Produced by SilverKris for Singapore Administration College Lee Kong Chian Faculty of Enterprise
On the world map, it’s arduous to make out the little pink dot that’s Singapore, which measures simply 728km2 – or 459 occasions smaller than neighbouring Malaysia. However regardless of its dimension, it wields vital world clout. In recent times, that clout isn’t just financial, but in addition cultural.
Just lately, the city-state has been making headlines for all the suitable causes: month-to-month guests are exceeding one million, whereas a document variety of foreigners are investing in native property. Plus, in what’s maybe the strongest testomony to the town’s rising cultural cachet, the Monetary Instances has topped Singapore “Asia’s official capital of cool”.
So why is Singapore thriving? Right here, we converse to 4 specialists – in industries starting from hospitality and F&B to sensible buildings and structure – for his or her perspective on what makes the town the place to be.
Constructing on a robust basis
A part of the reply lies in Singapore’s constructed atmosphere. As a tiny island, Singapore has at all times needed to grapple with the difficulty of land shortage. Right now, nevertheless, nearly each sq. inch of the town has been fastidiously optimised because of astute city planning – a number of a long time’ price, in reality.
Singapore’s success didn’t occur accidentally. It took a really methodical 30-year plan for us to get right here
“Singapore’s success didn’t occur accidentally. Again within the Sixties, our leaders had a really clear thought of what long-term financial and concrete growth ought to seem like,” says Daniel Liu, Govt Director of city advisory agency MORROW Intelligence. “It took a really methodical 30-year plan for us to get right here.”
After all, personal enterprise has additionally performed a key function. “We’ve gone by that interval of structured growth, and now the circumstances are proper for specialists within the area to strike it out on their very own,” Daniel says.
He attributes this partly to programmes reminiscent of Singapore Administration College’s Govt Grasp of Enterprise Administration (EMBA) – of which he’s an alum – the place enterprise leaders come collectively to unravel the challenges of tomorrow as a part of its distinctive hands-on curriculum. “For example, we’ve got folks growing sensible instruments for monitoring metropolis metrics, and consultants developing with new methods of serious about placemaking. There’s numerous thrilling stuff taking place.”
A showcase for city transformation
Right now, Singapore is a vibrant but coherent mixture of outdated and new. In Chinatown, for instance, guests will discover fastidiously conserved heritage shophouses flanked by gleaming skyscrapers. Outdoors of the downtown core, you’ll uncover a sequence of vibrant heartland neighbourhoods – some that includes Thirties Artwork Deco structure.
Different areas are prime laboratories of cutting-edge know-how. A major instance of the latter is the Punggol Digital District, which may have a high-tech pneumatic waste assortment system and a sensible power grid when it launches in 2024.
“Singapore is making full use of contemporary know-how to push the boundaries of what it means to be a sensible metropolis,” says SMU EMBA alumnus Alexander Siemes, who heads the Digital Service Heart (Center East and Asia Pacific) at Siemens. “This will probably be an important showcase of city transformation.”
The town’s meticulous city planning is underpinned by a deep dedication to sustainability. “What Singapore has embraced very well is the concept of biophilic structure – the place the boundary between the surface atmosphere and the within atmosphere is blurred,” Daniel says. Take, for example, the PARKROYAL COLLECTION Pickering lodge within the central enterprise district, an architectural feat festooned with lush vertical gardens and plant-filled balconies.
As Alexander provides, Singapore can also be addressing the local weather disaster by initiatives just like the Singapore Inexperienced Plan 2030, which incorporates materials targets reminiscent of quadrupling photo voltaic power deployment by 2025 and lowering the quantity of waste despatched to landfill by 30% in 2030. “This long-term mindset, for me, is a decisive issue that makes Singapore so engaging,” he says.
Welcoming guests with top-notch experiences
This progressive outlook is equally embodied in Singapore’s flourishing hospitality trade, which is predicted to cater to over 12 million guests in 2023.
“Singapore has a few of the finest infrastructure when it comes to constructing design and effectivity, waste administration and know-how. This provides our hospitality trade an edge in opposition to that of many different nations,” says Philip Cyril Raj, the CEO of unbiased lodge group Bay Accommodations & Resorts. “Plus, our inns and eating places proceed to evolve by refurbishments and higher choices.”
A working example is the long-lasting Raffles Resort, which reopened its doorways in 2019 to a lot fanfare after a multi-million-dollar facelift. In the identical vein, the Mandarin Oriental, Singapore is presently present process a complete refurbishment – its first in a long time.
A meals scene not like every other
Elsewhere, it’s hardly stunning that the food-obsessed metropolis’s high institutions commonly function on “better of” lists yearly. For example, 9 native venues, together with fine-dining mecca Odette and barbecue joint Burnt Ends, had been not too long ago named amongst Asia’s 50 Greatest Eating places 2023. Actually, simply this month, Odette received the #14 spot on the World’s 50 Greatest Eating places checklist this 12 months and the accolade of Greatest Restaurant in Asia. Then there’s additionally the flourishing bar scene, which pulls cocktail connoisseurs from everywhere in the world.
“Singapore’s F&B panorama has positively turn into extra vibrant and cosmopolitan through the years,” observes Jeanne Liu, co-founder of Wealthy and Good Cake Store. Her enterprise, began at dwelling along with her mum virtually 30 years in the past, has grown by word-of-mouth to turn into an area establishment with a digital presence – inspiring Jeanne herself to return to high school for an EMBA at SMU and upskill herself.
Like many conventional manufacturers in Singapore, it has additionally benefited from authorities funding such because the Productiveness Options Grant (PSG), by which the corporate was in a position to launch its game-changing e-commerce platform. “We opened again in 1997 within the heartlands, and rather a lot has modified since then. For instance, the Michelin Information got here to Singapore in 2016, and there are such a lot of various kinds of good meals accessible now.”
A vibrant multicultural panorama
This splendidly various culinary scene is, partially, a pure byproduct of the town’s multicultural make-up. “Considered one of Singapore’s extra distinctive traits is that we’ve got a beautiful coexistence of cultures, and also you see it in all places. When you consider our meals, there are Chinese language variations of nasi lemak, Malay variations of rooster rice and Indian variations of rojak,” Daniel says. “I believe it’s necessary for guests to Singapore to have somewhat understanding of how particular the connection is between the completely different cultures.”
Certainly, it’s this concord in range that makes Alexander, a German native, grateful to name Singapore dwelling. “It comes right down to the straightforward issues. I like Singapore’s number of meals, pleasant folks and basic openness to be a multicultural nation,” he says. “Having a kopi-o at my neighbourhood hawker, chatting with the aunty who has been operating it for 20 years, assembly mates over some roti prata to debate plans for the night… I’m loving it, and Singapore will at all times have a particular place in my coronary heart.”
For extra data on the EMBA programme at Singapore Administration College Lee Kong Chian Faculty of Enterprise, click on right here.
