Singapore Economic Report : Why is Singapore called The Switzerland Of Asia ?

Singapore's economy grows 0.1% in Q3 2019, avoiding a technical recession. Singapore's economy depends a lot on how the overall world economy is doing. If the world is not doing well, then it is hard for Singapore to improve unless some big scale instability will push rich people into saving havens. Singapore is considered safe for money, so any troubles in the neighborhood will bring extra funds to Singapore. Singapore was the World's Most Expensive City in 2019. Singapore has perhaps one of the best healthcare systems in the world. Also worth noting: Singapore owns 80% of its hospital capacity and sponsors public housing for 80% of the entire citizenry. Also, if housing projects want that sweet, sweet government money, then they need to follow diversity quotas within each building for all of the ethnic groups present in Singapore. That capitalism/socialism duality is simply stunning. Singaporean government also uses publics compulsory (20%) retirement savings to invest as it wishes — no pension at all for the elderly funded by the government. Inequality is evident. Singapore is the only OECD nation that doesn't have a minimum wage. Much of the low skilled jobs there are being done by foreign workers who are paid whatever the employers want to pay them. Singapore has become the Switzerland of Asia! But housing is no longer affordable for the average Singaporean. And the reason why there are no strikes in Singapore is simply because it is illegal to strike. Singapore seems to be excellent in many ways; education, healthcare, business, etc. But yet not the happiest nation in the world. In this video, we will try to understand why. Welcome to The Atlantis Report. Singapore was expelled from Malaysia due to disagreements by its state government and the Malaysian Federal Government. And Singapore sought its sweetest revenge by one-upping Malaysia. Success is the best revenge. It is a living testimony that a multi-racial society based on meritocracy is better than one based on affirmative policies. It’s sentimentally important historically, and for the late Prime Minister and founding father, Lee Kuan Yew. Singapore, unlike Malaysia, didn’t declare independence. Singapore was galvanized into separating from Malaysia because of great differences in politics, such as how multiculturalism should work. Singapore wanted meritocracy, while Malaysia wanted vernacular schools and race-based political parties to take care of their own. The separation was extremely hurtful and a deep problem for Singapore. No water, no resources, swampland, pollution, crime. It took a great man to change all this. Even at an old age, the late Prime Minister still deemed his biggest regret/failure/heartbreak whatever you may call it was the separation. How many loyal people he left behind. Getting kicked out of Malaysia was the best thing that happened to Singapore. All thanks to Lee Kuan Yew in shaping and developing Singapore. A country that lacks natural resources or infrastructure is now one of the richest nations. Singapore embraces the profit motive and the idea of corporations as wealth creators. The state provides many benefits, including subsidized housing for many people. But business has never carried a taint, unlike in South Asia. From a social standpoint, It's a great country, especially for the 1%; but generally, people are very depressed in contrast to Malaysia, who obviously have laws that favor the Malays. Singapore's unwritten laws favor the Chinese despite many racist cases that have been swept under the carpet. Singapore is also a country in the right place at the right time right now because of the implosion of Hong Kong as a semi-sovereign, stable common-law economy. Today, Singapore's total GDP is more than that of Malaysia, even tho it has a lot fewer people and is way smaller. Malaysia has roughly the same GDP as Singapore, despite having nearly five times the population and being substantially bigger, geography-wise. Singapore is a tiny country, but it's managed to become an Asian economic hub. Although despite all these achievements, the Singaporean government is still being called by many people an authoritarian dictatorship with no real political freedom to the citizens and being too Chinese. This is one of the biggest problems with Singapore , is that it's authoritarian, it ranked 150 out of 180 in the freedom index of 2018. And indeed, many of its social policies are motivated by this dictatorial mentality. So basically, it's a more successful, less corrupt version of China only with a genuinely free market. Makes one raise the question if it's worth the cost of personal liberty and human rights. As an open economy, Singapore is highly susceptible to global upheavals. Singapore's economy has crashed a few times during the past 20 years. However, thanks to its foreign reserves and institutional resilience, it has been able to make a rapid recovery in each case. Essentially, a crash happens when there is a state of prolonged depression triggered by share market index plunging deeply followed or in tandem with other malaise like property market collapse, widespread bankruptcy, etc... The recent crashes in Singapore are. 1). The Asian financial crisis of 1997 which brought down most of South East Asia’s economies. Singapore wasn't so badly hit due to its relatively strong currency and financial institutions. Nonetheless, it was hard to escape completely from the negative effects of huge devaluations of regional currencies. Property prices plunged amidst the downward spiral of investor confidence. This crisis lasted about three years. It was further compounded by the dot-com collapse on Wallstreet. 2). Singapore's economy next took a bad hit during the SARS epidemic starting around 2003. Tourist traffic ground to a virtual halt, so most hotels, shopping, F&B outlets, and hospitality services were severely affected. Thankfully, the crisis was over after a few months. 3). No global financial hub, including Singapore, could be isolated from the panic-stricken contagion of toxic assets in the aftermath of the collapse of Lehmann Brothers and several other large financial institutions. Singapore's Straits Times Index was down over 40%, accompanied by widespread falls in property prices and economic activities. Many retail investors lost fortunes. It took more than five years for the STI to recover gradually. Hence, given the current state of global indebtedness and potential for outbreaks of conflicts and diseases, it is very likely another major crisis lurks in the not so distant horizon. An open economy such as Singapore's should be well prepared by building resilience to recover quickly. Singapore’s economy is a major component of the world economy, based on our ranking in certain aspects: #1. The easiest place to do business in the world by the World Bank as of 2012 for seven years running. #2. Asia’s top financial hub since 2016. #3. World’s busiest transshipment port since 2005. Singapore handles this amount of traffic: 1/5th of the world’s shipping containers. 1/2 of the world’s annual supply of crude oil. #4. 5th busiest airport in the world by international passenger traffic, 7th overall. #5. World’s 20th largest arms exporter. #6. 10th highest oil importer in the world but also Asia’s top oil refining country, contributing 5% of the world’s GDP. #7. Manufacturer of 10% of the world’s wafer starts and 40% of hard disc media. And much more. The economy is strongly dependent and exposed to the world economy. Singapore's fortunes swing with the tide. It is susceptible to major contributors to the world economy, such as the US and the EU, but even more so, China. The economy is tied to the fate of the world economy. Singapore is also highly competitive. Manpower is its only resource, so it is highly dependent on them too. Unable to offer the same low cost of production as developing countries, they offer instead the 5th most skilled labor in Asia as well as one of the world’s safest and least corrupt countries . Key elements in inspiring confidence in doing business here. Singapore is are the 3rd most competitive country in the world for a reason. The rest of Southeast Asia is catching up, however. Generally, the smaller the country, the smaller the problems. Unless your problem is a big country, then you have a bigger problem. Singapore is one example of why a larger economy does not always mean better living. Singapore's economic success and chase for ever-increasing GDP numbers come at the cost of its social fabric. The human aspect of living has been replaced by efficiently planned but incredibly sterile living environments. The entire country is filled with the exact things, from public housing to malls and shops. The lives of its citizens are intensely guided, from education to working to marriage to retirement and death. That's why Singapore has such a high proportion of people wanting to migrate. One political party controls almost every aspect of the life of its citizens. It focuses on social engineering through control of education, media, and economics. It's generally centrally planned through a capitalist system. Be prepared to work till the 80s like pushing carts to recycle paper and cardboard. Students are forced to constantly study with little to no holidays. If you ask people in Singapore what they do for fun at the weekend, they'll tell you that they leave. Their wealth is helped big time by temporary migrants who are underpaid, who are paid far less than local Singaporean citizens. Thanks to the maids from Indonesia and the Philippines and migrant workers from other third world countries in the construction industry, Singapore has been able to gain traction in its overall wealth through wage theft from workers from third world countries. Also, the fact it’s a small country, you get more bang for your buck on spending on infrastructure. Yet rich westerners who visit the country and explore expat areas think it is some sort of paradise. Singapore has a loophole of tax exemptions that the rich expats exploit. Companies that are established in less than three years are offered a certain amount of exemptions and even get cost cover-up from the government. And if the company suffered losses. Or if the company owner closes down the company and re-opens/registers it in a new name, they will basically extend that advantage as a new company under three more years. Singapore is simply a transit country and a middle broker and heaven for banksters. It's only good for the top 1% with extremely low-income tax. This Was The Atlantis Report. Please Like. Share. And Subscribe. Thank You.














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