China
may soon be the birthplace to half the world’s billionaires but
Singapore – the world’s richest city – is where they go to play.
Some
of the rich and famous who have moved to the tiny Southeast Asian
island republic include Indian telecom tycoon Bhupendra Kumar Modi,
Chinese movie superstars Gong Li and Jet Li, New Zealand billionaire
Richard Chandler, and famed US investor Jim Rogers.
One
in six households in Singapore have a net worth of $1m, reflecting the
flow of wealth eastwards as the centre of global economic activity
shifts to Asia.
With
low taxes, a reliable, corruption-free government and protective
private banking laws, the world’s ultra-rich are flocking to make
Singapore home, giving it the highest percentage of millionaire
households in the world.
While the rich have fun, locals are struggling to keep up with the rising cost of living.
Statistics
show the wages of Singapore’s bottom 20 percent have fallen by about 10
percent in real terms in the last ten years, while incomes for the top
20 percent have grown by about 30 percent.
Cries
for a larger social security net for the poor are getting louder but
this will mean increasing taxes. So, can Singapore, the economic
miracle, sustain the ultra-rich’s attention for long? Or will the party
end soon? [AlJazeera]
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