Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
No. Singapore is 2nd or 3rd world. My dad was Chinese Singaporean (he's a naturalized US citizen now) and I often have to go to Singapore, if relatives die, or when things like that happen. Filthy filthy eating places, third world restrooms. Compared to the United States, its a dump. And the people there have nasty English but claim to be English speaking.
Malaysia and Thailand are both third world.
Don't be fooled by their silly antics of building the "tallest building in the whole world" once - that Petronas Towers.. These are very predictable and usual actions done by countries when they are desperately trying to act like it's a part of the developed world. UAE comes to mind.
There are people who look at Detroit and call the USA 3rd world. Doesn't make it true.
No. Singapore is 2nd or 3rd world. My dad was Chinese Singaporean (he's a naturalized US citizen now) and I often have to go to Singapore, if relatives die, or when things like that happen. Filthy filthy eating places, third world restrooms. Compared to the United States, its a dump. And the people there have nasty English but claim to be English speaking.
Malaysia and Thailand are both third world.
Don't be fooled by their silly antics of building the "tallest building in the whole world" once - that Petronas Towers.. These are very predictable and usual actions done by countries when they are desperately trying to act like it's a part of the developed world. UAE comes to mind.
Simply put your are wrong
Singapore is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of GDP per capita and GDP is what's used to class which countries are 1st, 2nd, 3rd world, its also one of four Asian tigers. Singapore was poor but since separating from Malaysia has prospered to what it is today.
Simply put your are wrong
Singapore is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of GDP per capita used to class which countries are 1st, 2nd, 3rd world, its also one of four Asian tigers. Singapore was poor but since separating from Malaysia has prospered to what it is today.
This whole GDP per capita thing is the usual Asian BS that people in Singapore enjoy deluding themselves with.
I grew up in a real first world country that few people in the universe would dispute its leadership status. I have family who were born and raised in Singapore all their lives. I have seem them a few times in my life.
It's about quality of life. Majority of Singaporeans live hard lives, in their tiny apartments, being squeezed in their public transportation, the squeeze there is completely unacceptable by North American standards.
Essentially the people there at least the leaders, are bright. But let's face it. There's only so much you can do with limited resources and the kind of constraints faced there. The place is so small yet its government insists on importing more foreigners to cram up the place. The leaders there have the delusion that they are a big country like the US, can take in all kinds and large numbers of "immigrants". The people there are so miserable, mainly. You have no idea how many relatives of mine are always asking my family to sponsor their visa to the US, to get a greencard, how desperate they are to get out.
Where do you live? Are you a Singaporean and have you lived in a big rich country before? Unless you have, I understand why you would be under the impression that your life is 'normal'.
This whole GDP per capita thing is the usual Asian BS that people in Singapore enjoy deluding themselves with.
I grew up in a real first world country that few people in the universe would dispute its leadership status. I have family who were born and raised in Singapore all their lives. I have seem them a few times in my life.
It's about quality of life. Majority of Singaporeans live hard lives, in their tiny apartments, being squeezed in their public transportation, the squeeze there is completely unacceptable by North American standards.
Essentially the people there at least the leaders, are bright. But let's face it. There's only so much you can do with limited resources and the kind of constraints faced there. The place is so small yet its government insists on importing more foreigners to cram up the place. The leaders there have the delusion that they are a big country like the US, can take in all kinds and large numbers of "immigrants". The people there are so miserable, mainly. You have no idea how many relatives of mine are always asking my family to sponsor their visa to the US, to get a greencard, how desperate they are to get out.
Where do you live? Are you a Singaporean and have you lived in a big rich country before? Unless you have, I understand why you would be under the impression that your life is 'normal'.
I am British and I don't even like Singapore as a city I argue its a soulless city but to say its not 1st world is like saying Bill Gates is not really rich put simply your kidding yourself its a fact that Singapore is a 1st world nation.
To determine that a country is 1st world or not is not measured on how happy people are, if that was the case then Europe would surely be 3rd world right now.
Singapore has a high standard of living regardless of the size of apartments they are more expensive than a house in the US or the UK with long waiting lists of people wanting to buy properties here and inside these tiny apartments you will see all the latest technology and living standards that you will find anywhere in the west.
There are many foreigners here because its good for the economy, the economy here is booming its what the West can only dream of right now.
Reading your post it seems you have issue with Singapore that's fine like I say I also don't regard Singapore highly as a place to settle but your negative view on Singapore still doesn't change the fact its a 1st world nation.
I am British and I don't even like Singapore as a city I argue its a soulless city but to say its not 1st world is like saying Bill Gates is not really rich put simply your kidding yourself its a fact that Singapore is a 1st world nation.
To determine that a country is 1st world or not is not measured on how happy people are, if that was the case then Europe would surely be 3rd world right now.
Singapore has a high standard of living regardless of the size of apartments they are more expensive than a house in the US or the UK with long waiting lists of people wanting to buy properties here and inside these tiny apartments you will see all the latest technology and living standards that you will find anywhere in the west.
There are many foreigners here because its good for the economy, the economy here is booming its what the West can only dream of right now.
Reading your post it seems you have issue with Singapore that's fine like I say I also don't regard Singapore highly as a place to settle but your negative view on Singapore still doesn't change the fact its a 1st world nation.
Since you live in Singapore I'm sure you know why the prices of the apartments are so pricey right? It's the same reason as in Hong Kong. It's because of the high density. Singapore has no land that's why houses there cost 4-6 times than that in the USA and UK. It's not because its got a higher standard of living. Essentially, does cost of living = standard of living? No. Singapore loves to fool others, believing because things are expensive there, more so than anywhere else in the world, it is first world. Unfortunately it's but a pipe dream. Things cost an arm and leg for them because they have crazy constraints previously unknown to men. There's no sovereign country in the world with a higher density than Singapore, but Monaco, which most people would consider a Mickey Mouse state.
Outside of the business and tourist areas, the whole country where its real non-expat population live in is positively third world. The apartments look like communist blocks I saw of pictures of China when I was a child, which I'm not sure even exist in China anymore
Then there's the really bad English of the people there. People in China, South Korea and Japan have poor English too but I don't see them claiming to be an English speaking country.
The restrooms are especially filthy everywhere, I've never seen such filthy restrooms at least of such common occurrences, in USA, Japan and Germany. The only clean bathrooms I've found there are in hotels.
The outdoor, non air-conditioned eating places with food stalls are filthy and malodorous, in a consistent way too. I went to one in a place called Clementi and it smelled like rotten eggs, then a few days later I went to one in another end of the island and the exact same smell of rotten eggs was emanating from it!! I've never seen such outdoor eateries in the US, even in warm states in the South. In the US there are outdoor food courts but rarely (the one in famous Quincy Market in Boston and Farmer's markets in LA), but they are spotlessly clean and don't smell.
I understand you trotted out GDP per capita figures and such. Have you wondered why apart from the United States the top 5 countries in the GDP per capita list are MICROstates? MICROstates have a tiny population which allows its managers to easily manipulate figures by focusing on high yield economic services (notice how there's no farming of significant scale there since there's NO land to farm and so everything literally everything is imported and so expensive there lol) and having micro population means you can easily manage the variance.
There's no point in having "impressive" looking GDP per capita figures when the standard of living is so low. Most of the people there live in terrible conditions and they have these metal grilled gates outside each apartment no different from prison cells in the US. Majority can't even buy an automobile which is such a common thing that everybody in the US has or otherwise, can easily have, and the squeezing is so bad my relatives tell me they are dehumanized everyday with their pelvis literally stuck to a stranger's pelvis on the subway. Gross.
Majority of the wealth is held by foreigners who simply park their money with a permanent residence there because of its favorable tax laws and nothing else. The fact that most of the people there with money and splashing it did not make it there speaks volumes of social mobility there for the regular joe holding its citizenship.
Besides its soullessness, it tries too hard to be what it's not and it suffers from short man syndrome. I'd measure if a country is first world by its standard of living and people. Otherwise, China would be first world also since its economy is so big. I'd dispute the technology and amenities of homes is on par with the USA. Like all third world countries, it has an emphasis on manual labor intensiveness, that's why they don't have clothes drier, dishwasher and garbage disposal there, things that are in every American home for as long as sliced bread.
Also, Kuala Lumpur might be on the verge of being first world......
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
