5 ms·

I had the privilege of getting a working gig in Singapore for a small AI startup: such a well run country! There is a sense of community for helping by employin

I had the privilege of getting a working gig in Singapore for a small AI startup: such a well run country! There is a sense of community for helping by employing people who need jobs, the police were friendly and I felt very safe there (I like to take long walks either early in the morning or late at night and I felt very secure.) Amazing what the people and government have achieved since the end of WW2. 100% respect for them. A side comment: I enjoy listening to English language news from many countries around the world to get different viewpoints. News media from Singapore is very interesting, indeed!

malshe 8mo ago
I spent years in Singapore and loved it there. Never had to face road rage (which so many of us experience daily several times driving in Texas! NextDoor is full of these stories) or aggressive behavior by anyone in authority including police and immigration officers. I know many people find Singapore boring after a while but it didn't bother me much. On the flip side, the cost of living is high as a foreigner and traveling to the US is very tiring due to the long distance.
- eru 8mo ago
  Boring is good for business.
  - malshe 8mo ago
    I agree. Predictability is underrated.
    - eru 8mo ago
      It's underrated in popular discourse. Businesses are extremely aware of it. Hence their love for Switzerland, Singapore, the Netherlands, or even the US which despite political drama has a fairly predictable business environment (especially in regards to lots of precedents for legal cases).
- rootusrootus 8mo ago
  Some of that can be solved without leaving the US. Texas is very different from, say, the PNW. Road rage and aggressive police are not in any way a regular occurrence up here.
  - malshe 8mo ago
    Yes, indeed. My family is seriously considering moving out of TX soon.
SV_BubbleTime 8mo ago
I worked with a guy from sg. He gave me tips for when I went to visit. He hooked me up with a family member that showed me the backend a bit. The country effectively runs on a slave class. You must drive a new vehicle under 5 years old, and the license just to buy a car was $90,000 or so. This means an entire class of people that will be taking the bus to do your laundry and clean your house for the rest of their lives and likely their kids lives. The guy took me around to construction sites. The Indonesian and Malaysian workers were some of the most brave or stupid workers I’ve ever seen. I saw a guy install a window in a three story building by effectively free climbing from the outside half a flight up starting on the third floor, from the outside of the building. No harness, no ropes, just him out there hanging and pushing against a nook with his work boots. The SG contractor had helmet, hi-vis, steel toed, carhart, radio, clipboards etc. Singapore is an amazing place. It’s like, a rorschach test kind of. Like everyone sees something different there. I noticed things that trip. However… I was able to enjoy the botanical gardens and Marina Bay Sands rooftop like the other tourists… fond memories, but they have a backdrop that reality is only thinly hidden there.
- supertrope 8mo ago
  With the MRT not having a car is not bad. Paying 100K SGD for a Certificate of Entitlement (10 year car registration) is definitely a rich person move. Good point on the underclass and labor conditions.
  - eru 8mo ago
    Btw, that price for the Certificate of Entitlement is set by auction. The government only sets the total volume of CoE.
- FredFS456 8mo ago
  I agree with you that the migrant workers are effectively a serf class. However, I think it's fine that the SG government severely discourages owning a car. It's a small island with lots of people, there would be gridlock if everyone wanted their own car. The public transportation system is amazing and works well.
peruvian 8mo ago
Singapore is an effective slave/permanent underclass state with few personal freedoms that is ethnically and culturally homogeneous (in each class). Not trying to do a "who's the bad/good country" but nothing about it really applies to the US or should.
- eru 8mo ago
  Ethnically homogeneous? Do you know anything about Singapore?
  - deleted 8mo ago
    [deleted]
- manwds 8mo ago
  It appears you've never visited Singapore let alone lived there. While you cannot protest or call the government a bad name, you're free to live your life, people in Singapore do not feel caged in anyway, or underclassed, nor do they feel like they lack any personal freedoms. Cheap to travel around most of Asia. Food and cost of living is cheap. Super safe.
- oblio 8mo ago
  > Singapore is an effective slave/permanent underclass state with few personal freedoms that is ethnically and culturally homogeneous (in each class). Can you expand on this? Which ethnicity/culture is in which class?
michaelteter 8mo ago
Listening to political speeches from Singapore are so refreshing compared to the juvenile garbage that we have to endure in the US from US politicians.
- api 8mo ago
  That’s true across much of the world. It’s also true past vs present. Listen to US politicians even as recently as the 1980s vs now. Our political class today is justifiably a pathetic laughing stock.
  - michaelteter 8mo ago
    I saw an interview with Trump in the 80s. He was remarkably clear and articulate. He stayed on topic, he used multi-syllable words, and he generally sounded like someone worth listening to. The comparison of today vs then is frankly shocking.
    - ap99 8mo ago
      Simpler, but more powerful words. I think the "nerd" stereotypes that HN is full of could learn from him in that respect.
      - michaelteter 8mo ago
        Learn from him in what way? He communicated articulately in grammatically correct, full sentences in the past. Now he rambles nearly incoherently. What are we to learn from this? That his mental state has deteriorated? That much is obvious. Even ignoring all other evidence, it is utterly clear that he is a fraction of the communicator that he once was.
      - deleted 8mo ago
        [deleted]
      - api 8mo ago
        Listen to Eisenhower, JFK, even Reagan. Are we children? Obama seems like this great orator because he was just… okay. Like he could speak and sound like a coherent adult. That should be the bar. What are we doing?

malshe 8mo ago

I spent years in Singapore and loved it there. Never had to face road rage (which so many of us experience daily several times driving in Texas! NextDoor is full of these stories) or aggressive behavior by anyone in authority including police and immigration officers. I know many people find Singapore boring after a while but it didn't bother me much. On the flip side, the cost of living is high as a foreigner and traveling to the US is very tiring due to the long distance.

eru 8mo ago
Boring is good for business.
- malshe 8mo ago
  I agree. Predictability is underrated.
  - eru 8mo ago
    It's underrated in popular discourse. Businesses are extremely aware of it. Hence their love for Switzerland, Singapore, the Netherlands, or even the US which despite political drama has a fairly predictable business environment (especially in regards to lots of precedents for legal cases).
rootusrootus 8mo ago
Some of that can be solved without leaving the US. Texas is very different from, say, the PNW. Road rage and aggressive police are not in any way a regular occurrence up here.
- malshe 8mo ago
  Yes, indeed. My family is seriously considering moving out of TX soon.

SV_BubbleTime 8mo ago

I worked with a guy from sg. He gave me tips for when I went to visit. He hooked me up with a family member that showed me the backend a bit. The country effectively runs on a slave class. You must drive a new vehicle under 5 years old, and the license just to buy a car was $90,000 or so. This means an entire class of people that will be taking the bus to do your laundry and clean your house for the rest of their lives and likely their kids lives. The guy took me around to construction sites. The Indonesian and Malaysian workers were some of the most brave or stupid workers I’ve ever seen. I saw a guy install a window in a three story building by effectively free climbing from the outside half a flight up starting on the third floor, from the outside of the building. No harness, no ropes, just him out there hanging and pushing against a nook with his work boots. The SG contractor had helmet, hi-vis, steel toed, carhart, radio, clipboards etc. Singapore is an amazing place. It’s like, a rorschach test kind of. Like everyone sees something different there. I noticed things that trip. However… I was able to enjoy the botanical gardens and Marina Bay Sands rooftop like the other tourists… fond memories, but they have a backdrop that reality is only thinly hidden there.

supertrope 8mo ago
With the MRT not having a car is not bad. Paying 100K SGD for a Certificate of Entitlement (10 year car registration) is definitely a rich person move. Good point on the underclass and labor conditions.
- eru 8mo ago
  Btw, that price for the Certificate of Entitlement is set by auction. The government only sets the total volume of CoE.
FredFS456 8mo ago
I agree with you that the migrant workers are effectively a serf class. However, I think it's fine that the SG government severely discourages owning a car. It's a small island with lots of people, there would be gridlock if everyone wanted their own car. The public transportation system is amazing and works well.

peruvian 8mo ago

Singapore is an effective slave/permanent underclass state with few personal freedoms that is ethnically and culturally homogeneous (in each class). Not trying to do a "who's the bad/good country" but nothing about it really applies to the US or should.

eru 8mo ago
Ethnically homogeneous? Do you know anything about Singapore?
- deleted 8mo ago
  [deleted]
manwds 8mo ago
It appears you've never visited Singapore let alone lived there. While you cannot protest or call the government a bad name, you're free to live your life, people in Singapore do not feel caged in anyway, or underclassed, nor do they feel like they lack any personal freedoms. Cheap to travel around most of Asia. Food and cost of living is cheap. Super safe.
oblio 8mo ago
> Singapore is an effective slave/permanent underclass state with few personal freedoms that is ethnically and culturally homogeneous (in each class). Can you expand on this? Which ethnicity/culture is in which class?

michaelteter 8mo ago

Listening to political speeches from Singapore are so refreshing compared to the juvenile garbage that we have to endure in the US from US politicians.

api 8mo ago
That’s true across much of the world. It’s also true past vs present. Listen to US politicians even as recently as the 1980s vs now. Our political class today is justifiably a pathetic laughing stock.
- michaelteter 8mo ago
  I saw an interview with Trump in the 80s. He was remarkably clear and articulate. He stayed on topic, he used multi-syllable words, and he generally sounded like someone worth listening to. The comparison of today vs then is frankly shocking.
  - ap99 8mo ago
    Simpler, but more powerful words. I think the "nerd" stereotypes that HN is full of could learn from him in that respect.
    - michaelteter 8mo ago
      Learn from him in what way? He communicated articulately in grammatically correct, full sentences in the past. Now he rambles nearly incoherently. What are we to learn from this? That his mental state has deteriorated? That much is obvious. Even ignoring all other evidence, it is utterly clear that he is a fraction of the communicator that he once was.
    - deleted 8mo ago
      [deleted]
    - api 8mo ago
      Listen to Eisenhower, JFK, even Reagan. Are we children? Obama seems like this great orator because he was just… okay. Like he could speak and sound like a coherent adult. That should be the bar. What are we doing?