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Why is Singapore no longer "cool"?

marginalrevolution.com

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Re: Why is Singapore no longer "cool"?

#11

Post by marcosdumay »

snowpid wrote: post #5
ifwinterco wrote: post #4

I think Singapore's immigration policy is still interesting and relevant to western countries, but it's true it's also kind of similar to the UAE. Essentially it's (relatively) easy to get work visas for areas where there's a genuine shortage but difficult to get permanent residency and almost impossible to get citizenship. That's still a very different policy to what most western countries have right now. The UAE ha…

The UAE still murders gay men just for beeing gay. Besides the lack of morality this affects 7 % of all men worldwide. Im not sure if UAE really be an exciting place and thus would someone migrate to it if you care about culture and stuff.

Yes, Singapore will execute people for different reasons, not for being gay.

Re: Why is Singapore no longer "cool"?

#12

Post by ergocoder »

jmclnx wrote: post #8

I think it is due to China. I remember Singapore was a large financial center for Asia, but China's rapid growth overshadowed Singapore. I also think Hong Kong is going through the same thing, plus I believe China is trying to make Shanghai into its main Finance Center, letting Hong Kong's center fade away.

It's hilarious that we think of Singapore as competing with China where China has 1000x more people.

Singapore is pretty impressive.

Re: Why is Singapore no longer "cool"?

#13

Post by alephnerd »

jmclnx wrote: post #8

I think it is due to China. I remember Singapore was a large financial center for Asia, but China's rapid growth overshadowed Singapore. I also think Hong Kong is going through the same thing, plus I believe China is trying to make Shanghai into its main Finance Center, letting Hong Kong's center fade away.

SG's value-add was as a door into China (and India and ASEAN). China has strict capital controls so it makes FDI risky.

During the 1990s when there were open questions about HK's status, a lot of the business community (and at least 10% of HKers) immigrated to SG to operate there.

During the 2000s, the PRC made some good faith attempts at assuaging investor sentiment in HK, and that slowed the business and financial services outflow from HK to SG as HK had added linkages to Mainland China that SG would never have.

Now that I can IPO or M&A in China and India with Singapore level valuations, I have no incentive to retain more than a minimal operational presence in Singapore in order to act as a capital funnel to the others.

Re: Why is Singapore no longer "cool"?

#14

Post by budududuroiu »

TIL detention without trial is a thing in Singapore [^1], ministers love to brag about increasing the severity of detention without trial [^2], and that the longest someone was held in detention without trial in Singapore was 23+9 years [^3]. That person was never charged.

[^1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_Law_(Temporary_Provis...

[^2]: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/politics/my-views-on-...

[^3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chia_Thye_Poh

Re: Why is Singapore no longer "cool"?

#17

Post by GCA10 »

OP's critique feels like a celebrity economist's variant of those travel magazine pieces that tell us why Zermatt, Phuket or Nantucket is no longer a "cool" vacation spot. On some sort of momentary buzz meter, sure.

But the factors that help Singapore be an Asian or often global hub in so many respects are still running strong, no? Worrying about whether a couple dozen X/Twitter legends are hyping you today feels silly.

Re: Why is Singapore no longer "cool"?

#18

Post by re-thc »

alephnerd wrote: post #13
jmclnx wrote: post #8

I think it is due to China. I remember Singapore was a large financial center for Asia, but China's rapid growth overshadowed Singapore. I also think Hong Kong is going through the same thing, plus I believe China is trying to make Shanghai into its main Finance Center, letting Hong Kong's center fade away.

SG's value-add was as a door into China (and India and ASEAN). China has strict capital controls so it makes FDI risky. During the 1990s when there were open questions about HK's status, a lot of the business community (and at least 10% of HKers) immigrated to SG to operate there. During the 2000s, the PRC made some good faith attempts at assuaging investor sentiment in HK, and that slowed the business and financial…

And during the 2010s-2020s the flow from HK moved back to SG since China started their major changes in HK.

Re: Why is Singapore no longer "cool"?

#20

Post by badc0ffee »

ergocoder wrote: post #12
jmclnx wrote: post #8

I think it is due to China. I remember Singapore was a large financial center for Asia, but China's rapid growth overshadowed Singapore. I also think Hong Kong is going through the same thing, plus I believe China is trying to make Shanghai into its main Finance Center, letting Hong Kong's center fade away.

It's hilarious that we think of Singapore as competing with China where China has 1000x more people. Singapore is pretty impressive.

Well, 230x.
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