How did Singapore(a tiny country with no natural resource) become so rich with foreign reserves?

Question

1. Pure hardwork of the people and ingenuity of the Govenment.

2. Singapore is/was a money-laundering place for crime syndicates.

3. Unethical Govenment Investment Companies that keep buying into companies that "make money".

4. Labour Exploitation of third world immigrants in the region and National Servicemen ( paying them peanuts for their work).

5. Most big companies in the state are owned by the Government.

6. Neverending taxes on the citizens.

7. Others?

Answer 1

I have no guts to type anything bad about our Government. Maybe I can list down a few things that $ goes in fast, Which everyone is can see.

1. Compare the amount you buy a 4 room flat and the cost to build it.

2. ERP, count how many vehicle passes through per hour.
Example: CTE. It cost me about $3.75 on bike from AMK to town, but still jammed.
The biggest joke is my bread first is only about $2 only($0.80 coffee + $1.00 for 2 char siew pao).

3. Go TP at Ubi. sit there for 30min.
Count the ppl paying fine, assume $30 each. Jaw dropped?

4. GST. put 7% aside. Take 5%.
Assume everyone here earn $1000 per month. Saving $500 in bank. Balance $500 for spending and all bills. 5% of $500 per head, that's $25.
Multiply with half of our population. Cool, right.

That is just my assumption, change the income if you think is too low.

Above are fully my own view, and does not represent anyone else.

Also, may not be accurate and may not be the fact.

Once again, I have no intention to stir up any trouble or emotional reaction. Just read and forget. After all, I am just answering to above question.

Answer 2

Singapore is a rich nation with poor citizen. The Government is one of the highest paid Government in the world, yet Singapore is one of the lower population in the world. How they become rich? I do the calculation:

1. COE, ARF & duty on Motor Car. There are about 5000 new car registered every month. COE cost about S$10,000, ARF & duty is 130% on vehicle OMV (Open Market Value). Which meant a normal 1.8 l car with OMV of S20,000, ARF is S$26,000. So, total revenue the Governement can earn on that alone per month is about S36,000 * 5000 = S$180,000,000! What about a year????

2. Tobacco. One packet of toabcco cost about S$11, out of it, about S$8 is duty paid to the Government. Assume 1 day 200,000 packets sold, Duty is S$1,600,000, one month is S$49,600,000!! What about a year???

I just have to list out these two, you can see how much revenue can be generated from the citizen per year?

It's 180,000,000 * 12 + 49,600,000 * 12
= 2,160,000,000 + 595,200,000
= S$2,755,200,000 (about S$2.75 billion)

These exclude income tax, GST, fine, ERP, Duty on other goods, and many............

Answer 3

it has to do with economic policy, which is inextricably linked with social/political policy. first you have to understand the nature of our government, it's officially a democracy but operates more like a 'benevolent dictatorship'. you're right in saying that many big companies in the state are linked to (not directly owned by) the government, and that there is a rich elite owning much of the country's wealth. but taxes are low, and i can't agree with you about the crime syndicates and unethical GICs.

i would say the main reasons are: opening up to foreign investment, corporate governance, and the principle of self-reliance when it comes to state budgeting. investment in education and thus producing an intelligent workforce is also important to the country's economic development.

it would seem that Singapore is an economic miracle, but alot of it has to do with governance and history. if you really want to find out more, you gotta hit the library.

Answer 4

If you would to notice, CPF was set up during 1955 and the government was able to use the money collected to invest in profitable causes without the high interests rates of banks or such.
This is just my assumption.