What Is A Global City?
It was commented that Singapore can either choose to be a global city, or a regional centre. Singaporeans were then warned that a regional centre is likely to be quickly overtaken by other regional cities, such as Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur, eroding whatever edge Singapore had to start with. Does this mean that these cities do not themselves aspire to be global cities, and that being a global city would preclude the possibility of these cities overtaking us in prominence?
Certainly, being the place where the rich and famous gather means that money comes into the country. However, having that much money in the country does not automatically mean that it trickles down to the poor amongst us. In fact, it could create an even more unequal society, where the poor get even more marginalized.
I am not sure whether having so much money flowing around is such a great thing, for it awakens greed and all manner of vices. It also makes the monetary inequality more apparent. Rightly or wrongly, the poor feel worse if they see more rich people around. Even though the amount of money in your bank account is an absolute number, the sense of wealth or poverty is very much relative.
So, perhaps the reason why Singaporeans are so stressed and unhappy stems from all the foreign wealth flowing in. So while we are in actual fact richer, we feel poorer! So much for being a global city! I'd rather be in a backwater somewhere chewing the fat...