A tale of two cities…

As Hong Kong was holding its breath hoping that Sunday’s 1.7 million-strong demonstration would not turn violent again (and thankfully it didn’t), Singapore’s PM Lee Hsien Loong was giving his National Day Rally speech, announcing (among other measures) lower tuition fees for higher education and, you guessed it, more housing supply.

The planned Greater Southern Waterfront development, dubbed by PM Lee as « Punggol by the Bay », will indeed include the supply of 9,000 new housing units, including affordable HDB.

Lower tuition fees and more affordable housing… Isn’t that precisely what is missing in Hong Kong and what is fueling violent demonstrations there ?

One city is charting its own course. The other is looking North for its mission orders… Investors will decide which is more attractive.

Picture credits: Jason Quah / The Straits Times

Nicolas Michelon

Nicolas is a corporate geoeconomics and strategic & business intelligence expert with 25 years of experience in the Asia-Pacific, and more recently in the Gulf and Türkiye. A Managing Partner at Alagan Partners, he advises corporate executives on how to navigate the current geopolitical and geoeconomic environment, mitigate risk and develop prospective scenarios. He is also an Adjunct Professor & Guest Lecturer in geopolitics, geoeconomics and business intelligence at ESCP Business School (France), Galatasaray University (Türkiye), University Mohammed VI Polytechnic (Morocco), and Ecole de Guerre Economique (Paris School of Economic Warfare).