Blueshoes: My DC are in a local kindergarten, and thriving. They've been entertaining us with Chinese New Year songs :) They look forward to going to school everyday. DD is younger, but DS is doing things like gymnastics and music, all through the school, without me having to bring him to separate classes, something which I would have to do in the UK.
Regarding the politics of Singapore - I think people tend to forget how young the country actually is, and for essentially an immigrant nation without any natural resources to get to where it is today requires bold leadership. One can argue till the cows come home about the leadership, but noone can deny the fact that the Singapore of today is modern, clean, efficient, safe with politicians that are by and large uncorrupt and scandal free (they all seem pretty geek and nerd-like to me, not that it's a bad thing!). With every evolving society, there is the question of identity. Britain, with its long history, seems to have lost its identity these days, and Singapore is desperately trying to forge one. To be honest, if the questionable political system is resulting in an environment where my children can grow up without worrying about the threat of drugs, violence, underage sex and alcohol abuse, riots and anarchy; if my children can grow up in an environment where academic and entrepeneurial ambition is encouraged, respect for the family and elders is the norm, then I'm all for this very questionable political system.
Outdoors - my children play outdoors all the time. They do football on Saturdays, and don't seem to mind being drenched in sweat - their soccer school consists of lots of expat and local children, which is fab to watch. The weather, I feel, is something which only the adults have complained about, probably because they aren't doing very much while watching the children have a wonderful time :) Nature is limited in Singapore, but the reservoirs have served us really well - the children love the monkeys and other wildlife that they see whenever we go for walks.
Education - If I'm not wrong, Singapore, for its population, generates a good proportion of students going into Oxbridge and Ivy League universities. This is not limited to the local schools. The person at Tanglin School said there were 3 going to Oxbridge this year, so the International school can't be that bad :) I think quirk and creativity are accepted in Singapore - ingenuity is highly encouraged (DS will tell you all about it - he lives at the Science Centre!). We frequently go to theatre for the children, ranging from local productions to 'foreign' ones (just had Walking with Dinosaurs and The Gruffalo/Gruffalo's Child).