Imagine if the population of Dublin quadrupled in a day, but housing in this new world was somehow affordable, the traffic flowed smoothly, and the streets were safe at night.
Tropical city-state Singapore may seem to have little in common with Ireland. But both are former British colonies and regional business hubs that got rich quickly, and now face similar challenges around housing, inequality and integration.
They just might learn from each other.
Singapore squeezes a population larger than Ireland’s into an area smaller than Co Dublin. One result is that the average price for a house with a garden is three to four million euro. Many residents choose to live in (still expensive) high-rise condos. However, the majority of locals live in government-built Housing and Development Board flats, which can be traded commercially, but through minimum occupancy period and other measures are kept affordable for all citizens.
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Traffic? Not an issue.
Public transport is excellent (Singapore’s award-winning airport is, of course, connected by rail, as it is in most cities, to downtown) and the government issues car ownership certificates through open bidding, to limit the number of vehicles on the road.
In multicultural Singapore, differences are celebrated. But harmony is “mandated”.
The Ethnic Integration Policy ensures a balanced neighbourhood mix of communities. Meaning you may have to sell your flat to someone of the same race as yours, to maintain local quotas. Some 40 per cent of the population are non-citizens. Christmas is a national holiday, but so are Chinese New Year, Islamic Hari Raya and Hindu Deepavali.
And then there’s Racial Harmony Day every July 21st.
As in many large Asian cities, it’s generally safe for a woman to walk alone in any part of Singapore, at any hour of the night – surely an important personal freedom?
Laws are strict: chewing gum is banned, offenders are caned for certain crimes, and there is a mandatory death penalty for serious drug offences. Yet, Singapore permits sex work in government-regulated brothels.
Overall, if Singapore had personality traits, I’d rate it high in “conscientiousness”. Care, diligence and long-term planning lead to operational excellence.
This conscientiousness positively impacts important aspects of quality of life, such as affordable housing, public safety and infrastructure. (My wife had trouble understanding why a Dublin bus was running late; my son was shocked to almost have his smartphone stolen – both would be exceedingly rare events in Singapore).
Ireland, on the other hand, despite its history of social conservatism, seems to me high on “openness”.
We’ve always embraced individuality, even eccentricity, and learned painfully to question authority. Yet, our national identity, defined by a centuries-long struggle for independence, remains strong (it’s very hard to imagine Irish fans supporting the opposing team, as I witnessed at a Singapore-Argentina friendly soccer match some years ago).
The Irish model somehow unleashes “flair” too, producing 12 Nobel laureates to Singapore’s zero, along with scores of globally successful writers, musicians, scientists, actors and sportspeople.
Singapore – where local talent development and creativity are hot topics – might conceivably envy Ireland’s cultural soft power, along with our food security, and our positioning within a powerful regional political and economic union. Not to mention all that open space!
Singapore is lush and green, but its beauty is mostly curated and utilitarian. Ireland’s beauty is natural and wild.
Singapore has cuisines, Ireland has food.
History feels distant in Singapore. In Ireland, it’s alive in our castles and monuments and centuries-old pubs.
Both countries have their flaws, and their discontents, and their marginalised groups. Some merits of one could never be emulated by the other (even if they tried) for legal, practical or cultural reasons.
I know Irish people who have settled in Singapore, and Singaporeans who have settled in Ireland, and all are happier for the change.
A lot in life is about finding your people and your place. Even so, I feel that Ireland could visualise a better quality of life as though we were building a nation from scratch, and work backwards from there (as Singapore apparently does), instead of constantly seeking or settling for incremental improvement.
Unaffordable housing, street crime, creaking transport systems and other social ills are neither inevitable nor the necessary price of economic progress. And even a highly interconnected world still offers enough diversity of thought to inspire new approaches.
Ireland has historically looked to the UK, the US or the EU for ideas.
I suspect that Asia was seen either as too different to be relevant, or (conversely) in the process of westernisation anyway, but either way, an unlikely source of creative solutions.
Maybe it’s time for a fresh look.
- A native of Dublin, Kerry O’Shea graduated from TCD with an economics degree in 1990 and moved to Japan. He moved to Singapore in 2010, where he now works in human resources at a technology company.
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