The Future of Singapore || Peter Zeihan

From humble beginnings to a global trading hub, Singapore has solidified itself as a key player in the region and beyond.

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#singapore #asia #geopolitics

[Grant-ul]

One thing to remember is Singapore owns a lot of foreign assets. Every time the world goes into recession, they get in and pick up assets at low cost, then generate foreign income from those assets. It's a very long term view.

[myloveisreal]

Thanks for a year of great vids Peter.

[aloysiusteng]

Singapore invited the American carriers to dock in Singapore, not because it’s afraid of an invasion from Malaysia but it wants to keep the US present in the region act as a balancing force to a rising China. Singapore has been pretty confident in its ability to defend against a possible invasion from Malaysia for a long time now, maybe even since the late 60s

[wangelite]

As a singaporean, this is a mechanistic and clinical culture. As a cog in the global machine, good, but as strong foundation for thoughts and ideas and humanity, no.

[MaestroDraven]

My wife and I moved to Singapore in October of 2022, and we haven't regretted it. The wages are very high, the tax rates are absurdly low, the only crime you're likely to see is occasional white collar fraud. There's a sense of both discipline and neighborliness here that is hard to put into words. People behave themselves, they're considerate. Some keep to themselves if they aren't big on talking, which is Okay. On the downsides, the weather is sweltering hot all year round, real estate costs are extremely high, and owning a car is a luxury. However, it's offset by an amazing MRT system. Think of Singapore as the perfect mixture between Westernization and traditional Confucianism. The future is extremely bright here, particularly in green technology (which Singapore embraces realistically, not ideologically), and AI. I can't imagine living anywhere else right now. We feel safe and relaxed at all times.

[ipetts]

A very important part of the Singapore success story is Anglo Saxon Common law system rather than a Civil law system. So Singapore has benefited of moving wealth and Trusts from Hong Kong to Singapore, as people worry about the Chinese influence in Hong Kong and singapore banks and legal system is very supportive of trusts. Plus its just a super clean place to live with yacht clubs, marinas and a skilled labour force. Look at the education ratings from the OCED - Singapore is consistently in the top for Maths, Reading, science and education levels.

[angeluscorpius]

1:07 "Singapore couldn't resist a land invasion from Malaysia which kinda wanted to conquer them..." I feel the need to elaborate on this. First some (deep dive) history. In the early 1960s Singapore was still a colony of Britain, but Britain was exhausted and depleted after WWII and had proven itself unable to protect Singapore and its other settlements/colonies, and so in the 1950s, Britain had started to grant independence to its colonies. Singapore was a dilemma. It was too small to survive on its own, and if granted independence, it would be vulnerable to being taken over by communist forces (China). So Britain was hesitant to grant Singapore full independence. However, Lee Kuan Yew (Singapore's first PM) was determined/desperate for Singapore to be independent, and proposed that Singapore would join the Federation of Malaya, consisting of the 9 Malayan states in the peninsula north of Singapore. One problem: Singapore was predominantly Chinese, and joining the Federation, would dilute or even reduce the proportion of Malays in the overall population of the Federation. Lee proposed a solution - include Sabah, Sarawak, and Brunei in the new Federation, and the Chinese would be a minority again. Brunei would pass on the offer but in Sept 1963, the Federation of Malaysia was formed with Peninsula Malaysia (a.k.a. West Malaysia), Sabah and Sarawak (a.k.a. East Malaysia), and Singapore.
However, we did not live happily ever after.
Politically, Singapore's philosophy (or leaders) were not compatible with Kuala Lumpur's (Malaysian Capital) leaders and philosophy. KL wanted a policy of a "Malay Malaysia", which was understandable because during the British colonial period, the Malays were sidelined and outright discriminated against. So a Malay Malaysia policy would be "affirmative Action" to correct years of discrimination. And the Malays, as now masters of their destiny, will be able to help the Malays rise up economically.
Singapore as a predominantly Chinese population counter proposed a policy of "Malaysian Malaysia". Where it does not matter your ethnicity, as long as you are a citizen. This and other issues - including taxing Singapore exhorbitantly and other policy issues, and racial clashes between the Malays and the Chinese vexed the Federation and Tunku Abdul Rahman (TAR) the then-PM of Malaysia.
By early 1965, TAR was of the opinion that Singapore should be "hived off". This was a moderate proposal, not the ejection of Singapore. His proposal was a considered one - to reduced Singapore to a "confederated State" rather than a federated state which it was then. Confederation would give Singapore more autonomy to make policies on education, housing, healthcare, etc. Only Defence and Foreign/ international relations would be the responsibility of the Federal Govt. Lee Kuan Yew, was intrigued by this proposal and authorised Dr Goh Keng Swee, his deputy, to negotiate and work out how Singapore would be "Hived off" from the Federation.
Goh met with the DPM of Malaysia to work out the details. He opened with "the only way this would work would be a clean separation of Singapore from the Federation." Surprisingly (or not) Malaysian leaders agreed. So they worked out the secession of Singapore from Malaysia, with the concurrence of the Malaysian leaders. This was later described as "a bloodless coup".
For Goh and other Singapore leaders, Singapore (they believed) was better off alone. For the Malaysian, it is quite incredible that they would willingly allow a part of their territory to secede. Without protest. In fact with their "blessings".
Perhaps they considered that the conventional wisdom is that Singapore was too small to be viable or to survive. So casting Singapore adrift was basically a practical lesson. It would only be a matter of time before Singapore realised that it could not survive, let alone thrive, and its only hope was to reapply for readmission into the Federation. On Malaysian's terms.
So for a few years after Singapore's "independence", Malaysia had their troops stationed in Singapore, as a "neighbourly" gesture to protect Singapore while it still was basically defenceless.
So, my long-winded comment on Zeihan's narration in 1:07 is that yes, there were some concerns or fears that Malaysia might have had some revanchist inclinations, but Singapore was well on her way to being able to defend herself.
Singapore's cooperation with the US is part of a larger picture, larger strategy. If Singapore really needed the US to help in our defence, we would have pushed for a military alliance. Singapore does not have military alliances with the US, or China.

[DonYang]

Singapore is great for foreigners. Most locals simply just get by.

[beautanner]

You forgot to mention what is essentially an indentured-servant class of offshore workers that keep the whole place running.

[FoodieWarrior]

Singaporean here. One big challenge is the collapsing birth rate. The government has tried numerous pro-children methods over the years, but nothing seems to work. We are using immigration as a stop-gap measure.

[TrendyStone]

Singapore seems to be replacing HK as the financial gateway city in Asia. HK is being destroyed by you-know-who and the big banks all seem to be leaving. My daughter works for Goldman Sachs and tells me Singapore is now the place to be in finance.

[johnmills]

How does the Youtube algo know I am going to Singapore for the first time in Feb '25 ? I cant wait !

[zukeboyyeet]

the way the fog cleared was so majestic

[iAxianguy]

The future of Singapore over the next 50 years will likely be shaped by its ability to adapt to global trends, technological advancements, societal changes, and environmental challenges, outlook is bright, provided it continues to innovate, invest in its people, and lead in sustainability and diplomacy. It is well-poised to remain a global model for economic development and urban resilience.

[TheEvenBiggerPicture]

Singapore is like a space station on Earth.

[genexv]

3:34 “Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far”… The very etos that guides and ensures Singapore’s survivability..

The threats from around us predates centuries and we all know too well from history when we have been shoved around by powers around before our independence.

Upon independence, we says no more to such shoving and steadily builds our defence capabilities and now we spends the highest amount of GDP on defence than all our neighbours combined..

We always have to keep vigilant and do not take our prosperity and safety as a given. 🙏

[yct]

The founding father of the Republic of Singapore, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, had the foresight and laid down the foundation of building the progressive Singapore of today.

[isaacjohnson]

Indonesia and Malaysia were at war in the 60's and it resulted in bombs being set off in Singapore, there was also the break away East Timor and Vietnam's intervention in Cambodia. Singapore's biggest issues will be water, as it needs to import from JB, food imports, widening wealth gaps, and very low fertility rates.

[Chimp_No_]

Great analysis ! Thank you for sharing !

[pragathikumar]

Singapore has good relations with China, India, Japan. US and Australia besides the ASEAN. They know how to stay out of trouble and trade with all comers. It is a multi ethnic society of Chinese, Malaysians, Indians and assorted Caucasians with a strong rule of law, great institutions and productive people. Besides, if the Singapreans were given the choice to park their country anywhere on the globe, they couldn't have chosen a better spot.

So Singapore will fare better than most countries, for a very long time. Their problem if at all will be demographics and they can always make up necessary numbers through selective immigration to attract top talent from all over Asia.