I spent about a week there for a conference. Yeah there's definitely the gleaming bits, but the city also has little India, and the Arab district. They're a bit more teeming and chaotic, I found. Overall the place was definitely a touch soulless, but it's not quite as extreme as these articles going around make out. It was more fun than I expected. The food sure is good, too.
As beautiful as Singapore may appear on the outside, it's a pretty draconian place to actually live in (at least it would be for me). Also, this notion that people need to suffer in order to find the motivation innovate is a ridiculous claim.