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It baffles me that media-tech companies such as Ghost want to relocate there: https://blog.ghost.org/moving-to-singapore/ https://blog.ghost.org/moving-to-singa

It baffles me that media-tech companies such as Ghost want to relocate there: https://blog.ghost.org/moving-to-singapore/ https://blog.ghost.org/moving-to-singapore/

philliphaydon 10y ago
What is wrong with Singapore? It's a start up heven.
- philliphaydon 10y ago
  Lol such typical HN users, lets not provide a valid argument, lets just downvote because we have no argument.
  - hackerboos 10y ago
    You made a point on your own Twitter account of what is wrong with Singapore https://twitter.com/philliphaydon/status/720811398025109504 https://twitter.com/philliphaydon/status/720811398025109504
    - philliphaydon 10y ago
      I point out a positive in Singapore and you say its whats wrong with Singapore?
      - bobwaycott 10y ago
        Banning people's ability to protest is a positive social and cultural trait for you? Fuck that. That just made me think twice about ever bothering visiting.
      - philliphaydon 10y ago
        With what's going on in America right now, restricting peoples abilities to protest is a blessing. So many people protesting against things they don't understand, people becoming violent. Blah. I love Singapore.
        ghostDancer 10y ago
        Really? And who determines what can you protest against/about? , do you have to pass an exam to protest certain things or a college degree is valid? Restricting peoples abilities to protest is one of the first things that dictatorships do.
        mark_l_watson 10y ago
        Did you forget about the violent responses to the peaceful Occupy Wall Street protests? Tightly controlled "Free Speech Zones"? That is what we have in the USA, coupled with propaganda ridden corporate news. I don't think that we are in a position to criticize other countries too much since we have our own problems. I just got back from a business trip to Singapore, and considering how that area was devastated by the occupation during WW2, it is amazing how fast they have built a very good place to live.
        nickpsecurity 10y ago
        Experiencing specific forms of tyranny puts us in a perfect position to call out the same patterns in other countries and warn them so they can counter it before it's too late. Apathy by the majority is what screws America up. That Singaporeans actually care collectively about theirs and invest in their country's future is one of their most enviable traits. If Americans had that in mass, then our freedoms, votes, and capital would give us control of the country and vast improvements in one election cycle.
        cylinder 10y ago
        It's amazing how many Americans believe the propaganda about how free and liberal we are. Except I have to pay taxes to the US even if I don't live there and can't play poker legally if I do.
        philliphaydon 10y ago
        There's a good saying: "None are more hopelessly enslaved, than those who falsely believe they are free." I donno who the quote is from.
      - deleted 10y ago
        [deleted]
      - patcon 10y ago
        Ugh.
  - Ma8ee 10y ago
    Because the comment you replied to contained enough valid arguments.
  - CyberDildonics 10y ago
    You didn't provide any argument for your statement. Singapore is also an extraordinarily expensive place to live, which doesn't seem like startup heaven to me.
    - philliphaydon 10y ago
      Rubbish. I spent 5 years living in Sydney, Australia, before moving to Singapore. Unless you want to live a high roller expat life-style in a condo and own a car, Singapore is NOT expensive. And please don't refer to that terrible study that puts Singapore as the most expensive place to live, it's designed for companies to create packages for people for recruitment. It includes things like owning a car (something that is definitely not needed in Singapore), the price of alcohol (not a requirement to live), and living in an expensive condo (HDB's are excluded from the study) Sydney on the other hand, costs more for an apartment in the city, public transport is more expensive, especially taxis, food and drink is more expensive (exception is Alcohol and Beef), utilities (power/gas/internet) is all more expensive. My last tax bill in Sydney was about 22k when I left. My first full year in Singapore was like ~3k, and the government gave $1000 back. And the best part about it is you see all your money going back into the country, rather than lining the pockets of individuals to pass the blame on the failing like they do in Australia/New Zealand.
      - CyberDildonics 10y ago
        HDBs are still expensive. 2k SG for a small 2 bedroom HDB and very expensive electricity are not a good mix and there are very few studio or 1 bedroom HDBs. In most non coastal cities in the US you can get a studio for $600 USD.
        nickpsecurity 10y ago
        In U.S. South near big cities, you can easily get a whole house with 3 bedrooms, two bathrooms, living room, kitchen, back/front yard, electricity, and high-speed Internet all for about $1,300 a month. Cheaper if you are about 10 minutes out into rural areas. Either people make serious money in Singapore or their poor are pretty crunched in terms of living space. I don't have data to answer that.
nkoren 10y ago
Not a fan of authoritarian governments, but I have to say that from the perspective of a UK-based SaaS company trying to cope with VATMOSS, their reasons are more than a little compelling. Sometimes pragmatism really does need to win the day.
- nickpsecurity 10y ago
  They can open a Nevada or Delaware corporation in the U.S. that hires from the tech scene. They'll have speech/press freedom, almost no taxes, plenty IT people to draw on a low-wages, Stripe support, no VATMOSS, and easy business dealings with any country. Wonder why that wasn't on the list given we're the start-a-business-and-get-rich capital of the world.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
nickpsecurity 10y ago
Did you get the irony of a platform for personal expression and sometimes dissent moving into a country that suppresses dissent and narrows personal expression? Unreal. They've clearly bought into the propaganda with the list they posted. It's half right but counterexamples show transparency and corruption should be off it entirely with trust in politicians and education having qualifiers. It is a good place to do business with people capable of it, low risks, and so on. In general. Yet, I wouldn't bring in anything that's about personal expression or privacy. That's just incredibly stupid given long-term risks.

It baffles me that media-tech companies such as Ghost want to relocate there: https://blog.ghost.org/moving-to-singapore/ https://blog.ghost.org/moving-to-singapore/

philliphaydon 10y ago

What is wrong with Singapore? It's a start up heven.

philliphaydon 10y ago
Lol such typical HN users, lets not provide a valid argument, lets just downvote because we have no argument.
- hackerboos 10y ago
  You made a point on your own Twitter account of what is wrong with Singapore https://twitter.com/philliphaydon/status/720811398025109504 https://twitter.com/philliphaydon/status/720811398025109504
  - philliphaydon 10y ago
    I point out a positive in Singapore and you say its whats wrong with Singapore?
    - bobwaycott 10y ago
      Banning people's ability to protest is a positive social and cultural trait for you? Fuck that. That just made me think twice about ever bothering visiting.
    - philliphaydon 10y ago
      With what's going on in America right now, restricting peoples abilities to protest is a blessing. So many people protesting against things they don't understand, people becoming violent. Blah. I love Singapore.
      - ghostDancer 10y ago
        Really? And who determines what can you protest against/about? , do you have to pass an exam to protest certain things or a college degree is valid? Restricting peoples abilities to protest is one of the first things that dictatorships do.
        mark_l_watson 10y ago
        Did you forget about the violent responses to the peaceful Occupy Wall Street protests? Tightly controlled "Free Speech Zones"? That is what we have in the USA, coupled with propaganda ridden corporate news. I don't think that we are in a position to criticize other countries too much since we have our own problems. I just got back from a business trip to Singapore, and considering how that area was devastated by the occupation during WW2, it is amazing how fast they have built a very good place to live.
        nickpsecurity 10y ago
        Experiencing specific forms of tyranny puts us in a perfect position to call out the same patterns in other countries and warn them so they can counter it before it's too late. Apathy by the majority is what screws America up. That Singaporeans actually care collectively about theirs and invest in their country's future is one of their most enviable traits. If Americans had that in mass, then our freedoms, votes, and capital would give us control of the country and vast improvements in one election cycle.
        cylinder 10y ago
        It's amazing how many Americans believe the propaganda about how free and liberal we are. Except I have to pay taxes to the US even if I don't live there and can't play poker legally if I do.
        philliphaydon 10y ago
        There's a good saying: "None are more hopelessly enslaved, than those who falsely believe they are free." I donno who the quote is from.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    - patcon 10y ago
      Ugh.
- Ma8ee 10y ago
  Because the comment you replied to contained enough valid arguments.
- CyberDildonics 10y ago
  You didn't provide any argument for your statement. Singapore is also an extraordinarily expensive place to live, which doesn't seem like startup heaven to me.
  - philliphaydon 10y ago
    Rubbish. I spent 5 years living in Sydney, Australia, before moving to Singapore. Unless you want to live a high roller expat life-style in a condo and own a car, Singapore is NOT expensive. And please don't refer to that terrible study that puts Singapore as the most expensive place to live, it's designed for companies to create packages for people for recruitment. It includes things like owning a car (something that is definitely not needed in Singapore), the price of alcohol (not a requirement to live), and living in an expensive condo (HDB's are excluded from the study) Sydney on the other hand, costs more for an apartment in the city, public transport is more expensive, especially taxis, food and drink is more expensive (exception is Alcohol and Beef), utilities (power/gas/internet) is all more expensive. My last tax bill in Sydney was about 22k when I left. My first full year in Singapore was like ~3k, and the government gave $1000 back. And the best part about it is you see all your money going back into the country, rather than lining the pockets of individuals to pass the blame on the failing like they do in Australia/New Zealand.
    - CyberDildonics 10y ago
      HDBs are still expensive. 2k SG for a small 2 bedroom HDB and very expensive electricity are not a good mix and there are very few studio or 1 bedroom HDBs. In most non coastal cities in the US you can get a studio for $600 USD.
      - nickpsecurity 10y ago
        In U.S. South near big cities, you can easily get a whole house with 3 bedrooms, two bathrooms, living room, kitchen, back/front yard, electricity, and high-speed Internet all for about $1,300 a month. Cheaper if you are about 10 minutes out into rural areas. Either people make serious money in Singapore or their poor are pretty crunched in terms of living space. I don't have data to answer that.

nkoren 10y ago

Not a fan of authoritarian governments, but I have to say that from the perspective of a UK-based SaaS company trying to cope with VATMOSS, their reasons are more than a little compelling. Sometimes pragmatism really does need to win the day.

nickpsecurity 10y ago
They can open a Nevada or Delaware corporation in the U.S. that hires from the tech scene. They'll have speech/press freedom, almost no taxes, plenty IT people to draw on a low-wages, Stripe support, no VATMOSS, and easy business dealings with any country. Wonder why that wasn't on the list given we're the start-a-business-and-get-rich capital of the world.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

nickpsecurity 10y ago

Did you get the irony of a platform for personal expression and sometimes dissent moving into a country that suppresses dissent and narrows personal expression? Unreal. They've clearly bought into the propaganda with the list they posted. It's half right but counterexamples show transparency and corruption should be off it entirely with trust in politicians and education having qualifiers. It is a good place to do business with people capable of it, low risks, and so on. In general. Yet, I wouldn't bring in anything that's about personal expression or privacy. That's just incredibly stupid given long-term risks.