Monday, October 20, 2008

Copycat Singapore

I know Singapore never had a reputation for being the most original of countries and we had always seen ourselves as a competitor to Hong Kong, but the recent copycat activities of Singapore is something else altogether.

Two days ago after Hong Kong guaranteed bank deposits, Singapore follow suit. Now the Singapore government seems to be trying to find a legal way to make DBS and other banks pay back investors on the Lehman Brothers minibonds fiasco. Again, this is after Hong Kong agreed to refund investors in Hong Kong.

The Singapore government has made no bones about the reason for the bank guarantee and it seems that the same apply to the minibonds matter. But Hong Kong is paying back investors about 50-70% of their investments, whereas the Singapore Strait Times say something in the region of about 20% for Singapore investors.

I say if you want to copy Hong Kong, do it all the way and better them. Hong Kong is paying back 50 to 70%; Singapore should aim for 80 to 100%! It’s no good just copying someone, you must better them.

Aim higher Singapore!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What this incident tells us is that if we, Singaporeans, have any money, it will be better to keep it in Hong Kong.