Sunday 7 August 2011

The Trouble with The Singapore Workplace


http://www.economywatch.com/economy-business-and-finance-news/the-trouble-with-the-singapore-workplace.21-07.html

Interesting article, not sure if I completely agree, I haven't stayed long enough in Singapore. My colleagues and I are involved in start-up companies in Singapore (and Malaysia), and I have to admit, often the founders are foreigners or the angels (or both). Singaporeans have large commitments due to mortgages etc, so not surprisingly, they tend to be quite conservative, that is the opposite trait that one needs for starting or funding a new company. But we did invest in two Singaporean founders and we are very happy with the way things go, so may be things are not that bad. Technically I think Singaporeans are very good, we did visit a junior college and I was simply blown away by the high level of education. Singapore is only a small city, so the chance to have the next Bill Gates is not that high. In "The Economist" of August 6th - 12th 2011 there is an article with a similar problem in the (much larger) UK. I have the impression that you can't really force these things, it happens or it doesn't happen, sometimes one needs a bit luck as well. Singapore is trying to create the infrastructure to nurture new companies, I think they do a very decent job, there isn't much else one can do.

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