This is Singapore

The new list of Michelin Star restaurants and eateries in Singapore is out:


The same two Hawker stalls are still on the list.

Singapore is 53 years old as an independent nation today:

Majulah Singapura!!!:

Singapore National day in pictures:

Firework video:

I had spend out few days at Singapore, where we had enjoyed a lot.

If I havenā€™t said it before Iā€™ll repeat it now; Singapore is more than Orchard Road and shopping:

A milestone event; Singapore has 200 km. of covered walkways to protect people from the sun and rain:

No hardship allowed in modern day Singapore.

sure there is, another change of the rules and I can only do 10kph on a bicycle when on the footpath, same rules for all that other motorized stuff they allow on the footpath.
I can see compulsory GPS on my bike so I can get fined as I rideā€¦

Oh the horror!! How can you live in a place like that??
Do you get a hardship bonus??

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Is Singapore an almost perfect country??:

Well it has the advantage of being small with no large hinterland to worry about. No need to build roads and other infrastructure to remove towns and villages.
But that is also a problem. No natural resources and hardly any agricultural land or fishing grounds. Everything as to be imported, incl. water.
Yet it has become a developed country and one of the richest countries (in terms of GDP per capita) with one of the largest sovereign fund in the world. Impressed??
ā€‹ā€‹ā€‹ā€‹ā€‹ā€‹ā€‹But perfect??? No, no country is perfect, or without problems.

PS> Canā€™t wait to see the negative comments!!!

all taxes going up was the other newsā€¦
lots of companies leaving due to high costs
total resident population has been dropping for the last 3 years
rents falling
very difficult to get a work permit
Australia has basically no sovereign wealth fund yet has the 3rd/4th largest pension pot on the planet and national health care
Loyang offshore base is a ghost town
you decide

The pub timber tops?? Must not be doing well. Itā€™s years since I was last at Loyang.

Do you mean ā€œHill Topsā€?? Situated in a black and white bungalow on top of a hill obviously.
Gone, including even the hill and just about everything from the original British Naval station for Coastal Patrol.

Taxes are still low compared to most developed countries.

Always some moving out, others moving in. In the 1980ā€™s they paid labour intensive industry to move out to free up space and workers for higher value added activity.

Population has grown steadily from 1960, even when there was an attempt to reduce the growth by the ā€œtwo is enoughā€ policy. (Look it up)
The growth rate has dropped though:

Work permit for foreign labourers are issued based on demand, but reduced due to automation and slower industrial growth. Employment Pass and Permanent Residency limited due to popular resistance (Coffeeshop Talk and on Social media) just like in other developed countries.

PS>Australia is doing good economically. I can recommend a move back there.
Port Douglas is a friendly place with good climate and excellent sailing conditions.

Hill tops yes. My recollections are a little fuzzy, must have been something in the water.

Singapore is bucking the trend again; not driving or owning a car to become fashionable and making plans for future transport need for 2040 is not common anywhere else, I believe:

PS> I never thought of myself as ā€œfashionableā€, but I havenā€™t owned a car since 1994. No need for one in Singapore, even then.

they cant afford it, thats why it set a new fashion, typical PAP spinā€¦

It costs a lot of money to own a car in Singapore . By the time you get through the requirement to have off street parking, go into the ballot and pay about $25,000 dollars over the odds for a run of the mill car like a Ford Focus.
I donā€™t know what it costs to get a drivers license but we have more than a few who have come to grief on our demanding roads down under when faced with 100kph speeds and changing conditions.
I did see a Ferrari downtown in Singapore one evening. The stick shift canā€™t have created any problems; reverse and 1st should have covered all the bases.

Yes it is expensive to own and operate a car in Singapore, but that didnā€™t stop many from buying cars, even if they couldnā€™t really afford the cost, as long as it was a status symbol to own one.
The high cost is deliberate policy to keep the number of cars on the road down to what the roads can absorb. Here is an explanation of the Certificate of Entitlement (COE) system in place:
https://www.lta.gov.sg/content/ltaweb/en/roads-and-motoring/owning-a-vehicle/vehicle-quota-system/certificate-of-entitlement-coe.html

When the COE system was implemented the then PM Goh Chok Tong made a statement that ā€œit is no problem if every Singaporean own a car, as long as they leave it in the driveway and polished it every Sunday, and donā€™t drive it on the roads all at onceā€.

The Electronic Road Pricing System (ERP) is in place to regulate the traffic flow at peak hours in the downtown area and on the main Express ways:
https://www.lta.gov.sg/content/ltaweb/en/roads-and-motoring/managing-traffic-and-congestion/electronic-road-pricing-erp.html

What does this do for Singapore and Singaporeans? It cut down on the cost of traffic jams for the economy and the time Singaporeans spend stuck in traffic.
Here is a comparison of different traffic parameters for two reasonably equal cities; Singapore vs. Los Angeles:
https://www.numbeo.com/traffic/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Singapore&country2=United+States&city1=Singapore&city2=Los+Angeles%2C+CA
Of course having a well developed public transport system helps.

the status symbol stuff is left with the the old people, I notice how many of the younger staff I work with no longer have cars once they scrap them. They are all struggling yet receive the highest wages in Asia. Makes companies think twice about operations in Singapore these days.

Singapore during the peak of colonial rule, before WWII:

Singapore at the time of independence for the Malayan Federation:


Singapore was still a British Crown Colony until 1963.

The Singapore of my young and tender days:


A couple of years after independence from Malaysia in 1965.

UPDATE:
And looking forward 50+ years.
If you wondered why Iā€™m proud of Singapore (being a long term (now ex)) resident, here you can see why. Singapore is open to new ideas, new technology and new people (as long as they contribute)

Take time to see this 45 min. video from NG and you may understand why a small colonial backwater has become one of the most advanced and richest countries in the world, by far bypassing itā€™s former colonial Master.
And all without any natural resources, only good government, well educated people and good location:


What will it be like in 50 years time is of course not possible to predict and not only dependent on Singapore, but how the rest of the world, especially the big neighbours and big powers of the world behave.

I experienced the first 50 years of Singaporeā€™s history as an independent nation, but unfortunately I will not be able to experience the next 50 years.

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