Not only does Hong Kong have to put up with Beijing stealing the spotlight, Singapore is throwing elbows at the former British colony as well. At least one survey has given Singapore props for having more commercial clout.
The 2008 version of the MasterCard Worldwide Centers of Commerce Index puts Singapore in third and Honkers fourth. That’s a flip-flop from previous years.
Factors like livability, ease of business, pace of development, legal infrastructure and financial stability are weighed during completion of the survey.
Singapore is two spots below Tokyo in the overall ranking.
But does Singapore top Hong Kong in the important things (like fun and food)? Sure, William Gibson’s famous Wired essay portrayed Singapore as a “relentlessly G-rated experience.” But one has to wonder if Gibson detached his parachute long enough to visit Geylang and one of the city’s many centers of gluttony or if he just strolled down Orchard Road and got the rest of his info from Fodor’s.
Singapore gets a bad rap that is not entirely deserved. Sure, it’s no Hong Kong when it comes to excitement, but is it really as bad as most people suggest? What if you are not a gum chewer or heroin smuggler? What if you love to eat and wander around a city that has a lot more to offer than its gleaming and sterile downtown suggests?