Text: Lu abandoned
Recently, there has been news that a large amount of Chinese money, including that of the Chinese rich, has poured into Singapore, which is a topic of great concern.
In February this year, Jack Ma's wife Zhang Ying swept all the three storefronts of 70, 71 and 72 on Dashton Road in Singapore, involving about 50 million Singapore dollars, equivalent to about 256 million yuan. At that time, it was a piece of news that everyone was concerned about. In fact, the news is a microcosm of the recent entry of some of the rich Chinese capital from Chinese mainland into Singapore.
A huge amount of money has poured into Singapore, making such a city-state with a population of just over 7 million people flooded in Cantonese, which is too much money. Such a situation has brought about changes in all aspects of Singapore, the influx of funds into Singapore, especially the influx of Chinese capital into Singapore, including the mainland and China, is not news, it has been going on for quite a while, and in fact, Singapore's rapid economic growth in recent years has also benefited from the influx of Chinese, or Chinese-funded funds, of course, including some funds from Hong Kong into Singapore.
This year, Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, who is Lee Hsien Loong's successor, announced several figures when he made his 2024 budget this year. Last year, Singapore's fiscal revenue increased by 7.1% in 2023, reaching a total of S$96.7 billion, equivalent to US$72.818 billion. The increase in fiscal revenue of 7.1 percent should be said to be a very large increase when compared with other neighboring countries. In this case, the Singapore government should take a series of measures.
First of all, such a large increase in fiscal revenue mainly comes from four aspects, one is corporate tax, the other is consumption tax, and in Singapore, the consumption tax has increased by one percent. Then there's personal profits tax, and there's asset gains tax, some of which are not available in Hong Kong, such as consumption tax and asset gains tax, which are not available in Hong Kong.
The increase in four areas led to a significant 7.1% increase in Singapore's fiscal revenue, and the Singapore government Lawrence Wong immediately announced the distribution of S$600 shopping vouchers to every Singaporean family, while receiving S$400 to every eligible Singaporean citizen. 400 Singapore dollars is equivalent to more than 2,300 Hong Kong dollars, which is also equivalent to about 2,000 yuan, to cope with the inflation caused by the large influx of funds in Singapore.
Such a statistic shows that the influx of Chinese capital has brought two aspects to Singapore. The first is economic prosperity, of course, it also has advantages and disadvantages for people's livelihood. The positive aspect is that the government can distribute money when it has money, and it can do some more to take care of people's livelihood. More importantly, the Singapore government will use the money to invest in the future, including reinvestment, including the establishment of a financial industry development fund, a corporate research and development fund, and an additional 2 billion to 3 billion Singapore dollars. Compared with the Hong Kong dollar, the Singapore dollar is about 4-5, and it is planned to add another 1 billion Singapore dollars to invest in AI research in the future.
In other words, the Singapore government has flooded because of the sharp increase in financial revenue, and in this case, he is not only improving people's livelihood, but also investing in the future. It can also be seen from this phenomenon that Chinese capital as a whole has a considerable multi-faceted impact on Singapore's economy and people's livelihood society.
The Singapore government is of course very welcoming to this new situation, and no one can afford to have too much money. But how the funds come and how to use them is a very important issue. Singapore's money, in the end, these Chinese tycoons go to Singapore to buy shops, what is the purpose of the capital pouring into Singapore? Of course, there are analysts who believe that there are two main aspects, on the one hand, of course, there is a willingness to invest, because Singapore itself has its advantages. The first is the relative political stability of the government, and in addition, its foreign exchange is basically not regulated, and foreign exchange is free, and this kind of free foreign exchange market economy should be said to be quite attractive.
Of course, another very important point is because of political stability and such factors as the market economy, including the soundness of the construction of the law and the rule of law. There's also a lot of money that comes to hedge against risk, because other places may give these rich people or these companies a sense of uncertainty. Because the global geopolitics, whether it is the change of interest rates, is actually full of uncertainties. Therefore, in Singapore's relatively stable social order, political environment and financial environment, such an environment can play a role as a hedge. Moreover, Singapore's Singapore currency is also relatively stable, so in this case, Singapore has been absorbing a large amount of capital, including Chinese capital, in recent times.
Such a change should be said to be an element of China is very important, and it can also be seen from another level. Including in recent years, Singapore has a very important private research institute, and a data released by the institute is also optimistic about these countries in Southeast Asia, including Singapore. Nearly 60 percent of the majority are optimistic about China's economic influence in Southeast Asia, including Singapore.
Believing that this is the first priority, the Singapore government has taken a variety of countermeasures to deal with the influx of funds. How to solve the problem of such a small country with a population of only more than 5 million, how to digest it, and how to make good use of this huge amount of money.
One of the things we're seeing now is that there are actually some problems emerging in Singapore, including people's livelihood issues and inflation issues. The author also came into contact with some young people, including those from Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, because the funds went to Singapore, many people also followed the company to Singapore, and some were even recruited by Singapore companies to work in Singapore.
In fact, whether you are a citizen of China or a resident of Hong Kong, young people who go to Singapore want to work there, including some college students, including some outstanding talents, who have passed a strict assessment threshold, and it is still not easy to gain a foothold after working in Singapore, let alone to have a personal career development there. One of the most important factors is that locals still have a variety of discrimination, including discrimination and unfair treatment, for these people, including those from Chinese mainland and Hong Kong. These are also on the Internet and in the media.
So it's not that Singapore has attracted a lot of money is a paradise for everyone, maybe it's a very good choice for the rich, but for young people to develop their own careers, young people want to pursue their dreams from Singapore, it's another issue.
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