My name is Camryn Hale, a sophomore accounting major at Mays, and I am on the Singapore Faculty Led wintermester (IBUS 455). This is a three-hour, two-week, course to the city-state of Singapore. First impressions are exactly as the first prime minister planned it to be: a city in a garden. Every building is covered in greenery with tall, beautiful trees entwining themselves with the packed city. Even after just landing, you are met with an airport unlike any other, filled with waterfalls and exotic plants. Environmental impact is a huge part of Singaporean society. The government gives out several awards to companies that find innovative ways to reduce their waste and increase their greenery. Looking past all the plants, you get to see the people and businesses themselves. As we got to know the city-state more, we learned about the interesting mix of Asian traditional culture and modern policy implemented by the new nation. Singapore is truly in a unique political and business position, with a democratic government that is very involved with its businesses?I would liken it to controlled capitalism. The government is very interested in keeping a clean, advanced city, that still adheres to traditional Asian culture. Each policy is carefully crafted to better society and increase its ability to live on such a small island. An example of this is a driving certificate, which can add well over $100,000 to the price of cars that are already at a premium here. This initiative is to decrease the amount of drivers on the road for both crowding and environmental impact reasons. Overall, I think that Singapore is distinctive in the Asian business environment and is run to be the most efficient the small amount of space it is located on will let it.
