"That's it. I'm moving to Singapore"
I've heard it from Australian founders staring down a future CGT bill. From US entrepreneurs exhausted by political noise. From UK and European executives done with being taxed, regulated and lectured at by politicians.
Different countries. Different triggers. Same destination.
And I understand it. Singapore is genuinely world class. The infrastructure works, the food is wonderful, tax is low, the weather beats London in February. Nobody moves to Singapore and regrets leaving.
But here's what I've noticed. Most of them stop there.
The condo is comfortable. The co-working space has good coffee. The networking events are full of people who made the same decision for the same reasons. Everyone in the bar left somewhere to be there. It feels like Asia. It's warm and humid. It has the right postcode. It's a long way from Canberra or California.
It isn't Asia. It's the waiting room.
And the waiting room has conditions. Singapore knows how crowded it is with expats, so the government sets terms, local hiring quotas among them, to keep the arrangement working both ways. Fair enough. But it's a trade-off, and most people don't price it in before they commit and sign the lease.
The real market - the relationships, the families who control the sectors, the cities where the emerging middle class is actually emerging - is a flight away. Three hours, sometimes less. Most people never take it. And some of those cities would have suited them better than the one they picked.
Moving to Singapore is a lifestyle decision dressed up as a market strategy. There's nothing wrong with the lifestyle. Just don't confuse it for the work.
Asia demands curiosity. Most people are too busy finding the pub.
PS — The ones who go further are always the ones worth talking to. Reach out to me at www.linkedin.com/in/davidthomas-asia
