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Why is Singapore no longer "cool"?

marginalrevolution.com

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Re: Why is Singapore no longer "cool"?

#191

Post by seanmcdirmid »

red-iron-pine wrote: post #178
shell0x wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I was in my twenties, I didn’t really buy stuff and apartments in Asia are mostly fully furnished. All my stuff fitted in a 32kg luggage until 2022 or so.

where in asia is fully furnished? in Japan and China the apartments I was in didn't even come with washing machines, dishwashers, and in one case, AC

Most Chinese apartments come furnished, at least in Beijing. You have to negotiate with the landlord if you want to use your own furniture. I’ve never had an apartment in Beijing that didn’t have a washer machine. No dryer of course, and these are cheap washer machines, you could buy one yourself for 1k RMB or so, well 20 years ago you could.

Re: Why is Singapore no longer "cool"?

#192

Post by 837263292029 »

GeoAtreides wrote: post #171
shell0x wrote: post #141

As a German expat who lived in Singapore for 3 years, it’s still the best country I ever lived in and I’ve also worked in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan HK, and Germany. Everything works, it’s very efficient, public transit and internet is good and it’s extremely safe. It also has great food and has low taxes. Most Western countries just can’t compete and while the UAE is pretty well run in some aspect, there…

As a german, are you ok with the human rights violations happening in Singapore https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Singapore https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2025/country-chapters/singa... As a german, are you ok with the death penalty (for as little as 14 grams of drugs)? Are you with violent and cruel corporal punishment (for as little as vandalism)?

Yes

Re: Why is Singapore no longer "cool"?

#193

Post by TremendousJudge »

acrooks wrote: post #169
rayiner wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Everything works, it’s very efficient, public transit and internet is good and it’s extremely safe. It also has great food and has low taxes. Most Western countries just can’t compete… Why do you think New York or Chicago isn’t like this? What could western countries change?

This is obviously oversimplified but I think this is a big factor: Singapore is a business masquerading as a country. While it is technically democratic, in practice there are some barriers preventing truly free and fair elections. That being said, the leaders in Singapore are not corrupt and truly do focus on what's best for the country. As a result decisions are made quickly, for the greater good, and are not polit…

> Singapore is a business masquerading as a country

I don't see why this would lead the country to being well organized. All the big businesses I've seen are very inefficient and disorganized internally, where decisions are made slowly, mostly to benefit the decisionmaker's little princedom inside the company.

Re: Why is Singapore no longer "cool"?

#194

Post by 837263292029 »

heavyset_go wrote: post #109
typon wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even though it feels depressing right now, I think the post-boomer world is going to be an amazing place.

The next generation of the ownership class they raised will gleefully usher in the fascism some of their cohorts fought physically and ideologically against, and there isn't the threat of global communism to keep them in check anymore. I wish I had your optimism.

What a shame communists failed every time they gained power.

Oh, and killed 145.000.000 people in the process.

Re: Why is Singapore no longer "cool"?

#195

Post by umuttalha0 »

GeoAtreides wrote: post #171
shell0x wrote: post #141

As a German expat who lived in Singapore for 3 years, it’s still the best country I ever lived in and I’ve also worked in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan HK, and Germany. Everything works, it’s very efficient, public transit and internet is good and it’s extremely safe. It also has great food and has low taxes. Most Western countries just can’t compete and while the UAE is pretty well run in some aspect, there…

As a german, are you ok with the human rights violations happening in Singapore https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Singapore https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2025/country-chapters/singa... As a german, are you ok with the death penalty (for as little as 14 grams of drugs)? Are you with violent and cruel corporal punishment (for as little as vandalism)?

Yes

Re: Why is Singapore no longer "cool"?

#196

Post by nicbou »

janpeuker wrote: post #68

I think the UAE point is crucial - in many things, including freedom and basic rights, they are worse than Singapore. Now that most of the west (as the article says) treats civil rights and press freedom more like Singapore does, the right shifts right. I am not in the US so can't comment on the immigration point but I perceive it exactly the other way around with heavy handed immigration enforcement being worse than…

The West, or just the USA?

Re: Why is Singapore no longer "cool"?

#197

Post by kdheiwns »

shell0x wrote: post #184
kdheiwns wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. My mental image of Singapore was always boring guys in suits working for soulless banks. At least Wall Street bankers go wild on drugs and know how to party. Singapore bankers are men who, when feeling adventurous, have a sip of wine here and there and women who push dogs in strollers. Having been to Singapore many times, I've realized my mental image was pretty accurate. There's no real art scene and even ment…

You do not seem to like a rules based society. I’d have no problem renouncing my German citizenship and become Singaporean. I just want stability, safety, good food, good bars, excellent transit, low taxes and excellent internet.

Germany has always had a massive and influential art and music scene. It's been the source of fine cinema. It's globally known for raves, dabbling in drugs, and wild fashion. I encounter Germans all around the world hiking up mountains in freezing temperatures while wearing nothing but shorts and sneakers and smiling while doing so. Germans are known for their strict rules when it comes to the day to day, but they very much know how to unwind.

Singapore has none of these. The national pastime is talking about how much money you have and how much you love having money and can't wait to have more money. And the money never goes towards interesting experiences. It's the same as Dubai. Shopping and international chains and thinking that means class. It's boring and makes East Germany seem like a good time.

Re: Why is Singapore no longer "cool"?

#198

Post by dangus »

627467 wrote: post #152
dangus wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So your plan is endless growth? When is the population high enough to stop doing that? How is that supposed to work logistically? In what scenario does that not result in societal collapse within a short few lifetimes? Endless growth and the inevitable planetary destruction/exhaustion from that process isn’t good for anyone, either. It’s easier to adapt to a shrinking population than one that is too large to sustain…

> not result in societal collapse within a short few lifetimes? Seems like you're more conditioned by apocalyptical Christian logic than you think

No? That's the opposite. Christian logic dictates that we don't have to care about societal collapse, because it's prophesied and it's actually a good thing because that's when believers are raptured into heaven. There are accelerationists who actually hope this happens faster.

The population went from 1 billion to 8 billion in the last 226 years. So my question to you is: how many more billions do you really think our planet can support? How long can we support 8 billion?

According to the MAHB, the world's oil reserves will run out by 2052, natural gas by 2060 and coal by 2090. Maybe those estimates are sooner than reality, but still, I'd love to hear about how a solution to running out of fossil fuel energy abundance in the next 25-200 years involves growing the population.

Re: Why is Singapore no longer "cool"?

#200

Post by dangus »

philwelch wrote: post #167
dangus wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So your plan is endless growth? When is the population high enough to stop doing that? How is that supposed to work logistically? In what scenario does that not result in societal collapse within a short few lifetimes? Endless growth and the inevitable planetary destruction/exhaustion from that process isn’t good for anyone, either. It’s easier to adapt to a shrinking population than one that is too large to sustain…

We have a whole damn solar system we’re barely even using. Overpopulation is a fake bugbear of small minded bucket crabs.

I'd love to hear about your economical plan to extract resources and populate the rest of the solar system.

It currently costs approximately $4,000 per kg to transport anything into space, that's current bargain basement SpaceX pricing. It also consumes non-renewable fossil fuels to do so.

Let me know how you plan to figure out planetary terraforming, gravity manipulation (so we can live on planets with vastly different gravity), planetary climate management, off-earth mining. How many of these problems have been solved even with 1-5% progress?

Can you name one material we are currently mining from space? Maybe mining space junk orbiting earth, that would be a low hanging fruit, right?

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