TR EMERITUS

I refer to the Independent Singapore’s Featured News SG Economy, “Higher salaries lead Singapore to become top pick for Asian workers looking to move” (Feb 22). In this era of rapid technological advancement, all countries are faced with the dilemma of being hungry for talent. Therefore, top talents in respective spectrums become the cream of the crop, and are the targets of competition among large multinational conglomerates. Recently, there are stiff competition and demand for top talents in the Asia Pacific region which include Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia. In the IMD World Talent Ranking 2023 report (which was published at the Australian Financial Times), it shows Singapore is at the 8 position of the top 10 in global war for talent, and Hong Kong SAR only secures the 16 position. Hence, Singapore is the leader in the Asia Pacific region. However, regarding the stiff competitions of the talent hunting, there are across strategic similarities between the Hong Kong and Singapore. And, their economic success are seamlessly linked with the aids of top foreign talents, and also closely depending upon the following vital factors. A. The respective government’s active involvement, advocacy and policy supports. In January 2023, Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM), in cooperation with the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Communications and Information, announced four enhancement schemes to the country’s work pass framework to strengthen its appeal as a global hub for foreign talent. One of the major enhancements is the introduction of the Overseas Network & Expertise Pass, which allows high-earners and achievers to live in Singapore without the need to secure employment first. Other enhancements include providing a five-year Employment Pass (EP) for experienced professionals filling specific high tech occupations. At the end of December 2022, The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HK SAR) has robustly launched a series of talent-grabbing measures to attract foreign talent, including the Hong Kong's Top Talent Pass Scheme (TTPS). This initiative is aimed to remedy the past three years’ political and social upheavals which had caused its sizeable manpower drain. On 7 January 2024, Chris Sun, the Hong Kong secretary for labour and welfare, who disclosed that the TTPS received applications in excess of 50,000 as of end November 2023. Sun concluded that the scheme has been rather successful B. A country’s superiority in terms of geographical location and economic strategy - One of the key reasons that Singapore has been able to attract and retain top talent is its strong economic fundamentals. The country has a highly developed and diversified economy with a strong focus on innovation and technology. Another reason is Singapore’s strategic geopolitical location which intersects the developed eastern and western countries. The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region strongly emphasises that as a global city, it provides everyone a chance to explore opportunities in this buzzing metropolis, with its vibrant cosmopolitan lifestyle, diverse expat community, world-class infrastructure, healthcare and education, and economic potentials. C. The government’s preferential tax policies - In 2023, Singapore’s Corporate Income Tax rate is 17%, and the Corporate Income Tax is assessed on a preceding year basis in Singapore. In 2023, the normal profits tax rate in Hong Kong is 16.5% for corporate income tax. Incorporated companies pay 8.25% tax on the first $2 million of profits and 16.5% on the remainder, while unincorporated businesses pay 7.5% on the first $2 million and 15% on the rest. Thus, these two countries have the competitive and relatively comparable corporate tax rates. D. The competitiveness in the office space rental of Singapore and Hong Kong - The reasonable and competitive office and industrial space rental will be able to reduce the operational expenditure of all the business enterprises, keeping the business enterprises viable and competitive. It will help the countries like Singapore and Hong Kong to retain those multinational companies so that to progress their economies. For examples, the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) office rental index for Singapore’s central region rose 0.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2023 over the preceding quarter. This was a slower increase than the 4.9 per cent gain in Q3 2023. For the whole of 2023, the office rental index slightly climbed 13.1 per cent after expanding 11.7 per cent in 2022. In Hong Kong, in the second quarter of 2023, the average monthly rent for grade A office space in HK's Central district amounted to 1,003 Hong Kong dollars per square meter as a global cosmopolitan city.   Teo Kueh Liang (Mr)    Read More →

One of the things that I remember most about starting out was being asked if I was interested in trying to write for the Today Newspaper. The person who asked me, was a senior writer in the Straits Times and she made the suggestion when I went to visit her in her office. She had to make this offer in hushed tones. There was a reason for this. Back in the days when there was “media competition,” the top management of both media houses (SPH and MediaCorp) took the competition personally. The team that went to the Today Newspaper were from The New Paper and considered “traitors” to the management of SPH. The same was true for those who went from MediaCorp TV to help set up SPH MediaWorks. I found this attitude strange. I had grown up in the UK where business and political competition were a fact of life. Sure, companies would “compete” and try and come up with things to win consumers over and to keep good staff. However, I never heard the phrase “too small for competition” until I moved back to Singapore nor had I heard of top management taking it personally when staff left to join a competitor. However, as life required me to come up against the political system more frequently, it became clear where this attitude amongst out top business people came from. In the 2006 election, we got the hear the argument that Singapore was too small to support a two-party system. To anyone outside Singapore, this is a strange idea to put forth, especially when it seems like the governing party in question has done a decent enough job. Why would an institution in a position of strength be so keen to try to convince people that natural laws did not apply to it. In fairness, this isn’t something that is particularly unique to the PAP or Singapore. If you listen to American politicians talk about China, you’ll notice that the superpower has developed something of a weird fascination with the aspiring one. Take the following from two diplomats: Sure, the People’s Republic of China does not have a good record of accepting competition to its power. The Chinese Communist Party, particularly under Xi Jinping has become even more monopolistic in its attitude to power. However, in this case, the Chinese have a point. The world is large enough for America and China and while China’s economic rise has been impressive, the fact remains, the average American remains richer than the average Chinese and whilst China’s military has been “modernizing,” it’s been modernizing from the 1950s whilst the American military is preparing for the space age. So, here’s the reality of life – no one is above the laws of competition. If you study nature, you’ll notice that animal and plant species are designed to compete and everyone in the eco-system has a purpose. The same is true for business and politics. The dominant species only remains dominant as long as it remains strong and has enough food. In the case business and political economic systems, its clear that the dominant beast are dominant as long as they give the market what it wants or they create markets for their products and services. The problem only steps in when the dominant beast starts to believe that its position of dominance is “God-given.” Again, the story of Singapore’s media giants is instructive. SPH and MediaCorp went to the government and got the government to restore their monopolies. Everyone seemed happy and secure and the top management spent their time gripping on each other’s platforms about whether readership or viewership was better. What nobody noticed was the fact that the general public got bored with both of them and turned to the internet and a host of “alternative” sites run by people who were motivated by things other than money. The advertisers who were paying the media monopolies noticed it to and moved their money accordingly. Revenue figures dropped and eventually, SPH, a company that that effectively had a license to print money ended up becoming a “non-profit” dependent on government handouts. Competition exists to keep everyone on their toes. If you look at nature, you’ll notice that even the biggest animals have to stay on their toes or they become a meal for predators. No animal gets the idea that its survival, particularly at the top is a given. So, human institutions need to understand the same is true for them. A dominant player is there because it serves the market rather than being served by the market. Top nations, top companies, top political parties and so on need to remember that they are servants to ordinary folk rather than the other way round.   Tang Li *Although I’ve been based mainly in Singapore for nearly two decades, I’ve had the privilege of being able meet people who have crossed borders and cultures. I’ve befriended ministers and ambassadors and worked on projects involving a former head of state. Yet, at the same time, I’ve had the privilege of befriending migrant labourers and former convicts. All of them have a story to tell. All of them add to the fabric of life. I hope to express the stories that inspire us to create life as it should be.    Read More →

The Democrats have reportedly gone on record indicating that Joe Biden will not be the presidential nominee for America's Presidential Election in November. Support for Biden has dropped tremendously since the Biden administration aided and abetted the genocide that Israel is committing in Gaza. ;nbsp;  Read More →