Singapore
Managed Trader
The key to understanding Singapore lies in comparing it to Hong Kong. Like Hong Kong, Singapore was founded by the British as a trading center, strategically positioned near Asia's busiest shipping routes. Its population is also primarily ethnic Chinese. And like Hong Kong, Singapore is a small territory (Singapore Island and some 57 smaller islands) with virtually no natural resources other than a deep water port.
Unlike Hong Kong, however, Singapore is a tightly controlled society. Instead of frenzied business activity, there is deliberately implemented central planning. Public and private affairs alike are overseen by a visionary, hands-on government that leaves nothing to chance and involves itself deeply in the affairs of its people and their welfare; this is no helter-skelter growth economy. Citizens are told what to do and when and where to do it. For example, voting is compulsory, saving a part of one's salary is mandatory, long hair on men is officially discouraged, and even spitting on the sidewalk is prohibited.
[Tip — Business Style: Singapore is more authoritarian and hierarchical than most Asian societies. Accordingly, foreign business people should show respect toward the country's rules and regulations. In communications, they should pay close attention to the positions Singaporeans hold in their organizations and community, and they should make a point of deferring to persons in positions of importance.]
Singapore was founded by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819 as a trading post for the British East India Company. From that time, except for three years of Japanese occupation during World War II, the British controlled Singapore until it first became self-governing in 1959. British influence is still felt in Singapore: English, spoken with a British accent, is the principal language of business, government, and education; the legal and governmental systems are also based on those of the British. In these respects, Singapore is similar to Malaysia, its immediate neighbor to the north, except that the ethnic composition of the population is about reversed. Whereas Malaysia is 50 percent Malay and 24 percent Chinese, Singapore is 77 percent Chinese and 14 percent Malay.
Singapore is now the modern essence of its origin: a technology-oriented manufacturing, financial, and services center of the first order. But, instead of having Hong Kong's chaotic business pace, there is an atmosphere of brisk efficiency. Its airport is one of the best in the world, but travelers are in and out of it so fast that they barely notice. Visitors are whisked into the city by taxis along attractive, tree-lined highways, arriving at one of many modern hotels within a half hour. They come away highly impressed with Singapore's modern office buildings, new subway system, cleanliness, and fine dining.
[Tip — Communications Style: Use a formal style in communicating with Singaporeans. With their British traditions and their collectivist respect for authority, they prefer that formalities be observed, at least at the outset of a relationship.]
Critics of Singapore's carefully managed society assert that it is over-regulated, that its pervasive governmental regulations dampen spontaneity and innovation, and that, while clean and efficient, it is also very dull. But such criticism overlooks Singapore’s achievement as the "Economic Miracle" of Southeast Asia. In less than forty-five years, since leaving the Malaysian federation in 1965 to become an independent republic, Singapore has forged one of the strongest economies in Asia, boasting the third highest per capita income in Asia after Japan and Hong Kong. The discretionary income of Singaporeans is also high because government policies discourage spending money on various big ticket items such as single family homes and expensive cars — and these policies effectively control land usage and traffic congestion. Singapore's tight government controls also provide a number of tangential benefits to foreign business people. Intellectual property protection is good, there is virtually no corruption, and the bureaucracy is reasonably efficient.
During the 1970's and 1980's, Singapore's economic growth was export-driven. A large manufacturing sector was established on the basis of an ample, educated work force and liberal foreign investment policies. In recent years, Singapore's economic success has produced a tight labor supply and higher wages. As a result, the government has shifted its economic policies to discourage investment in labor-intensive activities and promote technology-based, value-added manufacturing. As a result, Singapore today claims a global niche as Southeast Asia's primary commercial and financial center in an "Age of Information and Technology." Fittingly, its financial services sector has been its growth leader in recent years, and high tech manufacturing continues to advance. In addition, Singapore's growing wealth has enabled it to expand its economic base with direct foreign investment elsewhere, primarily in Southeast Asia.
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