Dear readers,
This week, Tech in Asia is a decade old. From huddling around a table in a new co-working space, we’ve multiplied to occupying an office run by a co-working chain.
From being unmarried, I now have two kids.
Multiplication has been the Southeast Asian story too. In 2014, the region had only two unicorns. Now, there’s more than a dozen. Sea Group, the largest among them, sits in Singapore.
The tiny red dot has come far.
Seven years ago, I opined that Singapore’s startup scene was overrated, a product of the state’s hype machine. Back then, I said that the marketing blitz was necessary so the country can become a world-class business hub.
What’s incredible is how coordinated this effort has been.
Take Singapore’s successful bid to get its hawker culture recognized by UNESCO, to the chagrin of some Malaysians who insist that their food is better.
Only losers complain about being copied. Winners focus on execution.
While I’ll believe that Malaysia has better food, Singapore has executed perfectly – at least in terms of branding.
There’s strategic thinking to this: Singapore is not just positioning itself as the best place to work, but also the best place to play. And that’s great for foreign tech workers and their families.
It’s ingraining itself into popular culture through Crazy Rich Asians, Formula One, and the recent extravaganza that turned the city-state’s skyline into a light-and-sound canvas for Disney+’s marketing blitz.
Image credit: Disney+
All this, together with its economic and business initiatives, is coordinated across multiple government agencies, a feat that Singapore’s competent bureaucracy is uniquely able to pull off.
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