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Singapore is a controlled economy, and has a large workforce for Taxi Drivers and part-time drivers through Grab. I am not sure how the entrenchment of robotaxi

Singapore is a controlled economy, and has a large workforce for Taxi Drivers and part-time drivers through Grab. I am not sure how the entrenchment of robotaxis like Waymo (and future tesla) is going to play with the general population. My guess, they will co-exist as the government wont jeopardize the living of the taxi-driver-complaining uncles. Also, I notice a lot new SF based AI companies have started establishing their offices in Singapore too. Sierra, and Fireworks coming to my mind. As government plays a huge part in Singapore, I guess, government noticing these as necessary investments for the future of Singapore.

yellow_lead 15d ago
> Singapore is a controlled economy Singapore is a mixed economy [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Singapore https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Singapore
- eru 15d ago
  And a lot closer to the capitalist side than eg Germany or the US.
  - MiroslavPokorny 15d ago
    Singapore is also soon becoming a failed society. Millions of citizens cant afford to rent and travel by the thousands to nearby Malaysia to buy basic food essentials.
    - hdgvhicv 15d ago
      Is there a shortage of hdb housing, or is the price simply too high for 30% of the population?
    - eru 15d ago
      > Millions of citizens cant afford to rent You know that Singapore has one of the highest home ownership rates in the world? Most people don't rent, because their family owns the place. > and travel by the thousands to nearby Malaysia to buy basic food essentials. You say that like it's a bad thing? People traveling to Malaysia to buy stuff that's cheaper is perfectly compatible with Singaporeans being well-off. You'd need to bring some other evidence to argue that Singapore is a 'failed society'.
      - well_ackshually 15d ago
        A non self sufficient society, where anyone but the richest have to rely on another country for food is a failed society.
        eru 14d ago
        Approximately no city is self-sufficient in terms of food. Singapore is no exception. Does that mean all cities are failed societies? Or do you think national borders are special?
        MiroslavPokorny 14d ago
        I think many large cities, to keep this simple are failed because they dont serve the people but rather require the residents to be enslaved to keep it functioning. We all live significantly longer, but at the same time we all are forced to give our precious time to the city and its ills, with commuting and traffic a simple example. I hope I am fair in saying you probably consider Tokyo to be a success, and yet if you actually look how Tokyo residents live its actually a depressing place. Everybody rushes to school, work, unis and so on every day and come home tired. Rinse and repeat for the vast majority of days in a year. Thats sad, goto YT and watch a few vids of youtubers catching trains or riding a bike or even just plain walking. You will find videos filled with people rushing to their duties not out of choice but because the system forces them too. Very few scenes will have someone walking their dog, or riding a bike. I think its sad how few Japanese are able to have a day off, even the elderly work into their 80s and longer. Thats a failure, too few people able to have a day off, thousands crossing roads, catching trains but nobody actually enjoying their hard earned time.
        eru 14d ago
        > I think many large cities, to keep this simple are failed because they dont serve the people but rather require the residents to be enslaved to keep it functioning. People are usually not exactly forced at gunpoint to move to a big city. In fact, big cities usually get a lot of net-immigration. > Thats sad, goto YT and watch a few vids of youtubers catching trains or riding a bike or even just plain walking. I've been to Tokyo. It's ok. But then, I'm one of those weirdos who likes city living, and lived in London, Ankara, Sydney, Singapore etc. > [...] but nobody actually enjoying their hard earned time. How do you know that?
dyllon 15d ago
> My guess, they will co-exist as the government wont jeopardize the living of the taxi-driver-complaining uncles. It’s been mentioned: https://www.mot.gov.sg/news-resources/newsroom/-more-options-for-taxi-and-private-hire-car-drivers-as-singapore-prepares-for-the-future-of-mobility/ https://www.mot.gov.sg/news-resources/newsroom/-more-options...
zhivota 15d ago
Singapore will do what they always do, which is take a measured approach and control every aspect of the roll out. If they're allowing this, it's because they've already modeled a shortfall in taxi drivers in the future, and they'll keep the number of licenses for each type in balance to meet their goals.
- pydry 15d ago
  Judging by the depressing number of elderly selling tissues in food courts to get by I dont think the government ever really cared about eliminating service jobs. It's enough for them that those people have somewhere basic to live and basic medical care so their stats dont look too bad.
cdf 15d ago
Singapore wants to _look_ modern, and Waymos with the spinning lidars are such icons of futurism that Singapore cannot afford to lose out (as compared to Pony.ai's AV fleet, which is already deployed but not very eye catching). But the best part of that control is the free market is only free to the extent the government allows it. There is plenty of time for the taxi drivers to retire. In fact, I believe the average age of taxi drivers are close to 70, so this is forward looking to address an incoming cab driver shortage. Singapore really wants to look like Season 3 of Westworld. A shame the Marina Bay flying drone taxi service looks completely dead.
- ValentineC 15d ago
  > Singapore really wants to look like Season 3 of Westworld. Some scenes in Westworld season 3 were filmed in Singapore: https://www.timeout.com/singapore/film/11-places-in-singapore-featured-in-westworld-season-3 https://www.timeout.com/singapore/film/11-places-in-singapor...
ValentineC 15d ago
> Also, I notice a lot new SF based AI companies have started establishing their offices in Singapore too. Sierra, and Fireworks coming to my mind. As government plays a huge part in Singapore, I guess, government noticing these as necessary investments for the future of Singapore. Mostly sales offices (and of course, "forward deployed engineers"). We don't usually see exciting tech projects being assigned to Singapore teams, especially with our huge timezone difference with the Bay Area.
- orsenthil 15d ago
  > "forward deployed engineers" What is a forward deployed engineer? Isn't it engineering still? Genuine question.
  - nunez 15d ago
    When I was getting recruiter inbound for this role at Palantir >15 years ago (I think!), it was basically a implementation role where you're airdropped into somewhere secret squirrelly to write software that does secret squirrel things. Basically the same thing as what defense contractors or many consulting companies were already doing (this was basically my life at ThoughtWorks, but private sector) but with more tech-company marketing. Now that the term is back en-vogue, FDEs can either be this or a pre-sales solutions engineer who will also implement the thing with the customer before handing it off to professional services who will take it to production. AFAIK it's still very software engineering heavy.

yellow_lead 15d ago

> Singapore is a controlled economy Singapore is a mixed economy [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Singapore https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Singapore

eru 15d ago
And a lot closer to the capitalist side than eg Germany or the US.
- MiroslavPokorny 15d ago
  Singapore is also soon becoming a failed society. Millions of citizens cant afford to rent and travel by the thousands to nearby Malaysia to buy basic food essentials.
  - hdgvhicv 15d ago
    Is there a shortage of hdb housing, or is the price simply too high for 30% of the population?
  - eru 15d ago
    > Millions of citizens cant afford to rent You know that Singapore has one of the highest home ownership rates in the world? Most people don't rent, because their family owns the place. > and travel by the thousands to nearby Malaysia to buy basic food essentials. You say that like it's a bad thing? People traveling to Malaysia to buy stuff that's cheaper is perfectly compatible with Singaporeans being well-off. You'd need to bring some other evidence to argue that Singapore is a 'failed society'.
    - well_ackshually 15d ago
      A non self sufficient society, where anyone but the richest have to rely on another country for food is a failed society.
      - eru 14d ago
        Approximately no city is self-sufficient in terms of food. Singapore is no exception. Does that mean all cities are failed societies? Or do you think national borders are special?
        MiroslavPokorny 14d ago
        I think many large cities, to keep this simple are failed because they dont serve the people but rather require the residents to be enslaved to keep it functioning. We all live significantly longer, but at the same time we all are forced to give our precious time to the city and its ills, with commuting and traffic a simple example. I hope I am fair in saying you probably consider Tokyo to be a success, and yet if you actually look how Tokyo residents live its actually a depressing place. Everybody rushes to school, work, unis and so on every day and come home tired. Rinse and repeat for the vast majority of days in a year. Thats sad, goto YT and watch a few vids of youtubers catching trains or riding a bike or even just plain walking. You will find videos filled with people rushing to their duties not out of choice but because the system forces them too. Very few scenes will have someone walking their dog, or riding a bike. I think its sad how few Japanese are able to have a day off, even the elderly work into their 80s and longer. Thats a failure, too few people able to have a day off, thousands crossing roads, catching trains but nobody actually enjoying their hard earned time.
        eru 14d ago
        > I think many large cities, to keep this simple are failed because they dont serve the people but rather require the residents to be enslaved to keep it functioning. People are usually not exactly forced at gunpoint to move to a big city. In fact, big cities usually get a lot of net-immigration. > Thats sad, goto YT and watch a few vids of youtubers catching trains or riding a bike or even just plain walking. I've been to Tokyo. It's ok. But then, I'm one of those weirdos who likes city living, and lived in London, Ankara, Sydney, Singapore etc. > [...] but nobody actually enjoying their hard earned time. How do you know that?

dyllon 15d ago

> My guess, they will co-exist as the government wont jeopardize the living of the taxi-driver-complaining uncles. It’s been mentioned: https://www.mot.gov.sg/news-resources/newsroom/-more-options-for-taxi-and-private-hire-car-drivers-as-singapore-prepares-for-the-future-of-mobility/ https://www.mot.gov.sg/news-resources/newsroom/-more-options...

zhivota 15d ago

Singapore will do what they always do, which is take a measured approach and control every aspect of the roll out. If they're allowing this, it's because they've already modeled a shortfall in taxi drivers in the future, and they'll keep the number of licenses for each type in balance to meet their goals.

pydry 15d ago
Judging by the depressing number of elderly selling tissues in food courts to get by I dont think the government ever really cared about eliminating service jobs. It's enough for them that those people have somewhere basic to live and basic medical care so their stats dont look too bad.

cdf 15d ago

Singapore wants to _look_ modern, and Waymos with the spinning lidars are such icons of futurism that Singapore cannot afford to lose out (as compared to Pony.ai's AV fleet, which is already deployed but not very eye catching). But the best part of that control is the free market is only free to the extent the government allows it. There is plenty of time for the taxi drivers to retire. In fact, I believe the average age of taxi drivers are close to 70, so this is forward looking to address an incoming cab driver shortage. Singapore really wants to look like Season 3 of Westworld. A shame the Marina Bay flying drone taxi service looks completely dead.

ValentineC 15d ago
> Singapore really wants to look like Season 3 of Westworld. Some scenes in Westworld season 3 were filmed in Singapore: https://www.timeout.com/singapore/film/11-places-in-singapore-featured-in-westworld-season-3 https://www.timeout.com/singapore/film/11-places-in-singapor...

ValentineC 15d ago

> Also, I notice a lot new SF based AI companies have started establishing their offices in Singapore too. Sierra, and Fireworks coming to my mind. As government plays a huge part in Singapore, I guess, government noticing these as necessary investments for the future of Singapore. Mostly sales offices (and of course, "forward deployed engineers"). We don't usually see exciting tech projects being assigned to Singapore teams, especially with our huge timezone difference with the Bay Area.

orsenthil 15d ago
> "forward deployed engineers" What is a forward deployed engineer? Isn't it engineering still? Genuine question.
- nunez 15d ago
  When I was getting recruiter inbound for this role at Palantir >15 years ago (I think!), it was basically a implementation role where you're airdropped into somewhere secret squirrelly to write software that does secret squirrel things. Basically the same thing as what defense contractors or many consulting companies were already doing (this was basically my life at ThoughtWorks, but private sector) but with more tech-company marketing. Now that the term is back en-vogue, FDEs can either be this or a pre-sales solutions engineer who will also implement the thing with the customer before handing it off to professional services who will take it to production. AFAIK it's still very software engineering heavy.