# Surrounded by Rain, Yet Running Dry

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/yesterday-i-went-to-mars-7106663/surrounded-by-rain-yet-running-dry
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/yesterday-i-went-to-mars-7106663/surrounded-by-rain-yet-running-dry.md
Podcast: [*“Yesterday, I Went to Mars ♡”*](https://stenobird.com/podcast/yesterday-i-went-to-mars-7106663)
Published: 2026-07-04T21:56:51+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/makotowillolympusmons/episodes/Surrounded-by-Rain--Yet-Running-Dry-e3llkcb
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/fcce555c/podcast/play/122392395/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-6-4%2Fb3c45b1a-f7cb-8334-5735-1f7498cf5d3e.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/yesterday-i-went-to-mars-7106663/episodes/surrounded-by-rain-yet-running-dry
Duration seconds: 290

## Resource

This episode looks at the gap between how a place appears and what it quietly depends on — prompted by a visit to Singapore's Changi Airport, with its glass ceilings, open greenery, and the famous waterfall at Jewel. It touches on a surprising fact: despite receiving 2,000 to 2,500 millimeters of rain each year — roughly one and a half times Tokyo's annual rainfall — Singapore has long been counted among the world's most water-stressed nations. The reason is simple but easy to miss: abundant rain means nothing without somewhere to store it, and a city the size of Tokyo's 23 wards has almost no rivers, lakes, or groundwater to speak of. There's also a look at the political weight of water — a 1962 agreement with Malaysia that at times covered 40 to 50 percent of Singapore's needs, and the tension that surfaced in the 2000s when pricing became a point of conflict. The agreement runs until 2061, and what follows remains uncertain. The waterfall at Jewel, remembered as clean and pleasant, looks a little different once the history behind it comes into focus. A quiet reflection on why surfaces and context so rarely match — and what changes when you learn the story behind something that looked simple at first glance.

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## Transcript

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