In Singapore, we received an excellent presentation from Steve Okun about the Singaporean business environment. One key takeaway is that the increasing competition between the US and China will place Singapore in a tight spot since it has strong ties to both. Singapore has a strong defense relationship with the United States. Since 1980, the Singaporean and US Armies have participated in annual Tiger Balm military exercises together. Also, about 1,000 Singaporean troops are in the continental US at any given time for military training. Lastly, Singapore regularly purchases billions of dollars of fighter jets, rockets, and munitions from the US. Singapore’s ties to China are more economic in nature. Singapore is the largest foreign investor in China and China is Singapore’s largest trading partner. Now that this trip has opened my eyes to the geopolitical dynamics in the region, I’m curious to see how things play out in the next few years.
On a more cultural note, I was extremely impressed with the kindness and openness of the people in Singapore. Since everyone in Singapore speaks English, it was always easy to navigate the city, order food at restaurants, or plan trips to see the incredible attractions. One of my favorite experiences there was attending a cooking class taught by local moms. We got to learn a lot about cultural foods, and then cook Laksa. This is a classic soup dish in Singapore and it turned out super delicious. Another breathtaking experience was walking along the pier at Marina Bay, taking in the incredible skyline, and watching the light/laser show. I’ve never seen anything like it. Another experience that helped put the incredible scale and growth of Singapore into perspective was visiting the top of Marina Bay Sands Hotel. From this vantage point, we saw all of Singapore, the incredible amount of ships in the bay, and Indonesia in the distance.