- 2018-10-17
Is Singapore's economy so bad?
A friend living in Canada recently came back for vacation and asked me worriedly at the party: I heard that Singapore’s economy is terrible and there has been a cliff collapse. What is the situation?
Although this friend has not been in Singapore for a long time, he still pays great attention to Singapore's economy. Moments of friends circulated to him several articles on Singapore’s economic collapse on Chinese social media, which made him feel confused about what “the economy has experienced a cliff-like collapse”, “the great economic collapse”, and “the economic downturn shocked the world”. Although he knew a little about various adjectives that were extremely pessimistic and exaggerated about Singapore’s economy, such as “cliff recession”, “economic life hanging by a thread,” he probably guessed that this was not a good thing.
The worry on his face is as if Singapore's economy is truly "failed by a thread." What makes him even more worried is that he also heard that Singapore's world-class port status will be replaced by the Malacca Royal Port, which was laid the foundation last month. Once this port is completed, Singapore's economic lifeline will be cut off.
The articles on social media are true or false, even if you have read them, you don’t need to take them seriously. However, regardless of whether it is a Singaporean living in China or a Singaporean who has lived abroad for many years, despite doubts about the authenticity of the article, they are still concerned about Singapore's economic prospects and worry that Singapore's economic lifeline will be cut off.
The elders have taught us from a young age: when others say that we are first, we are truly number one. The Huangjing Port project has just held its groundbreaking ceremony, boasting that it will replace Singapore as the largest port in the region. At first it was just a comprehensive real estate project. Even the port was number one before it took shape. Could it be that building a port in a neighboring country can easily replace Singapore as the first port, and even cut off Singapore’s economic lifeline?
Seaport business is a combination of multiple maritime center functions
Seaport business is undoubtedly part of Singapore's economy. Although it is a superficial port economy, it contains not only ports, but also a combination of multiple maritime center functions. Can these functions and achievements be copied by other ports overnight?
First, the container terminal, Singapore is the world's largest transit port by throughput; Second, the ship fuel supply port, Singapore provided 45 million tons of fuel for docked ships in 2015, ranking first in the world; Third, the ship registration country, Singapore focuses on high-quality ships. A total of 4,500 ships of various types are registered in China, flying the Singapore flag, ranking fifth in the world in terms of number; 4. Offshore and marine engineering, China's Sembcorp Industries and Keppel Corporation subsidiaries The drilling rig technology is among the best in the world; 5. Maritime forums and convention centers, such as the Singapore Maritime Week held in April each year, attract hundreds of well-known maritime professionals from around the world. One of the events is to invite world-renowned industry leaders to give speeches. ；
6. Maritime Science and Technology Research Center; 7. Maritime Legal Arbitration; 8. Maritime Finance; 9. Ship Leasing and Trading; 10. Ship Repair Industry. Singapore is recognized as a high-quality ship repair center in the industry; 11. Ship Material Supply Center, 10% of ships calling at Singapore do not come to load cargo, but to fetch water, fuel and replenish food on board; 12. The world's major classification societies have established representative offices locally.
These maritime functions, advantages and achievements have been accumulated through a long period of hard work. Of course, there are other visible or invisible advantages that have combined to create Singapore's status as an international maritime center today, not overnight.
Friends in the industry once said: Building a world-class maritime center is like cooking Tom Yam soup. The ingredients of the soup are not a secret. The secret lies in how to use different ingredients and different heat conditions during the cooking process. Only top chefs can be accurate. It is not possible for ordinary chefs to cook first-class Tom Yam soup.
It’s okay to cook Tom Yam soup according to the recipe without a top chef, but the taste is definitely different. The terminal facilities can be copied, but the port software can't. The favorable geographical location is even more demanding.
Singapore's success depends not only on its favorable location
As early as 15 years ago, neighboring countries "replicated" the port of Tanjung Pelepas in Johor, which is closest to Singapore. At that time, it also said that it would replace Singapore as the largest port in the region. However, this great ideal has not yet been realized today.
Some experts also admit that while Singapore is a country prospered by Hong Kong, it does not enjoy its advantageous geographical location. Singapore’s success depends not only on its excellent geographical location, but also on its creation of an international financial center, logistics center, bond center, securities and derivatives trading center, foreign exchange trading center, and insurance industry center, all of which contribute to the economy.
How can the economy that Singaporeans have worked hard for half a century to be easily defeated by other ports? What's more, if new ports in neighboring countries have not yet been built, how can social media "foretell" Singapore's economic collapse?
Is Singapore's economy really that bad?
Singapore has been affected by the global economic weakness in recent years, and it is inevitable that its economic growth will slow down. If Singapore’s economy is deemed to have collapsed because of several reductions in economic growth data this year, then Singapore would have collapsed as early as the financial turmoil.
In 2009, the government further lowered its annual economic growth forecast to -6% to -9%, which was the worst negative growth in my country's history. At that time, no one thought that my country's economy was "collapsed." Economists predict that this year's economic growth will range from 1% to 1.9%.
Compared with countries in the region, Singapore's economic data is relatively weak, but such data is not bad enough to say that it collapsed. If you read the pessimistic comments on Singapore’s economy on Chinese social media, you will be surprised by the crowds of people in VivoCity on weekends.