De-Globalizing Singapore

An interesting BBC report sounded over the radio as NotTheFirstPirate negotiated his way through rush-hour Shenton Way traffic. BBC reported a growing phenomenon around the world which they term as "de-globalization". NotTheFirstPirate found the report particularly interesting, especially in the context of Singapore. Is this finally an area where Singapore is going her own way, acting in contrary to global norms and throwing caution to the wind? Let us consider.

As the international economy contracts amidst the global recession, countries worldwide are reverting from their expansionary approach and are turning increasingly inward to look for a way out. China is betting on domestic demand to replace international drivers of the mainland's mammoth GDP. US and Europe are hypocritically closing their doors to foreign immigrants while re-emphasizing the importance of international free trade. Japan and other Asian nations are weaning themselves off the reliance on the greenback and refocusing their efforts to strengthen their own domestic currency and economy. The bull run of the past decade has ended and the myths of treasures in faraway lands banished for the moment. So in the face of a worldwide retreat from the global marketplace, what is our beloved city-state's reaction to this change?

Ironically, for a country where safety is sought in majority rather than facts, where convention is to follow rather than lead, Singapore is surprisingly diametric in her dealings with the rest of the world, especially with respect to immigration.

Singapore, especially in recent years, has become a preferred immigration destination for people from around the region. The hordes of China, Indian and Malaysian students flooding NUS or the multitude of "foreign talent" packing our MRT and shopping malls provide ample evidence for my assertion. As NotTheFirstPirate had already expounded, in previous entries, on the pressures these immigrants put on the original Singaporeans, the arguments will not be repeated here. Instead, a more constructive consideration will be to hypothesize reasons for this phenomenon and project possible consequences for it.

A quick comparison between immigration laws across several countries (Australia, USA, Canada etc) will confirm what most original Singaporeans have feared. Singapore has arguably the most lax immigrant requirements available internationally. While NotTheFirstPirate cannot profess to be an expert in immigrant law/requirements, it seems that the basic requirement for Permanent Residency in sunny Singapore is a monthly salary of $2500, barely the equivalent of the starting salary of a fresh graduate. Why is that considered foreign talent that Singapore badly needs when recipients of these PRs (which upon graduation from NUS/NTU will probably earn the $2500 required) could be precisely the people that are denying our local JC/Poly grads from a place in our local universities? Your guess is as good as mine.

An anecdote, related to me by a close friend American Tail, sums up the point pretty succinctly. American Tail's relative, let's call him MsiaMathsKid, just applied for Singapore PR. He is born in Malaysia, educated in Australia and currently works in Singapore. His ultimate purpose is to go back to Australia and is in fact working in Singapore temporarily to await the approval of his Australian PR. Meanwhile, whilst he is here, he decided to also apply for Singapore PR because it allows him to find a better paid job while in Singapore and more importantly, it is so damn easy to get one. But MsiaMathsKid has no desire to remain in Singapore. He does not intend to buy property or build a family or "give back" in any way to our city-state. Singapore to him is but a stepping stone, a rest-stop in his quest to finally migrate to his dream country, Australia. For someone who doesn't really want to be a Singaporean, who may probably deprive another Singaporean of a job, we are rewarding him with a PR nevertheless. There are many others like MsiaMathsKid. MumbaiItBoy, ShanghaiPhdGal, LondonIBMan to name but a few.

While "attracting foreign talent and investment" provides a great soundbite for a STB advert, are we doing the sensible thing by becoming a stop gap solution for migrants who aspire to be in US or Europe but who cannot as yet qualify? While some of these people will grow to like and eventually settle in Singapore, many of such immigrants will not hesitate for a second to pack up and leave once the path to their original destination becomes viable. Is it fair to subject the original Singaporeans, ones who will serve, protect and contribute to Singapore, to the additional pressures these temporary migrants bring? Can you blame Singaporeans from leaving a home who is no longer cares about being fair or gives a hoot to their well-being?

Before Singapore becomes a truly global city, albeit without the original Singaporeans, particularly in a time when the rest of the world is turning protectionistic to preserve the local community and its people, it may be advisable for Singapore to do what it does best. Shut up and follow.

Read More...

Summary only...

The S Factor

I think I have distilled the essence of my discontent in Singapore down to one overwhelming factor. SIZE.

Singapore is too small, home to a population that is too big, period. I think every single grievance I have of our red little dot can be attributed in some kind or form to this issue of size. Too small, too crowded, too fast, too expensive, too materialistic, too difficult, too much....the list goes on and I think size lies at the heart of the problems. Let me explain......

Singapore is currently already the 2nd most densely populated region in the world, according to this wiki list, and the most densely populated country. And this is before the population increases by another 2-2.5 million. Statistics aside, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that Singapore is too small for our comparatively gigantic population. Case in point, just take the MRT.

We always hear of the proverbial rat race in Singapore. Singaporeans lament about the impossibility to stop for a breather. But can we help it? I think in some way the relentless chase that we Singaporeans engage in with such fervor is more of a necessity than choice. The ironic thing is that the reason why many of our fellow "rats" are scrambling so desperately to get ahead is to finally be able to stop chasing. It is as if there is some fairytale ending at the end of the marathon, a promised land where everything will be better, an end that will justify the means, no matter how torturous the journey may be. By the way, FYI, the marathon is extended again and the marathon organizers are already thinking of shifting the finishing line. You run till you are 70 or older. Run on fellow rats.....

Some people will contend with my point of the end justifying the means. They will say that nowadays people are more concerned about the journey, not just the destination. The ones I am talking about belong to the older generation, younger Singaporeans are different. They have hopes, dreams, expectations about the life they want to lead. But that is exactly my point. When the promised land is little more than a facade, the journey painfully depressing, people will look for little conveniences, small perks to numb the pain. For instance, with the public transport system creaking under the sheer weight of the growing populating, people will look to private car ownership to provide some relief. Try going home after a long day of work using public transport. After 1 hour of sardine-packing on the trains and buses, you will quickly understand what I am saying. With car prices typically exceeding the average annual salary in Singapore, how can we stop running? Perhaps the only thing that still brings some satisfaction to the MRT commuter is the thought of the sucker stucked in his overpriced Toyota on the CTE with ERP gantry lights flashing above him. We can extend the same argument for property, children, parents etc. They are really relatively expensive here. All the more reasons for us to run faster and harder in this race. Necessity, not choice.

Size is central to this argument. Ever tried running in a marathon? When you are in the midst of the crowd that is pushing forward, it is impossible to go against the tide. This is the scenario we are in. The modest size of the economy, the scarcity of land and rescoures, the comparative undersupply of public goods all serves to inflate prices to an artificial high, from a global perspective. With the influx of immigrants adding to the crowd pushing forward, the momentum builds and fight to go against the tide becomes harder. To alleviate the problem, we need to either widen the road or reduce the number of runners, something the people-in-charge have not figured out. Flooding an already overcrowded economy with cheap labour is a cheap and brainless way to manage a country. To go the China or Indian way of "progress" just reeks of socialism. GDP increase does not translate into a better standard of living if it is achieved by increasing the hordes of slaves in your backyard.

So it is all bad in Singapore? Of course not. Singapore, like any other country, has it's good and bad. We have an exceedingly industrious, efficient and diligent population. We are traditionally more technically savvy than our global counterparts. We are cooperative and rule-abiding. Singapore ranks amongst the safest countries in the world. Kudos to the government for an education system that primes us for academic success probably anywhere else in the world. There is much good Singapore offers. But the fact remains that Singapore equips you to exceed everywhere else but here. From my personal experiences, Singaporeans are more valued overseas. Abroad, they are different, even extraordinary. Success comes easier for them out there, not because they tried harder or got luckier but simply because of what they are and what they represent, naturally. Over here, you are one of the many. Just another rat, from an oversized population in an undersized country.

In a world where everything needs to be in oversized proportions, seems like it is difficult to be truly contented if the oversizing happens only for one and not the other.

Read More...

Summary only...

Singapore Upside-Down

Just heard some depressing news from a friend recently. She has just gained admissions to a top business school in the States and has been running around to gather her funding sources for her studies. However, due to the turmoil in the credit markets, loans from the US for an alien like her is close to impossible and her US hope (as opposed to the Singapore dream) seems a tad more difficult now.

One may wonder why can't my friend borrow her funds locally? Before we answer that question, let us look at her available choices. Local banks will only lend up to 10 times of her current salary which will not be enough for her overseas education. With the US borrowing option out, that just leaves her with the trusty CPF. Unfortunately, the CPF Education Scheme cannot be used for overseas education. The reason provided by the CPF board is on the basis of risk. These are the exact words from the CPF website, "Local education at approved institutions is heavily subsidised by the Government. Students should thus be able to repay the CPF savings used. On the other hand, overseas education is very costly. If the student is unable to repay the CPF savings used in cash, it would have serious consequences on the parents' or his own retirement savings". This sounds like a "if you are not spending in Singapore, you cannot take your back your FD you have deposited with me" argument. If only we can choose when and where to make our deposit.....

I can provide anecdotes that will contradict the rationale of CPF's risk argument. I know of local grads that are getting paid less than $1500 (which is artificially propped up to $2500 - $2700 by MAS under some employment scheme with our tax money) in our prized financial sector or architects that graduated with equivalent masters degree earning less than $2000 in their first job. The typical undergraduate/graduate education in Singapore is therefore expensive, thus risky, with respect to the expected return from that education. The fact that the government is a baseline guarantee for that return, therefore capping the risk involved, is of little consolation since the marketplace for professionals is increasingly global and the entrance of foreign "talent" into our tiny job market resembles that of a broken dam.

But instead of quoting statistics, I would like to offer a personal point of view in this matter. I am fortunate enough to attend some of the best educational institutions that our country has to offer. A good proportion of my more academically capable classmates have gone abroad for their education, either on scholarships or on their rather significant family fortunes. We still meet up for dinners or drinks on their vacations back home to sunny Singapore. While this may be a very biased opinion but till date, no one from this group of friends have expressed disappointment or regret in their decision to leave. While some of them have indeed returned, no one that I know had done so due of career prospects or quality of life etc. They returned because of their roots, of their family ties. One wonders if the parents were able to uproot from Singapore, will there any other reason for our brightest to return to their nest here?

Anyway, we are sidetracking from my friend's issue. My point is that since banks and CPF are willing to lend money for local education and purchases of over-priced condominiums, I cannot see any rational reason for refusing to do so for my friend, who in my humble opinion and experience, is making at least as good an investment as the former two. The measurement of risk locally is flawed. It is based on local assumptions and projections, without any global consideration. Risk is justified simply based on the fact that since "everyone in Singapore is doing it, it cannot be wrong" mentality. Talk to your friends now that you are thinking of going abroad for an education for a year, they will exclaim at your courage and endeavour in this time of uncertainty. Tell the same group of friends that you want to buy a HDB or condo that cost easily 3-5 times more, they will say that its a worthwhile investment since "property is quite cheap now".

Everything is upside-down here. A good friend is hoping his brother, who is studying in Australia because he cannot get into a decent course in our prestigous universities, will be able to apply Australian PR for him and his family because he is not qualified enough to do so.

I have a feeling that someone somewhere Down-Under is laughing at the irony of it all in upside-down Singapore.

Read More...

Summary only...

5 mins before train wreck

"The boy ran up and down the railway track, having the time of his life. 'I will do this until I am grown up, strong and healthy, before I find other amusements", thought the little boy. In a distance, the train tearing on at full steam towards the unknowing boy."

This is a rather clumsy analogy to my circumstance but have I in some way, rather accurately prophetized my future fate? Am I the stupid boy that continues to play on the tracks despite the oncoming train? Will I be too late to jump out of the way when the train is upon me, headlights flashing and horns blaring in my face?

The proverbial killing train will be carrying the incorrigible old man, sheer weight of opportunity costs and the paralysing fear of change. I can see it, smell it and calculate the probability. Should I make a move now?

I think I can hear the train's roar in the distance .................

Read More...

Summary only...