Reopening is too slow

[PNGMK]

Agree w this

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... d-opens-up

[smoulder]

I read the same article a few minutes ago. I agree that things are way too slow.

My personal observation is that people here are also very fearful. When you compare the numbers of new infections this year with what we had at the start of the pandemic, you'll find that it was way more then. Yet, I see about the same level of fear now (my opinion).

Open up, and there WILL be incoming infections. It is a given. It's very hard to open up only to selective countries and think that you are safe from being infected. And of course, it's hard to stay closed up.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Yep, sounds just about spot on.

[PNGMK]

Seems to be a bit of gahmen internal dissension too...

LSL: This will be endemic, we need to accept it's here.
Wong: No dine in until we get to Zero!

[BigginHill]

Agree w this

Oh man, yeah.

It's certainly a divided opinion though. I reckon the majority of the population/voters has no appetite whatsoever for any kind of eased border restrictions. Certainly not helped by promoting a daily race to zero cases in local media. I agree about the increased, palpable level of fear in the local population - can you really blame them though, given the relentless government media coverage & regional outbreaks.

Recent interview by Balakrishnan on CNBC (link) also seem to indicate a near zero tolerance for added risks going forward - vaccines are just an extra level of belt & suspenders. I think it's perfectly plausible for restrictions to be kept for years.

From the Bloomberg article...

Jillian Lim, executive vice president of Singapore’s Economic Development Board, a government agency, said by email. “Our top priority is to keep people in Singapore safe.”

I understand where Singapore's coming from - nonetheless, it just puts some businesses & expats in an impossible corner.

As it happens, we're due for office rental renewal in september. I never thought it'd come to this, but we're seriously starting to consider going 100% remote working & start moving people overseas, including myself.

For us, the entry approval ban & 3 weeks quarantine just isn't viable long term for any kind of local presence. Inaccessibility to regional clients makes this even more of a fait accompli.

(and yes, watching colleagues in US & Europe almost back to normal isn't good for morale either...)

Depends on the individual business of course...

[sundaymorningstaple]

You reckon the jewel of S.E.Asia mounting is starting to tarnish?

[BigginHill]

Depends who you ask - many people would probably argue, that they're seeing Singapore's finest hour of resilience during this pandemic & when things are finally one day back to normal, Singapore will rebound big time!

[smoulder]

Depends who you ask - many people would probably argue, that they're seeing Singapore's finest hour of resilience during this pandemic & when things are finally one day back to normal, Singapore will rebound big time!

In my humble opinion, they should probably approach the rebound sooner. The more they delay it, the more likely it is that corporations are going to move jobs out of here and may not bring them back anytime soon if at all.

[BigginHill]

In my humble opinion, they should probably approach the rebound sooner. The more they delay it, the more likely it is that corporations are going to move jobs out of here and may not bring them back anytime soon if at all.

Couldn't agree more.

If they continue the hard approach like this for another 2-3 years, when things finally reopen, what's to stop the large corporations from bypassing Singapore completely & setup in other regional centres instead... - the rest of the world isn't standing still either. And the G7 tax deal isn't doing Singapore any favours.

[PNGMK]

I work in the offshore / marine sector. It's stuffed. Companies are pulling out and shutting down and trying to work out ways around Singapore.

This has to stop. Disease free is noble but unrealistic.

[BigginHill]

(and yes, watching colleagues in US & Europe almost back to normal isn't good for morale either...)

Really rubbing it in - just had a call from a family member in Northern Europe.

It might as well have been an interplanetary call.

Face masks are mostly gone, summer has arrived, football stadiums have actual spectators, all shops & restaurants are open (show your corona app w/vaccination status & you're in), and EU travel has opened up.

(my report from uptight Singapore was a bit less cheerful...)

[the observer]

So typically regional offices operate by being physically located in the region.

So where’s the regional office going to be, if not in hk, or sg.

Can’t be Europe right? So what if it’s uptight.

Neither do I believe many companies who wants to be near china wants to setup a “regional office” in the uae

From a financial inst stand point, its a follow the sun model. Ldn, nyk and then an Asian office. So aus toks hk sg are all vying for the same pie, and they’re all similarly locked up like a rusty chastity belt.

I hope I ring some sense here, because a lot of chatter abt how Europe being open really doesn’t matter.

If it’s a paradigm change, so be it.

If you’ve lived here long enough, you’d know sg was once the disk drive and printer manufacturing capital of the world and it all had to move elsewhere cheaper. The economy evolved and it will continue to evolve.

That’s why most foreigners will end up being transient in nature, as the situation keeps changing.

[the observer]

Depends who you ask - many people would probably argue, that they're seeing Singapore's finest hour of resilience during this pandemic & when things are finally one day back to normal, Singapore will rebound big time!

In my humble opinion, they should probably approach the rebound sooner. The more they delay it, the more likely it is that corporations are going to move jobs out of here and may not bring them back anytime soon if at all.

To where?

[the observer]

I work in the offshore / marine sector. It's stuffed. Companies are pulling out and shutting down and trying to work out ways around Singapore.

This has to stop. Disease free is noble but unrealistic.

Setup an Asian hub in Frankfurt or Paris?
Because every viable location in Asia looks pretty much the same. UAE is open though. Probably the most open center, closest to Asia, with low taxes to boot.

[smoulder]

Depends who you ask - many people would probably argue, that they're seeing Singapore's finest hour of resilience during this pandemic & when things are finally one day back to normal, Singapore will rebound big time!

In my humble opinion, they should probably approach the rebound sooner. The more they delay it, the more likely it is that corporations are going to move jobs out of here and may not bring them back anytime soon if at all.

To where?

I'm thinking that if your market is Malaysia for instance and you want to sell there, you might just have more people there. Technical IT stuff is already moving to India and English language voice based support to the Philippines.