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Why is Singapore no longer "cool"?

marginalrevolution.com

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Re: Why is Singapore no longer "cool"?

#41

Post by alephnerd »

re-thc wrote: post #27
alephnerd wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd say it went 50-50 Mainland-Singapore. By 2019, if you were a Chinese company that only intends to operate within China, you had no reason not to move legal and leadership operations to Shanghai. On the other han, I'd you were a foreign investor, HK de facto become "yet another Chinese territory" which meant it's not a good hedge for an ExChina/China+One strategy which is executed in ASEAN or India, which made Sin…

> If you were a Chinese company that only intended to operate within China, you had no reason not to move legal and leadership operations to Shanghai. Where's the example where you're a Chinese company with most revenue in China (for now) but do sell elsewhere and anyhow, there are lots of reasons to not 100% stick to China, e.g. gaming companies have moved to Singapore in masses (at least some capacity) due to time…

Gaming and Social Media in China is slightly different given how significant western capital was in the sector in the 2000s and 2010s compared to other portions of the Chinese tech industry.

For example, the whole ByteDance/TikTok imbroligo is due to Susquehanna trying to exit it's Chinese investments which are locked within China.

During the 2019-23 period, boards in startups that had Western investors increasingly demanded that either Chinese investors buy them out or that they shift domicile so an alternative path to exit could be found.

Re: Why is Singapore no longer "cool"?

#42

Post by cardanome »

budududuroiu wrote: post #14

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] h…

Detention without trial is also a thing in the UK. Legally limited to 6 months but extended in practice if you are Irish or advocate against the genocide in Palestine. Ask the people of Palestine Action UK.

With the growing fascism all over the world we will see that kind of thing more often.

Re: Why is Singapore no longer "cool"?

#44

Post by bitwize »

46493168 wrote: post #26
budududuroiu wrote: post #14

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] h…

There’s a reason William Gibson called it “Disneyland with the Death Penalty” https://www.wired.com/1993/04/gibson-2/

That's one of my favorite pieces of writing by Gibson, because he cites Neal Stephenson's "burbclave" concept. Which, to me, is like the literary equivalent of those times when a famous musician or band (including but not limited to the Barenaked Ladies and Don McLean) performed the Weird Al version of their own song.

Re: Why is Singapore no longer "cool"?

#46

Post by lostmsu »

alephnerd wrote: post #10

It hasn't been cool for a long time. My dad was offered Singaporean citizenship in the 1990s despite then being an Indian national but decided to immigrate to the US to work in tech in Silicon Valley instead and raise us. This is a pretty common story among Bay Area Chinese and Indian Americans who immigrated during that era. In the 90s and 2000s, Singapore's value add was that it could act as a door into China, Indi…

This changed back to the advantage of Singapore when China cracked down on HK.

Re: Why is Singapore no longer "cool"?

#48

Post by snowpid »

breppp wrote: post #37
snowpid wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

All gulf states have abysmal gay rights, but are you sure they are executing gay men?

I'll checked it and you are right. It is just law and practical not done.

But what is worse: Law which does not matter, because the elite will ignore it anyway or threatening gay men to kill them but currently not doing tit.

anyway, not a place a emigrate.

Re: Why is Singapore no longer "cool"?

#49

Post by Supermancho »

breppp wrote: post #40
Supermancho wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There aren't any examples for Dubai (afaik), on record. In the UAE, 2015 was the last execution for homosexuality. There was a deportation in 2017 for maybe cross dressing? Either way, I would consider the UAE an exceptionally unsafe place to visit.

Any source for the 2015 case? All I found was executions of pedophile rapists

I think you're right. While the UAE doesn't execute people for pedophilia, per se, the homosexuality element was what allowed for it.

Re: Why is Singapore no longer "cool"?

#50

Post by jpgvm »

> Singapore is a much more democratic country than most outsiders realize

Yeah no.

In Singapore you have a single party which has used it's constitution, laws, courts and media control to enforce a defacto one-party state for 60 years. Singapore citizens can (and do) vote but those votes have absolutely zero chance of changing anything.

Is it technically democracy? Well they vote so yes? Is there any chance at all of peaceful regime change through voting? Technically yes, in practice? Probably not. I would expect extreme suppression and HK style riot crushing. They have been doing it quietly for decades, targeting and legally destroying/bankrupting any opposition to the PAP.

So the only real difference vs say China is that while both are authoritarian regimes the Chinese didn't bother with a mechanism to pretend you can throw them out.

To be clear, I don't object to their form of government. I think it works for them and thus it's completely ok. If anything I find Singapore a really safe and efficient place and visit frequently.

I do object to people pretending it's somehow a liberal democracy though, that just ain't the truth.

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