. After they pass away, they want to make sure they're still comfortable.''
Air-conditioners can create their own problems. Residents found harboring malaria- and dengue-carrying mosquitoes in the stagnant water of air-conditioner trays face fines of up to $2,700. Neglecting to disinfect cooling towers against deadly Legionella bacteria is punishable by fines of more than $5,000. Failing to support a wall unit adequately to keep it from tumbling can mean six months in jail for an apartment owner.
Some people contend that Singapore suffers from air-conditioning overkill. Engineers say offices here typically keep their thermostats at about 72 degrees, making cardigans part of many an office wardrobe.
But in high-tech Singapore, air-conditioning is becoming less about cooling people than about cooling computers. Companies that operate trading floors, for example, often invest in two systems in case one breaks down.