As noted in the intro to 2018's "Dyson chooses Singapore for first electric car plant":
I like Singapore although it is a bit authoritarian.
The people are bright, usually the highest average I.Q. in the world, sometimes #2 to Hong Kong.
In the case of Singapore the I.Q. thing is especially interesting as their average is higher than that of any of the genetic pools the city-state draws from: the Chinese, Malay and Indian.
As a Malaysian Chinese businessman I know has told me, "We should never have let Singapore get away."
Another back-and-forth with Hong Kong is income/wealth. HK has more billionaires but Singapore has a higher average income.
And then there are the Gurkhas. More after the jump....
From Bloomberg, June 6:
The pressure to pass exams has turned private tutoring into a $1.4 billion industry in Singapore, but the same pressure risks impacting students’ mental health.
Three minutes was all Leshane Lim gave herself to scarf down food as she rushed between private tutoring classes. In the midst of school-entry examinations, the then 16-year-old Singaporean was cramming feverishly, scheduling three after-hours sessions every day, back to back. With her options for future schools and ultimately her career path on the line, the stakes seemed high.
“I used to think it was the end of the world,” said Lim, now 18. “I put myself in that position because I wanted to do well.”
It’s a common story in Singapore, where parents spent S$1.8 billion ($1.4 billion) in 2023 on private tutoring, up almost 30% from 2018, according to government data. That investment — among the highest per capita spends in the world — is paying off, with Singaporean schoolchildren scoring significantly higher on average in mathematics, reading and science than all other countries in a global benchmarking study.
But there are concerns that Singapore’s competitive education system and the high premium society places on academic success are taking a toll on young people’s emotional health. Studies show that Singaporean students are more likely than their OECD peers to feel very anxious before a test and express a greater fear of failure.
Common complaints among students who attend many tuition classes are chronic stress and a lack of sleep, according to Rebecca Chan, a lecturer at Singapore’s National Institute of Education who specializes in psychology and child development.
“Children need time for themselves, not to be pushed along to classes one after another,” she said.
The private tutoring industry, which first gained prominence in East Asia, is growing rapidly across the world. It will be worth $171 billion by the end of 2028, up from $111 billion in 2023, according to Unesco. The United Nations body is concerned that so-called shadow education exacerbates social inequalities because wealthier households have greater access to private tutors.
In North America, parents are expected to spend $44.9 billion on private tutoring this year, swelling to $61.1 billion by 2030, according to Global Industry Analysts. The industry continues to grow in China and South Korea, despite government efforts to rein it in....
....MUCH MORE