Singapore gets it. I am at the Funan Center, a shopping center, for lunch. Besides lunch, I also get to check mail on the wireless broadband provided gratis by the city. I flipped open my laptop, connected to wireless@sg and here I am blogging away.
The availability of public goods increases the utility of private goods. It is also true that one has to sometimes compensate for the lack of public goods by a greater investment in private goods. Places like Singapore are to some extent rich because the efficiency of private goods is high because public goods are efficiently and optimally provided.
This place is good.
Atanu Dey : Life is a Random Draw 
Funan Centre is a great place to hangout and window shop….especially for computer geeks like me.
Have you tried any of the local Indian eateries around the north bridge area like komalas indian fast food? Pretty nifty service and good quality food at reasonable prices.
My stomach groans everytime I think of singapore and food….. Canada is a dead beat for quality, cheap indian food. But no matter I’ll be in singapore before the end of this month!
Be sure to pay a visit to Little India and Chinatown.
What do you think about the public transportation? I think its the best in the world, along with Hong Kong. No place you can’t reach by bus/MRT. Not like car-crazy north america :).
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If optimal public goods are provided SGs private sector(something thats akin to mob and openly engages in government supported racketeering) should have been more aggressive in producing something.
I’ll bet that their public biotech funding scam wont generate anything over the next 10 years.
On the contrast look at Kiran Shaws biotechs bet Its run far more efficiently and did not need to be put on the dole.
Singapore is the only country restricting who people can elect as PM based on the money he has.
No wonder any time i ran into a person from singapore they wanted to know what my networth is.
The laws are more screwed up as anything outlawing blowjobs but keeping prostitution legal.
If any indian is considering emigrating there I’d advice him otherwise.
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Atanu:
I think this time I should make a transit halt for a couple of days in Singapore!
You seem to be enjoying it. Have a good time.
Cheers,
Suhit
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Singapore is rich and a very developed place primarily because of its leaders especially Lee Kwan (i am sure i got the spelling incorrect.. but he’s the guy who administered singapore for many years since it was born around 1965).
The rest (public/private) are details.
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I’m residing in singpore over last 2 yrs, but wireless@sg is not so popular despite being free. Fortunately I catch the signal at my home too. But it is dismal 512 Kbps compared to what I get through a cable which goes all the way upto 100 Mbps.
Nonetheless, things works in Singapore as exactly planned, however bad transperancy ratings and service standards irk many an elite and rights groups.
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I live in Singapore and I love wireless@sg. An year ago, there were only designted places where u could access wi-fi. Mc Donalds offered it for free, so it used to be a pretty popular place to do group projects etc due to the ease in accessing the net. Now, you can access internet from almost anywhere. The connectivity is not bad and things will only improve. Most of all, it’s free. So even if I am not at home or school, all I need to do is flip open my laptop, log on, and I’m good to go:)
Also, it is a crime in Singapore to tap into someone else’s home broadband/wi-fi network.
@Atanu
Wow. You came to Singapore? Hope you liked it. Funan is great for IT products. You can even get a bargain. Hope you bought something.
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