Chitchat What sort of city would you like Singapore to be?

[flatearther]

I prefer to be a fishing village with 1/3 male 2/3 female population.

If Singapore becomes a farming&fishing village again, the population would have to fall to well below a million, maybe even below 100,000:
wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_real_population_density_based_on_food_growing_capacity
data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.LND.ARBL.ZS
cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2097.html
unless all the built-up/developed land becomes agricultural land again....

 

[Leongsam]

A general answer would be to tap the entrepreneurial spirit of Singaporeans. For too long our economy has hinged on two things: MNCs/GLCs, and rentier activity like property and financial speculation. SMEs contribute only 30% of the GDP, unlike HK, Taiwan and Korea where SMEs account for more than 70% of the economy and 90% of jobs.

Lower the cost of doing business. One place to start would be to revamp land pricing. Another would be to remove onerous indirect taxes.

Reform the education system to produce thinking creative adults who will segue into the knowledge economy and drive innovation and design rather just be producers and manufacturers.

Early Singapore was built on the backs of enterprising Singaporeans, especially the Chinese and Indians. The qualities are still there, we just need the right environment to bring them out.

All sounds good in principle but what exactly will bring home the bacon and create sufficient well paying jobs to the extent that everyone can enjoy a middle class existence.

If the population is kept to within 1.5 to 3 million it means there is no critical mass for vibrant domestic economy so it will have to export driven.

This means that Singaporeans have to collectively creative, innovative or skilled enough to sell either products or services to the rest of the world at a competitive price.

What can Singapore produce that other countries aren't as good at? What services can Singapore render which the rest of the world cannot deliver as effectively or as competitively?

Airy fairy talk is easy but if we get down to the nuts and bolts the devil is in the details.

NZ has its dairy, forestry and tourism.

OZ has commodities so the economy goes up and down depending upon commodity demand.

Switzerland has its watch industry, luxury goods etc that nobody can match in terms of prestige but demand has been dropping.

What would Singapore's bread and butter have to be in order keep humming along as a wealthy first world country.

Forget about the past. If Singapore Inc was rebooted today, what would the new PM start working on tomorrow?

LKY had a clear vision... bring in the MNCs and it worked spectacularly well for 2.5 decades. All my wealth was built on the back of LKY and his EDB team's efforts. The new PM would need the same clear vision. What would it be?

 

[Leongsam]

My ideal Singapore is one where anyone can set up a sex shop or escort agency anywhere and not get prosecuted.

If Singapore decided to be a sex hub, where would the primary product come from? local girls or imported talent? If the girls are local that would mean sinkie wives and daughters. If the whores were imported then we're going down the FT route again.

 

[frenchbriefs]

That's just a compilation of good ideals. In practice how are you going to achieve all that at once, in the face of conflicting needs such as the need for defence expenditure, the need for workers here to be more productive (you want people to work shorter hours each week) so as to stay ahead of the global competition, and how to address our falling birth rate?

increase minimum wage,raise taxes of the rich and wealthy sinkies,once people have more money,they will find the propensity to work less,and have more free time and fuck more.people can now afford to have more babies because of the higher wages and subsidies.higher taxes will go towards funding free education and healthcare for the children.

change the composition of the cpf policy,a large percentage of our income goes to cpf contributions(nearly 36 percent) but it seems to be particularly useless......instead 20 percent of ur income will go to ur cpf while 16 percent will go to public taxes for welfare purposes,to make it fair however we will peg the cpf interest to the returns of their underlying investments,in order to let our citizens grow their wealth much more quickly and aggressively which is better than the barely above inflation rates of 2.5 percent.investment structure of our cpf funds will be revise to mimic that of the canadian pension fund which is reported to be about 6.8 percent over a 10 year annualized period.

secondly,stop cpf from being used for housing purposes.this will stop the feedback loop and stop the hdb ponzi bubble effect and stop the garnishing of our cpf funds which is meant for our retirement and healthcare in our old age.instead to compensate,we plan to keep the cost of housing as cheap and affordable,land prices are no longer factored into the cost,all hdb flats are owned by the hdb and leased out for a period of 30 to 50 years and sold at cost prices,3 room flats will not cost more than 99k and 5 room flats will cost less than 200k,no more million dollar pigeon holes.hdb flats that are sold on the free market,90 percent of the profits will be confiscated and returned to the HDB for future construction purposes.

 

[mojito]

What would the main economic activity be because in order to achieve your vision it would require that every inhabitant be comfortably well off performing an essential economic activity which adds considerable value to the world economy.

Simple. We rent space to those who do.

 

[flatearther]

What can Singapore produce that other countries aren't as good at? What services can Singapore render which the rest of the world cannot deliver as effectively or as competitively?

Airy fairy talk is easy but if we get down to the nuts and bolts the devil is in the details.

...

What would Singapore's bread and butter have to be in order keep humming along as a wealthy first world country.

Forget about the past. If Singapore Inc was rebooted today, what would the new PM start working on tomorrow?

The geographic location of Singapore is such that it is the fate of the inhabitants of this small island-city-state to be exploited by the "elite" Ang Mohs and/or Japs.
And because of the lack of slaves here roughly two hundred years ago, the British decided to import many times more slaves from southern China; and this policy of importing talented foreign slaves (or "foreign talents") has been maintained by the successors of the British, i.e. the PAP.

 

[Leongsam]

Simple. We rent space to those who do.

So Singapore space needs to be made more attractive than space in other parts of the world. Why would that be so.

 

[Leongsam]

increase minimum wage,raise taxes of the rich and wealthy sinkies,once people have more money,they will find the propensity to work less,and have more free time and fuck more.people can now afford to have more babies because of the higher wages and subsidies.higher taxes will go towards funding free education and healthcare for the children.

If you raise taxes of the rich and wealthy sinkies they will move their tax residency status to a country which taxes them less.

 

[mojito]

It's more about people for me. Where people are more caring and civic mindedness. Where people are not over materialistic. Where people care more for the environment like cycling more or taking public transport more instead of persuing to own a car. Where parents can spend more time with their kids and also kids not pressured with academic pursue only. Of course all these we will required good and efficient infrastructures and sound pro-people, pro-family and pro-social policies which Singapore is still very lacking.

Rubbish. With wealth and influence, there is no need to play nice. You must be poor.

 

[frenchbriefs]

All sounds good in principle but what exactly will bring home the bacon and create sufficient well paying jobs to the extent that everyone can enjoy a middle class existence.

If the population is kept to within 1.5 to 3 million it means there is no critical mass for vibrant domestic economy so it will have to export driven.

This means that Singaporeans have to collectively creative, innovative or skilled enough to sell either products or services to the rest of the world at a competitive price.

What can Singapore produce that other countries aren't as good at? What services can Singapore render which the rest of the world cannot deliver as effectively or as competitively?

Airy fairy talk is easy but if we get down to the nuts and bolts the devil is in the details.

NZ has its dairy, forestry and tourism.

OZ has commodities so the economy goes up and down depending upon commodity demand.

Switzerland has its watch industry, luxury goods etc that nobody can match in terms of prestige but demand has been dropping.

What would Singapore's bread and butter have to be in order keep humming along as a wealthy first world country.

Forget about the past. If Singapore Inc was rebooted today, what would the new PM start working on tomorrow?

LKY had a clear vision... bring in the MNCs and it worked spectacularly well for 2.5 decades. All my wealth was built on the back of LKY and his EDB team's efforts. The new PM would need the same clear vision. What would it be?

when singapore had a population of 4 million back in the late 90s and early 00s,we had a gdp per capita of nearly $27,000 usd.isnt that enough?inflationary pressures was not as high and it wasnt as crowded as fuck,quality of life was much much better......all this talk about having a sky high gdp per capital is insane,sure we can have gdp per cap of 70,000,thired highest in the world,but at the cost of our sanity and happiness?vibrant domestic economy my ass,singapore is nothing but shopping mall after shopping mall,with the same bloody shops over and over getting us to shop,eat and consume.and office buildings and residential buildings.singapore is nothing but a rental ponzi and economy and rental seeking.80 percent of our economy comprises of reits.

we need a country that is sustainable and balanced,not obssessed with

 

[zhihau]

What would Singapore's bread and butter have to be in order keep humming along as a wealthy first world country.

Forget about the past. If Singapore Inc was rebooted today, what would the new PM start working on tomorrow?

This reminds me of the thread on "the city state"...

If we begin with the end in mind, then the things we need to work on right now is none other than our education system. An education system that neither conforms one's mode of thinking nor conforms oneself has to be in place. For far too long we've been using cookie cutter system churning out generations of drones. The mean level of literacy should go up, technological advanced societies will run the show in the next generation. Even as Moore's law go defunct, another level of advancement will be in place.

 

[frenchbriefs]

If you raise taxes of the rich and wealthy sinkies they will move their tax residency status to a country which taxes them less.

good they are worthless anyway,we just need people who love the country and patriotic,australia has less than 2 percent millionaire population and they are perfectly happy with it.

 

[mojito]

So Singapore space needs to be made more attractive than space in other parts of the world. Why would that be so.

Simple. We let them hire or fire however they want, give jobs to their spouses if they haven't got any, and create an exclusive gated community that feels like home away from home. They pay less taxes, get higher quality of life compared to the miserable natives, it is like Galt's Gulch with free flow fruit punch courtesy of an enlightened bureaucracy. You really don't recognize utopia when you see it.

 

[Dreamer1]

Singapore has been blessed to be the topmost country on earth, with very intelligent and hard working population. But PAP founding father who was super intelligent and very selfish and his innocent son plus intelligent (GCE O + A) yet stupid daughter in law (punting stock, horse racing,etc) who screw it up completely. The day is coming soon when this little dot is completely broken down, all the foreigners will fly away asap, left the 70% intelligent yet stupid citizens blaming themselves for their misfortune.

 

[Ralders]

I wish haze to mantain at 500.
Zika to infect 100 new case daily.
Tb to infect 10 daily.
Everyday 100 pr new citizens will die.
Mrt to stalled n stop working.
Taxi to crash a group of indian at changi business park killing 20 a day till all automatic go back.

 

[Leongsam]

when singapore had a population of 4 million back in the late 90s and early 00s,we had a gdp per capita of nearly $27,000

Yes I know that and I was part of that economy. It was the tail end of the manufacturing boom spearheaded by MNCs but we were already rapidly losing competitiveness. I sold my manufacturing concern for a good profit in the early 1990s. By 2000 it has already ceased operations in Singapore and the new owners moved to China. A couple of hundred staff lost their jobs. Management moved overseas.

The Government already realised in the mid 90s that manufacturing was doomed. Overheads in Singapore were simply too high.

Had the government not pumped the economy by growing the population, Singapore would have been a ghost town by 2005. It would have looked like Detroit today.

 

[Ralders]

I wish haze to mantain at 500.
Zika to infect 100 new case daily.
Tb to infect 10 daily.
Everyday 100 pr new citizens will die.
Mrt to stalled n stop working.
Taxi to crash a group of indian at changi business park killing 20 a day till all automatic go back.

If u look back.foreigners are the root of all problems in Singapore

 

[Leongsam]

Singapore has been blessed to be the topmost country on earth, with very intelligent and hard working population.

That is a myth. I can tell you from personal experience that even way back in the early 80s Singaporeans were neither intelligent nor hardworking. The best staff I had were the Malaysian Chinese. They were flexible and resourceful and had no problems with working beyond normal hours.

When it came to engineering prowess our plant in Taiwan was the most innovative. The techs there could design jigs and fixtures from scratch in order to improve productivity. Singapore graduates could only build stuff if they were given engineering drawings to follow.

 

[Leongsam]

This reminds me of the thread on "the city state"...

If we begin with the end in mind, then the things we need to work on right now is none other than our education system. An education system that neither conforms one's mode of thinking nor conforms oneself has to be in place. For far too long we've been using cookie cutter system churning out generations of drones. The mean level of literacy should go up, technological advanced societies will run the show in the next generation. Even as Moore's law go defunct, another level of advancement will be in place.

If Singapore succeeded in creating the best education system in the world and the graduates of this fantastic system were the most talented people on earth, you have to ask yourself why in god's name would they confine themselves to 675 sqkm when it came to marketing their talents.

Surely you would have to agree that Singapore would lose the majority of its talented to countries where life is far more pleasant.

 

[zhihau]

Surely you would have to agree that Singapore would lose the majority of its talented to countries where life is far more pleasant.

Call me a humanistic purist, the notions of nationalism that defines medieval times right up to this day and age will vaporize soon enough when humanity sees itself for itself. We've reached critical mass in terms of numbers, now we let people see the light for themselves.

End of the day, folks can only be proud enough to hail themselves of their birthplace and where they are brought up. Singapore has to market itself as that "heaven".