Singapore…Covid… another A for effort

Having lived in Singapore for 9 years I sometimes must admire the government’s decisions and efforts.

** When Malaysia threatened to turn off the water (Singapore previously relied solely on fresh water from Malaysia) the government jumped into action to develop NEWater which is now used for 40% of Singapore requirements. NEWater is recycled waste water from households. Singapore also has 4 desalination plants for seawater.

** When tourism levels started to drop and feedback was that one time to Singapore was enough…the government jumped into action with a long term plan which included gambling. Now they have a variety of world class attractions like Gardens by the Bay, Marina Bay Sands, Night Safari. Of course, this includes the number one rated airport.

** When investments in Singapore started to dip the government developed very long term investment attraction plans. One plan was to reach world class levels for biomedical technology research. Just like the gambling idea many local Singaporeans laughed at the plan as impossible. What would a small country like Singapore do to compete in this area?

** When Covid started spreading the Singapore government invested in the vaccine maker Arcturus in February 2020. They have also attracted vaccine makers to set up plants in Singapore

[Singapore-Arcturus coronavirus vaccine candidate on track for 2021 delivery (cnbc.com)]
(https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/27/singapore-arcturus-coronavirus-vaccine-candidate-on-track-for-2021-delivery.html)

Sanofi to invest S$638 million in new vaccine production site in Singapore - CNA (channelnewsasia.com)

[BioNTech to invest ‘hundreds of millions’ to set up HQ, make vaccines in Singapore, Government & Economy - THE BUSINESS TIMES]

(https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/biontech-to-invest-hundreds-of-millions-to-set-up-hq-make-vaccines-in-singapore)

I just have to give them an A for effort in many areas they decide to tackle.

5 Likes

Not bad attractions but they would never make me revisit and I’m sceptical about how many other tourists would go back to see them more than once?

Anyway I like Singapore and can give them a B+😊

Its like a China that already got and of all its free speach and poverty.

I like their ability to engineer some cool new stuff. But socially an politically i avoid them like the plague.

They are a good example of how to get rich off corporate shenanigans and spend their money developing the shit out of something once it falls to peices. We need places like that, glad they are small :slight_smile: