If you have to run road and leave everything behind, it does not matter whether your property is freehold or 99 year lease.
OK, landed properties will make a difference. Even if your home is razed to the ground, if you own the land, you can always rebuild on the same site.
Tough luck if you own an apartment as part of a condo or HDB that's bombed out...
How about CPF?
Not as if you can withdraw out first and run road right?
Even if you can return one day when peace is restored, what if the new regime has no intention to honour the "promises" made by the previous disposed regime?
Its the same for savings at our local banks too. How to take back our money when the banks no longer exist after the conflict?
It goes to show politics affects everyone.
Which means during election time, we need to look beyond mundane local/local issues...
But then, how many Singaporeans care about geopolitics?
At the very least, fingers crossed we don't elect politicians like Biden and Harris in the US.
And you thought Trump was bad...
Too old or too poor to run. Don't need to worry too much. Just go down with Tatanic
ReplyDeleteSaw news of people returning back on empty train after running away safely.
CW,
DeleteMajority of Singaporeans have all our eggs into one Singapore basket - that's something to be said about big daddy's social engineering at its best ;)
We can sing national anthem, recite our pledge, wave flags during National Day. This anyone and everyone can do.
But when we can get out, or is already out living overseas, but we choose to remain or come back to defend Singapore during her time of need, that's our moment of truth!
The Ukrainians have done themselves proud. There's something to be said about their Cossack DNA and their cultural strength.
I mean we at least got NS. We know how to fire a rifle. Ukrainian men who have never held a gun before are volunteering to fight!!!
Respect.
I hope in future elections, we will judge the candidates on their backbone and strength of character.
Let's not elect someone like that spineless coward in Afghanistan that fled with his millions the moment the Taliban approaches...
Landed also same. New regime prob won't recognize the title. All the more to stay and fight if all your assets and CPF are locked here.
ReplyDeleteBest keep gold in a swiss vault? But that's also assuming the swiss bank don't go bankrupt also.
ERSG,
DeleteSingapore is becoming the gold vault in Asia... Why you think gold is exempted from GST?
The super rich in Asia who don't trust their governments have parked some of their wealth (gold included) in Singapore.
Then there are those in the West who may prefer some geographic diversification besides risking everything into Switzerland...
That's voting with their money on their faith and confidence with our SAF!
You stay safe in Houston!
Read the recent crime rates there have shot past New York and Chicago???
No thanks to Biden's open borders policy...
Lucky lao lee cane the illegal immigrants decades ago. Now we have no such problem.
Sure, barbaric and no human rights and all... But hey! Singapore is lot safer!
Thank you lao lee!
Eh I back permanently in SG liao since Dec hahaha.
DeleteERSG,
DeleteOh! Welcome back to the Mothership!
I see two different levels of geographical diversification.
ReplyDeleteOn the simpler level is regarding investment. For eg., we can have geographical diversification by investing in property or stocks in another country. This is more to risk mitigate the market and / or economy tanking in one country and bringing down our investment in that country while our other investment in another country holds up.
The other deeper level is the "prepare to run road" diversification. This one, I believe takes more than just investing. It needs to have your close relatives (and children) actually migrating and becoming citizens or minimally becoming permanent residents of another country. In this respect, I consider myself adequately "diversified" as I have close relatives stretching from UK to New Zealand. They can act as your "sponsors" for PR or citizenship when needed.
I have travelled widely in my job (with over a year in the US for my post grad ) and on holidays and I still find that S'pore will always be my home.
mysecretinvestment,
DeleteAgree.
The super rich are already mobile and have parked and diversified their wealth across multiple tax havens all over the world.
The middle class can do the "same" with today's mixed marriages; overseas study/work; emigration; etc.
Ukrainians that managed to escape to Poland or Romania, if they have relatives in Singapore or Canada to pick them up, are a lot better off, even if they are penniless...
That's also the reason why dictators often have some their children overseas. If there's a revolution, not everyone will face the firing squad...
Same for billionaires in South East Asia. Their wealth are often tied to political patronage. They can be charged with corruption depending who is in power...
Smol,
ReplyDeleteThe most portable asset is the thing between your ears, your mindset & skills & abilities. ;)
That's how a penniless refugee in a foreign land can re-start from scratch.
Hope I never need to use my NS training, since I've washed my hands of it donkey years ago. Still got my SBO and helmet rotting in some corner though lol.
Your title "geographic concentration" tickled my memory about the Rothschild patriarch sending his 5 sons to 5 cities in 5 different countries. Imagine if he had continued basing his clan & business in Germany. They would have been badly affected by WW1 & certainly destroyed during 1930s Hitler's rise (they are Jewish). Even so, only 1 out of the 5 (London) enjoyed uninterrupted progress. The big regret of his descendants? That they didn't have the foresight of their ancestor to expand to emerging market US during the late-19th century.
The Russians are re-learning something that was well established in WW2 ... tanks & especially thin-skinned IFVs (like our own Bionix, Terrex, Hunter) DON'T mix with urban warfare without adequate infantry support. Otherwise they become metal coffins & crematoriums.
Russia's staggering losses in just 3 weeks of fighting. Ukraine's would also be similar. One thing the article forgot to mention is that the estimated Russian KIA in 3 weeks is already about 1/2 of their KIA in 10 years in Afghanistan.
And it's mainly thanks to "Saint Javelin". Much better than the older Milan anti-tank missile I used during NS. Raytheon & Lockheed Martin (2 of my favourite "war stocks"), the manufacturers of Javelin, have seen their stock prices shoot up in recent weeks.
As S'pore govt and most countries have realised, this war will propel the military-industrial complex for many years. It was already happening with the US-China Thucydides Trap. Singapore's own war stock, ST Engineering (ST Kinetics), has jumped too.
Defense companies will join investment trends like blockchain, cryptos, AI, autonomous vehicles, green energy, fintech, cloud infrastructure, metaverse, IT security, boomer healthcare etc for the next 10-20 years.
Unfortunately the Ukrainians' success so far will only lead to more brutal scorched earth FIBUA fighting. The modus operandi would appear to be use of fuel-air (thermobaric) bombs/missiles followed immediately by close-in infantry assaults by Syrian mercenaries who had been trained by the Russians in Syria for similar urban warfare e.g. Aleppo, Damascus, Raqqa, Homs, Hama etc.
Spur,
DeleteWe have our own Singapore examples where after the war in 1945, some enterprising entrepreneurs - no money, no study - managed to amass great wealth with nothing but true grits and the grey matter between their ears.
Similarly, some of the Vietnamese boat people have done very well in their adopted countries, never mind when they first arrived, they couldn't speak a single word of the local language!
Ah! You have followed the Rothschild's history too! In addition, I also read with interest how some Indonesian tycoons have done the same too...
I'm into military history. I guess it started with my Panzer General boardgame days.
Russia sure has raised quite a few eyebrows. And we thought the US withdrawal from Afghanistan was embarrassing enough...
There will always be opportunities in adversities. But let's not get into them. You know, I know can already. Wink.
When my ah ma was still resting at Mount Vernon, I get to see the Gurkhas camp there every year. Very reassuring!
Bet the Russians must be wishing they got some Gurkhas on their side!