Singapore - The Good, Bad, and the Ugly
I spent around 4 years in Singapore as an undergraduate. Here are my two cents on the city island country. Through a variety of perspectives and discussions, there are a lot of insights and lessons from this “small” but powerful country, that I have compiled and presented in this article. Hope you may find it useful, and by all means please discuss and debate it with me!
As an Indian, Singapore presents a unique perspective on successful governance but with certain principles that are not applicable to India. For example, control is easier in Singapore as it is an island with limited entry and exit points, and so drug control is relatively easier. Singapore is a drug-free society, with death penalty for smugglers. Majority of food and products are imported, with limited land for manufacturing. Having achieved a high purchasing power all imports are held to high quality and reliability standards. A downside is blemished food products are not often sold, and thus supermarket food wastage is a comparable issue.
INDEX
1 - TAKEAWAYS
Something I appreciate about Singapore, their anti-mosquito strategy. Mosquitos are rare, through decades of efforts from various organizations. However there are occasional outbreaks and dengue does spread. They are quick to respond. They heavily monitor and track outbreaks. They campaign with huge banners “WE ARE WORKING TO ERADICATE DENGUE IN THE AREA. NUMBER OF CASES: xx.” Something I was amused by- after clearing the outbreak a huge banner was put up “WE HAVE SUCCESSFULLY ERADICATED DENGUE IN THE AREA. THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION.” They inspect each and every household for stale water and inform on strategies, they cold fog the entire neighbourhood in one go in a huge team of 40-50 people to completely surround and ensure no mosquito escapes. This is a useful strategy for curbing disease spread - where for example vaccination should be targeted to reach as many people as quickly as possible.
Something I noticed from a street signboard on a cab ride, Singapore is additionally researching and testing releasing genetically modified mosquitos that are sterile and can’t spread disease: https://www.nea.gov.sg/corporate-functions/resources/research/wolbachia-aedes-mosquito-suppression-strategy
Waste-water monitoring for viruses: During COVID while staying in my university dormitory we used to receive emails about how COVID cases were detected through monitoring and testing of sewage for viruses where they were able to pinpoint and locate COVID positive cases to individual buildings.
Meritocratic Government - Invitation to MPs to ministerial positions has a large emphasis on education level and career merit (and most commonly those with backgrounds in economics, business and public policy.) Personal opinion- the government may be excessively economically oriented through this selection bias.
Owning a vehicle needs a certificate of entitlement - and being open to bidding as limited number of certificates are issued - the price goes up quite high, sometimes the certificate is expensive as the vehicle itself. Additionally on expiry of the certificate, 5 years or 10 years or others, the vehicle is SCRAPPED. Yes. That’s how they restrict the number of vehicles to control traffic, and also ensure there are no old inefficient or polluting vehicles on the road. Though it’s become a rich people thing / a thing you can probably afford only when living with a family or dual income household - very hard for individuals. Of course for the masses there is reliable public transport. Anyways arguably air quality is significantly improved despite being a city with a very high population density. All the Indians reading this will gawk and be awed, but any traffic accident - even a minor bump - has to be registered with the police as they arrive on the scene. There is a driving license points system - and lose enough points in a year from traffic violations - you’ll have to pay fines and have your license revoked. Have to get it again. Implement this system in INDIA and 90% of people will lose their license >u<
CONSTRUCTION - Many measures are taken to minimize disruptions to roads and nearby residents. Some of these measures are more communication, lane diversions and planning, sound proofing barriers, designated timings for heavy operations, road signage, and lane closure → traffic management (people standing and flipping GO/STOP signs to manage single lane traffic.) Any workplace accident is heavily scrutinized and reports on risk management measures have to be made.
(Excessive?) On the metro subway (MRT) - cautioning announcements if the station floor is wet.
Large building/station and walkway ventilation management through jet like fans that create drafts between air on the opposite sides of the building and help in natural cooling.
Tray Return Culture - After eating at a food court, it is common practice and etiquette to return trays to the tray return station and clear leftovers into the bins before handing the trays over (although not everyone does it.)
Food Supply Chain - As almost all food is imported, many investments are made to secure the supply chain of food products, with backups considered. Things do occasionally go out of stock or become more expensive. BREAD ROLLS with ‘Fresh Dot’ technology that helps preserve the bread for a long time. Quite an interesting technology that I am interested to learn more about.
While many complain about the compulsory national service of 2 years for Singaporean males, overall the benefits are a country with citizens more disciplined, many are trained in first-aid and emergency response preparedness is higher for the overall population. Overall population fitness is quite high. When you see strong and fit people in police force, emergency response staff, medical staff, nurses, etc - the sense of protection you get is unmatched. You know you are in capable hands.
Singapore’s medical system is very efficient, and I witnessed their emergency response services firsthand. Automated external defibrillator (AED) kits for handling cardiac arrests are available at most places even in residential areas. They have advertisements and jingles to remember the emergency service numbers, and in fact I had to call their emergency number 995 once when a neighbour had fallen in the shower unconscious (stroke😔) where the ambulance arrived within minutes. The staff were well equipped and trained for many possibilities. The same day I’d have another experience which became a major emotional maturity lesson for. An excerpt from my diary:
JULY 2022 | My mom had just finished touring Singapore with me. We were staying with my aunt. Unfortunately that time had also been when all of us caught COVID, luckily asymptomatic. Though unfortunately my mom had severe fatigue and body aches and had to be rushed to the ER. That was the first time I had to take someone to the hospital. Honestly I had been powering through, but that day really was a doom day leading to a breakdown on my side, crying at the side of the hospital with intense anxiety while I waited. Earlier in the same day, a neighbour had a slip and fall in the shower, later revealed to be a stroke. My cousin, trained in first aid unfortunately was not there at the time, and it fell upon me to try and help. I had been weak already from COVID and tried my best to set his unconscious body upright, until I managed to have him lying with a pillow under his head. I guided the neighbour aunty to call 995, and then I called as well. I say a “doom day” as at the same time the lift had been under maintenance. So that was an ordeal to get around. The ambulance arrived and they managed to make it to the hospital. For my mom, fortunately, the clean medical environment, medicines helped her recover and she was discharged by the end of the day itself much to our relief. While my cousin, mummy and I were awaiting the cab back home from the hospital, a doctor came up to us and went like: "Don't wait in this area! There are live COVID patients around, you might get infected!," he said, to three infected/just recovered COVID people.
I am grateful for the reliable medical services that helped us that day. Especially for my mom, just being in a well-maintained medical environment with trained and friendly medical personnel, boosted her confidence & morale and helped her recover quickly.
The only cons of the medical systems, a common struggle for doctors around the world, overworked and underpaid. And for other less important services - consultations, veterinary services, over the counter medication, dental, etc costs without insurance or government subsidies are quite high. I guess, pros and cons. To all, invest in your health!
Singapore is kinda ready to be an underground city! There are deep underground MRT stations that have evolved into mini-underground cities with many shops, ventilation, 24/7 lighting, and increased connectivity between underground stations. In fact you can walk around the entire Marina Bay area without ever surfacing.
DESIGN investments - Accidentally take off the emergency glass breaking hammer on board a bus from it’s holder and an alarm goes off. A lot of investments (at least as observed while in university) in cleaning building facades and even walkway rooftops. OH and walkways protected from rain in almost all places - people rarely carry an umbrella!
Wide pedestrian paths and generous spacing from buildings to roads - while this may seem not resourceful, only because of this- free turns with good turning space are possible, thereby reducing traffic.
Something a bit amusing (in a nice way) - old people zooming around on personal mobility devices! Old people in Singapore are quite active and those disabled can also get around easily with one of the best wheelchair accessible architecture in the world - you can get almost anywhere on a wheelchair by yourself! At a bus-stop, the driver will get down first to open the ramp for a person on a wheelchair / stroller / PMD.
A culture of standing on the left of the escalator to allow those in a rush to move faster on the right of the escalator.
Regular fire alarm drills, regular maintenance and testing of building emergency facilities (to the annoyance of hall residents who had to deal with random and frequent false blaring fire alarms - to the point no one is actually scared and does anything even if an actual fire alarm goes off - real story - a class that just went on with the fire alarm going on continuously (actual small fire / smoke that was later curbed.) Every and all activities and proposals have to include a risk and safety assessment report.
With a zero-tolerance pre-emptive risk management strategy for terrorism - enhanced safety is achieved, although in my opinion - overly making citizens cautious and fearful, and scared of voicing their opinions - for example public social media posts on sensitive topics can lead to increased questioning at immigration - even for locals. At the university, a mock terrorist attack safety drill was conducted. There is cautioning on the MRT advising to look out for suspicious people and bags (possibly bombs.) For more information on Singapore’s strategy with countering terrorism, the report can be read here: https://www.mha.gov.sg/mediaroom/press-releases/singapore-terrorism-threat-assessment-report-2024
Singapore's COVID response. Considered to be restrictive by some, but should be studied by all for it had the least number of deaths per capita compared to any other country around the world (only 7 deaths in 2020 while other big cities had deaths in the thousands) and in my personal opinion one of the most effective vaccination campaign. Financial and job security, and economic protection, was provided through careful planning and preparedness from insights of previous generations who built up Singapores reserves which significantly protected the country and economy, while the economy in other countries halted and was severely disrupted. The only time Singapore had to dip into its reserves. REF: CNA Singapore Reserves https://youtu.be/Et1JYZ0RrC8
SINGAPORE is deemed the “safest” country in ASIA and 6th in the world. Hope this may have provided some insights on how it manages to achieve this.
2 - What is the demographic and culture of Singapore like?
The following descriptions are from my subjective perspectives and experiences.
Short answer:
Singapore is as if USA and China had a baby.
Long answer:
Broader Malaysian culture, with British colonial influence (English language dominance, education systems, close relations with UK and other former British colonies like Australia) and Chinese ethnic majority influence (traders and migrants from China who settled in the 1800s)
Even longer answer:
The bigger Malaysian culture behind Singapore encompasses a mix of influences through history from India, China, Arabic traders, Austronesian groups and European colonial powers. The whole region has always been a mixing pot of cultures. In the past the region had a lot of Buddhist and Hindu influence. There had once existed the Indian Chola Empire with strong influence on the entire region.
Unearthed Buddhist statue on display at The National Museum of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, dated to be sometime between the 7th and 12th century, when the Malaysian Archipelago had a Hindu-Buddhist culture.
The Strait of Malacca is quite famous in history for it was a major trade route (and still is) and in the 15th century the ruler had converted to Islam, thus creating an Islam dominant region and why Malaysia and Indonesia are Muslim majority nations.
“ISLAM COMES TO MELAKA” diorama at The National Museum of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur.
Then there was the British colonial influence and in the 19th century, with Singapore being established a free port under British rule, many Chinese migrated and settled in Singapore.
World War 2 had been a dark time for Singapore. “On the 15th of February 1942, Lt General Arthur Percival signed the largest surrender in British history at Singapore. The city was supposed to be a fortress, but his force of 85,000 men had been defeated by just 35,000 Japanese troops.” The Japanese Occupation of Singapore saw mass killings and massacres by the brutal Imperial Japanese Army, especially targeted towards ethnic Chinese. [SOOK CHING MASSACRE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sook_Ching] The time influenced the thinking of the future leaders of Singapore.
The rapid Japanese victory in the Malaya-Singapore campaign had a major impact on Lee as he recalled: "In 70 days of surprises, upsets and stupidities, British colonial society was shattered, and with it all the assumptions of the Englishman's superiority". In a radio broadcast made in 1961, Lee said he "emerged [from the war] determined that no one—neither Japanese nor British—had the right to push and kick us around... (and) that we could govern ourselves." It also influenced his perceptions of raw power and the effectiveness of harsh punishment in deterring crime.
Singapore had been where Subhas Chandra Bose, India's freedom fighter had formed the Indian National Army with Japan's help. They marched on from Singapore to India through Myanmar/Burma only to be wrecked by the terrain and monsoon and back home deemed as traitors for allying with Japan and Axis powers.
After WW2 Singapore had been part of the federation of Malaysia. Citing racial tensions between Malay and Chinese majority Singapore, Singapore was kicked out of the federation by Malaysia.
Lee Kuan Yew had always believed in the Malaysian merger, and was quite anguished during the separation. https://youtu.be/UET6V4YnAwc Modern Singapore shaped it’s own identity, follows a risk-averse mindset and grew from a broken society with many challenges, and gained immense power. Now Malaysia views Singapore like “a smaller brother, who has grown quite successful.”
Singapore stays a neutral ground promoting and facilitating dialogue between various world powers. Also where India meets China. Modern Singapore has a significant immigrant population. The ethnic majorities are: Chinese (around 75%,) Malay (around 15%) and Indian (around 7.5%) - I had always observed that Indians in Singapore felt like every 1 in 10 so checks out - and 4 official languages are English, Chinese, Malay, Tamil. Although more priority is given for English and Mandarin (you can see this in signage where if there is a space constraint only English and Mandarin will be present.)
Today people complain “Singapore has no culture.” While it is not strong in any particular culture as compared to the native countries of the cultures, Singapore represents a new culture - an international mix. A bit of all.
🏠 Singapore may not have as many attractions, grandeur or natural wonders as other places may have. Though it is a home base. A place where you can feel nurtured, grow and recharge, and presents itself as a strong financial and trade center.
The international culture can be seen through food - you can explore various different cuisines from around the world, but certainly the food will be better in the country that it is from, though the emphasis being - the ability to explore a bit of all. It's a gateway to Asia, and a good and safe first-time introduction to the vast variety of Asian cultures.
The feeling of a lack of culture also arises from a appearance of being mundane and having a lack of spontaneity, sometimes from government regulation. A common example I share: busking (street music) needs a permit and allowed only at designated spots. Walking by the streets you won't randomly be surprised by performers (a cultural aspect that awes many Singaporeans in other countries.) For things like street food though, mini carnivals and food streets do pop up - though the cost today is a whole other issue, you'd rather travel to the country and eat from there than pay 20SGD for a super small portion size of some street food.
Locals and internationals do face a cultural divide. I believe I am a bit more adaptable, relative to my international peers and managed to fit in more over time, but for a lot of internationals and foreigners they never managed to get along with the locals, where both locals and internationals tended to form social circles sticking to their own. Not a rule though, just a trend. I got along mostly with other internationals, foreigners, expats, older Singaporeans, and Singaporeans with some foreign background (family abroad/lived abroad.) Eventually over the course of 4 years, I got along more with the local Singaporean Singaporeans, often even being mistaken as Singaporean by many. They do have a strong group culture with strong internal ties, but closed off and appearing cold to outsiders and newcomers. Singaporeans abroad tend to stick to themselves instead of mingling more with people of other cultures and backgrounds (again not everyone is like that.)
Some Singaporeans have a racist anti-foreigner mindset - “Oh they are stealing jobs!”, “Ah people of this background generally not very clean, so don't want to rent to them.” To my Singaporean friends reading this, please call out this behavior! While immigrant resentment is a common struggle around the world, remember that they contribute a lot more to your economy than the jobs they “steal.” Even Bangalore in India faces this struggle with pro-Kannada “outsider” resentment.
In the matters of governing Singapore, the struggle for power and control in it’s early years of formation has it’s own story and has discussion on to this day:
[Operation Coldstore https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Coldstore https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/operation-coldstore-singapore-s-struggle-confront-history]
[Bukit Ho Swee Fire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bukit_Ho_Swee_fire]
3 - The Bad, and the Ugly
SUMMARY
High stress, high cost of living, delayed careers, and a hustle hustle over-time work culture. Addiction and depression.
An increasing need and pressure to protect reputation, by under-reporting or downplaying critical issues, thus leading to oversights and a lack of accountability with instances of questionable or inefficient fund allocations in organizations, problems of littering and pest infestations that still do arise especially deeper into the city away from tourist areas. Additionally censorship in Singapore is a sensitive topic. Though overall it is effective at preventing dis-information, and atleast for now directly or indirectly adequate measures seem to be taken to address issues.
Cultural divides and racism, briefly discussed in the previous paragraphs.
Delayed education and careers - with implications such as lack of locals in postgraduate studies and falling birth rates having to spend many more years to achieve financial stability to be able to raise a family.
Becoming more vulnerable to challenges, with newer generations being “less battle-hardened, and accustomed to the easy life.” In a mostly safe-environment people are a bit more care free. Implications are over-spending, wasteful mindsets (food, plastic, etc), and not being cautious leading to the few instances of crime that do happen - such as peeping toms, knife stabbing, road accidents. NOTE: it’s still very less, not to make people fearful, but rather to acknowledge apply some discretion and caution, that someone who grew up in another country with even worser challenges would have a more ingrained mindset to naturally do.
A rise in domestic animal abuse cases, though arguably better than the literal human abuse cases that some other countries face, and an issue being addressed and acknowledged more.
These are my criticisms, but to note, some are inevitable and inherent human nature, and some are uncontrollable global challenges (economies and layoffs.) There are things that need more action, but overall though it is ok. It may not be perfect, but travelling to other places makes one realize how much better positioned and ready Singapore is for the future. Work is stressful, life is a bit more mundane, but at the end of the day people will be grateful for things like safety, access to clean drinking water, clean air to breathe, reliable and resilient infrastructure, and more. Like a child who can’t wait for a promise of five candies in the future, and instead craves and yearns for the one candy currently present in front of them, this is just something we need to expect and be mature about. I did have friends who were sick and tired of the country, but overall at the end of the day, and quite literally at the end of my degree I’m more grateful for the country, and the countless things it inspired me more on. It trained me to be meticulous, compliant and strive for excellency in standards, reliability and rigor. The academic rigor as well had pushed me quite far and ahead. I am grateful for the countless opportunities it provided me to meet and interact with people of so many diverse perspectives from around the world, owing to it’s strong diplomatic ties and high reputation. Home (India) and Singapore, were the two places where I’d feel like I am being recharged, and able to grow. And despite what others subjectively feel, in comparison, Singapore is in fact overall very safe. Not just for humans, animals and wildlife too. In jobs, Singapore may break some dreams, but on other matters it has surprisingly also inspired to me to dream big by showing a quality of life and ideal to strive for. From my industry and academia perspective, they are quite ready for so many possibilities- zero-tolerance terrorism policy, investments in water management, food supply chain reliability investments, and have some very very talented researchers and scientists working in wildlife conservation. To put things into perspective, a few years ago, the biggest crime and case being reported and discussed on the news was a maid stealing household items. Once in a shopping mall, a crowd had gathered over a mall fight with two people shouting at each other, as one dude had tripped and made the other dude’s friend’s ice-cream drop. Singaporeans reading may not be able to see the contrast of these situations, but it’s ok.
Anyways they are sometimes over-prepared and have unnecessary fear inducing campaigns (pigeons today being viewed as pests like rats.)
In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Pigeons - a hell for Singaporeans.
A 10,000$ fine for feeding pigeons. I wasn’t kidding. Also for a hackathon the winning project was a robotic laser pointer to shoo away birds at a food court (on further analysis wasn’t even a reliable deterrent.) Also sigh.. a documentary about pigeons https://youtu.be/38MzA2ljEw8
On the matter of management of funds - it is only something someone with an external perspective or tougher background can comment on having had to fight more for much lesser. Matters like spending excessively on greenwashing projects, and from my university experiences: organizational and bureaucratic delays leading to over-spending in certain departments, unreasonably relatively higher budgets for reputation-garnering projects with lack of scrutiny and checks on what the money is being spent on as they have a lot of funding but possibly and comparably not enough promising projects or talent to allocate it to, and money allocated to solving problems that are only small inconveniences or are not really actual issues.
Excessively high veterinary and pet ownership costs, and funds raised for animals (e.g. 15,000$ to treat an injured dog - I am not saying don’t save the dog, rather question the costs) that humans in other countries may not even earn in a year. The high costs are also leading to increasing instances of pet-abandonment cases.
A strict self-evaluation system is needed for governance and organizations, and realizing the value of external perspectives to avoid oversights and biases.
In general around the world, in communication, look out for subtle messaging that may lead to biases or manipulation. An interesting example to understand this, “Proof that music changes how you feel about a video” https://youtu.be/oDMG6kVIVb8 And anyways in the end, a general advice for everything, what is needed is a balance between it all.
On the cost of living and stressful work environments
Singapore is a stepping stone for many for a better quality of life. However there is also a limit to how much you can grow here (especially for businesses and start-ups in manufacturing that need physical space.) In some regards it is becoming an economically competitive and elitist dystopia. In theory, money pouring in (foreign investments) should benefit everyone, but in a situation of continual rising costs of living everyone is forced into a kind of lifestyle where they are exposed to high stress for long periods of time. It’s not that it will become unlivable, as purchasing power and salaries eventually rise too, and the government will ensure people can afford essential services, just that salary rises lag behind rising costs, and thus for long periods of time people are compelled to budget, save, work harder, innovate, and stay relevant to be able to eventually demand higher wages, and are thus in increasingly more competitive and stressful work environments. Survival of the richest, and a high calibre high competition environment.
Singapore is like a wealthy and tasty pie. Make a very good pie, and everyone far and wide wants a slice of the pie, but the pie is finite and limited (in this context, land space.) Thus all are compelled to compete for it. In this increasingly chaotic world, everyone values stability more and more. Thus an increasing demand for SG services - the Singaporean dollar, finance, investments - is present, where when you put your money into something you want to be certain it’s not going to disappear or devalue, and also have ease and flexibility with transactions related to it. The Singaporean dollar is a good reserve currency this side of the world, most accept and transact with it and in useful un-restricted volumes, though appreciating value makes exports harder - a foreign country struggles to hire or work with Singaporeans, as their base pay and salary expectation to have things running at home is so damn high.
The Housing and Rental Crisis
Read on to understand how housing prices can affect your dating life!
I attribute the root cause of a lot of challenges in Singapore being the real estate prices. The rental prices and cost of living directly and indirectly affect other things. To state some prices for perspective, renting a tiny single bedroom apartment even far away from the city goes up to 2300SGD a month (~1.5LAKH INR a month) and a 2 bedroom apartment had a rent of 3000SGD a month (~2LAKH INR a month.)
HDBs are Singapore’s public housing - and where a vast majority of it’s residents live in. Mass-scale public housing apartments. In recent times, costs have just been increasing to the point many are unable to afford it. Your options are to rent - quite expensive in the long term OR if you are a couple with an intent to marry / married, you can place a Build-To-Order BTO for a HDB that is currently being constructed and you would get it in a few years time. Based on your income level the government heavily subsidizes costs for the lowest income groups - and technically those who are studying and are interns fall in that group. BTO only sees your income at the time of the application- so many try to apply when they have a very low income salary, and later on can get an actual full-time job. That’s also why Singaporean’s prefer to date and commit very early on, as compared to the dating culture in other places - as that’s the only option to afford housing early on in life to possibly raise a family. Well if you break up - um I think there’s more to it - but there is also the option to rent it out. That leads to creation of the re-sale(secondary?) market of HDB - and here prices skyrocket to over a million dollars today. These prices are the only options available for people who are single and for those who are not in a traditional marriage (man and women) - so LGBTQ, and singles unable to marry cannot afford a HDB early on in life, and have to wait until they are 35. The only option for many is to rent, and well that often gets expensive or uncertainty in landlord requirements and sometimes racism in renting selection.
The above paragraph is from my understanding of what people have mentioned to me. Please correct me if I am wrong anywhere!
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There are many reasons for rising costs of living. One of them is an aging population with higher healthcare expenditure. The government decides to tax more and prices of products face inflation - overall costs of living rise.
Eating out at a restaurant - there is 10% service charge and 9% on top of that - effectively 20% in tax on already expensive food prices. After you eat at other countries, you will realize how sad it is - that food is expensive and portion sizes are small. At least for vegetarians and vegans they don’t have relatively as many options in food courts / hawker centres to compensate.
Rebates and economic support from the government are offered to locals and poorer sections of the society - the government literally hands out money. Though middle class and foreigners (not the ultra rich ones) - PR, international students, temporary workers / employment pass holders, tourists, etc bear the non-softened brunt of this. Certainly a government has to prioritize and support locals, but it leads to a vicious cycle doom loop, where foreign middle class economic contributors, new market entrants, foreigners, and competition (an important economic innovation driver) are compelled to leave and only big corporations can survive the economic hunger games and especially as Singapore is poised as a tax free haven for big corporations. It becomes harder to stay.
A hawker centre food court had family-owned stalls in the past. Family members would take turns to support and share the work-load through the long hours that hawker centres are expected to run for. Now many are converting to corporate based food courts - with employees that are expected to put in long working hours, very short & disrupted lunch breaks, and high rentals, many stalls often close down. You can literally see the stress and depression on their faces.
Corporates and capitalism tend to have negatives as well. The bigger the corporation, with it’s many layers, the more people feel like a “cog in the wheel” with supressed individualism. To give some contrast, in a career fair, conversations with visiting foreign companies who had smaller booths were more engaging and people could learn a lot more, while a big company like M****** had a massive booth that my friends complained about that they learned nothing about the company from the booth even though they had the most representatives there, and many commented that the work life there was actually depressing (not to throw shade to M******, just stating perspectives, possibly subjective.)
Another effect of rising costs of living - people will start buying from foreign countries because it is cheaper. Sometimes this negatively affects the other countries - where excessive spending from Singapore-origin tourists with high purchasing power - significantly drive up the prices - and make things unaffordable for locals of the other country in the long run. This can be seen in Johor Bahru, where industries that benefit from tourism have grown, but other industries not linked are significantly lagging behind and now there is a stark wealth gap. Additionally Malaysia heavily subsidizes it’s fuel prices, but high fuel prices in Singapore compel Singaporeans to drive and top up their vehicles in Malaysia (the border crossing is ridiculously fast at certain times) even though it is illegal (as they can away with it and hard to check.) Falling demand in Singapore will only further drive up the prices. Hence a vicious cycle.
ALSO let me comment - while I am stating all of this. I do know that there are lot more economists and skilled political leaders in Singapore who are aware of all of this with a significantly better understanding of it than me. I am curious to see their solutions, and their future progress. Rising costs of living is a common struggle around the world, at different times in history. Though in Singapore, it’s just life is a bit more mundane and there is the expectation of long working hours.
❗A stressful lifestyle leads to addictions. While Singapore has managed to eliminate drugs, people are drawn to other addictions - drinking, smoking, TikTok doom scrolling, gaming addictions - and very very evident just travelling around on a bus or train in Singapore where everyone is hooked to their phones. The only lively interactions you see are more from older generations and tourists.
In academic environments especially during midterms and finals, it gets quite bad, many often comment “It is depressing here.”
Excerpts from a journal entry of mine, 12 MARCH 2024.
On a social media post titled "Singapore ranked Asia's most happiest country" - literally 100% of the comments are by Singaporeans laughing at this. Though maybe it's something like in other places you have extreme sadness and extreme happiness, but here you have everyone with mediocre sadness. Reels and TikTok videos often try to showcase Singapore an “amazing place.” However often the places shown in the videos are not even of the places mentioned, and similarly all Singaporean’s in the comment section go - “huh which Singapore is this even??”
AY this is a super long article, wonder if anyone is reading at this point, but if you are I want to know from your experience which other countries have you experienced that has a smartphone addiction problem. I wonder if it is an un-intentional effect of representation - a global east-west divide - where western services can better cater to addressing addiction issues in their countries by having more studies or promoting educational content - while here social media just exists and has all it’s ill effects with no checks on it, and foreign services benefit from people being hooked on and thus stay blind to the ill-effects. I need to get more diverse perspectives on this.
A mundane and dreary lifestyle, may in part be due to semi-restrictive government, but I also had the realization that it could be due to the very international and multi-cultural nature of Singapore. Language matters a lot. As much as English speakers struggle to understand, the world does not revolve around English, and English is not everyone’s first language or even the language all people think in. Why does this matter? This affects in small things such as being able to engage and interact in conversations. Being able to understand other’s conversations, even a passersby or stranger, leads to a sense of connectedness and possible interactions, but everyone is just so diverse and that’s ok. A new kind of culture arises, as mentioned previously, a mixed pot of cultures, not too strong in any particular one but a bit of everything. What Singaporeans can benefit from is learning other languages- learning Tamil as a Chinese, learning Hindi as a Chinese, learning Mandarin as an Indian, learning Malay as an Indian, etc. Language creates cultural ties bringing people together, and being a multi-linguist has its benefits too - with intelligence gains. The English culture is of the west. Good for unity, but culture wise so cliche and drab (sorry to my British and American friends.)
Diplomatic Tensions
USA-CHINA may see more trade conflicts in the future being more comparable in power today. Singapore’s neutral stance while commendable and necessary, also puts it in an uncomfortable situation being pressured to choose sides. And for a nation with virtually no manufacturing and heavy reliance on foreign influx of resources / talent / imports, it absolutely cannot afford to take sides and as well due to strong ties with both sides. Economically it is quite allied with USA, while culturally it is allied with China. SEA countries are economically becoming more aligned with China, while Singapore remains with USA.
An evidence of economic ties, the Singaporean job market very closely follows the US job market. If there are hiring freezes in US, there are hiring freezes in Singapore. An evidence of cultural ties with China, well language and education, and honestly quite obvious. China's increasing influence has dissuaded some though from staying in the country.
Singaporeans are quite old by the time they finish their undergraduate - as schooling starts at 5 instead of 4, many take gap years, polytechnic diploma degrees are one year longer (graduate at 19) than other high schools / junior colleges (graduate at 18) and guys have to serve mandatory two years national service. Thus a lot of Singaporeans complete their undergraduate around 25 or more, while foreigners graduate much earlier. For Singaporean, at 25+, very few want to take up further studies as they are already quite old. Thus postgraduate degrees - masters and PhDs are majorly filled with foreigners and rarely any locals. Combined with China’s current youth unemployment challenge, with many wanting to take up further studies to defer and get a better job and so they choose to study abroad- now postgraduate courses in Singapore are filled with 90%+ foreign students from China. Nothing wrong, though imagine taking up an English based degree, and you are the only non Chinese in a group project, and as it is convenient for them they randomly switch to Mandarin not acknowledging and ignoring that you can’t understand them. As well there is an over-tourism problem in universities (not designed for tourists,) where largely Chinese tourists come in huge groups, create crowds and disrupt university student services.
Not wanting to be dependant on foreign resources, to be self-reliant, and to be able to curb the downsides of lower foreign market entrants (lower innovation,) one implication that can be observed is - an increasing investment and support to develop and train local talent. It is clear how heavily they are investing in developing local talent, which can be observed in the form of subsidies for locals for education, skill upgrading workshops and even sometimes training program and events that state “Singaporeans and Permanent Residents Only.”
One thing that can help Singapore is encouraging people to expand their horizons and break their world bubble. To go out of their comfort zones. These international Singaporeans will have a lot to contribute - in diverse perspectives and influx on information/resources. I do observe that trend - Singaporeans are increasingly becoming globe trotters (strongest visa too.) I think that is a view to consider - Singaporeans exporting their resources more. Singapore is quite optimized and a natural next step is for them to involve themselves more in global developments. This is similar to how heavy investments by China in infrastructure has lead to the creation of builder groups/organizations being exported and working on foreign projects (South Africa, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, etc.) Think about it - a successful builder group is a carefully curated and talented set of people specialized in the knowledge of building large infrastructure projects - and now reaching a saturation in China (I think) to the point that they are starting to export their services - marketing their know how. Which is a nice thing - not just a plain old physical commodity trade rather the trade of knowledge.
4 - Takeaways for Singaporeans
Oops there is no broad conclusion to this super long article. Though let me leave you with the following information. Here is a summary of things I feel Singaporeans can benefit from:
Accepting more risk as a lifestyle choice, and travelling out more. Rejecting the white-collar job mindset ingrained from education, and being more open to risks, start-ups and technology innovations.
Shifting perspectives from emphasis on economic growth - to valuing happiness and more fulfilling lives - even if slightly poorer. Rent more, even if relatively more expensive in the future than HDB BTO. The mindset shift needed is being able to live a more flexible and minimalist lifestyle facilitating easy moves.
To curb the curse of developed economies - one could invest more in family values - normalize living with parents (with exceptions of toxic/abusive relationships) - let society not sway too much in the direction of capitalistic nuclear families - where healthy family systems help buffer living costs to start new generation until new parents are more financially stable - and with the gratitude shown by taking care of parents in their old age. Investing in domestic support systems - related education - etc are all interrelated.
Demand for healthcare technologies, robots, automation, etc will continue to significantly rise. Can invest more in these.
Exporting resources and Singaporean talent - Singapore is quite optimized already - can help others now lah.
Learning “unconventional” languages - and thus building more ties and stronger communities. Being able to interact and engage with others in their own languages helps make people feel more connected.
Opening up the roads, increasing vehicle ownership - a big quality of lifestyle factor, and at least for two wheel vehicles like motorbikes and scooters. WIDE dedicated mixed cycle & scooter lanes PLEASE.
Mindful spending - support LOCAL - e.g. on Shopee - even if imports are cheaper. At least for the times when you can afford it.
JIAYOU.
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