I feel lucky to have Singapore citizenship. Now I feel SG citizenship is better than U.S. green card because
- — ranked by … strategic value to my family
- nanny-state public (+ private) service ..
- Grade A vs C. It’s possible to put a dollar value on this ‘grade’
- client service — good, efficient CRM (uncommon in many countries) when I’m in need of help
- medical cost relief — Medishield, polyclinics…
- long-term nursing cost (esp. out-patient) is probably lower based on my personal observation.
- Without insurance, hospitalization is probably much cheaper in Singapore than U.S.
- housing — relatively affordable public housing for citizens
- overall lower minimum burn rate, easier to achieve carefree if not absolute ffree
- for me, Singapore CPF beats U.S. social security
- weather — warm for retirees
- low crime rate — important to wife
- NRY — thanks to the open and robust economy, foreign professionals represent a stable rental demand.
- transport — Reliable and cheap public transport for non-drivers, though gas is costly
- college — Singapore universities for my kids
- Property tax — much lower than U.S.
- inflation control — better control than in many countries
- SG government has a large past reserve to protect Singapore against many threats.
- if stranded overseas — I can count on SG government to bring me home. U.S. citizens probably have lower confidence.
Q: If SG citizenship offers so many tantalizing carefree features, then why are they unattractive to so many shrewd Chinese professionals?
- A: even if we agree that SG citizenship contributes to a bare-bones ffree far out in the future, the ffree is too bare-bones, too far out, and contribution are too small and unattractive to most people
- A: these capable, qualified, elite professionals tend to be well-established in their country. In such a case, the sacrifice is too high, and risk is too high.
- A: At our age, to abandon the current home country (US or ..) and try out a small SEA country is highly questionable, risky and a long shot. There’s too much at stake.
- A: there’s a age window for choosing and changing home country. After that window closes, it’s increasingly costly to do that now.
- A: SG citizenship is hard to get
- A: SG is seen as too small too vulnerable to be strong, robust and powerful