What success actually means for Singaporeans

By Sam Gibb

Income inequality in Singapore is one of the highest in the developed world, which has recently raised concerns about the cost of living amongst other economic issues. While Singapore might rank as one of the most productive economies in the world on a GDP per capita basis, this doesn’t translate into happiness or perceived success for Singaporeans.

As Singapore matures, there is a strong need to shift the focus away from the traditional 5C’s, namely: Cash, Car, Credit card, Condominium and Country Club membership and towards areas that will give people more fulfilment in their lives. A change in perspective will allow people in the Garden City to develop to their potential and increase their perceived prosperity.

While Singapore might top the tables in GDP per capita, GDP only measures economic productivity as a proxy for success. It fails to represent the sentiment and success of the community.

The table below shows how Singapore ranks on various non-traditional indicators of success. While it’s by no means comprehensive, it gives us a different perspective on where Singapore is placed on a global scale of success compared to traditional economic measures. The overall rank is determined by taking the combined rank out of 10 for each of the three categories, with the lowest ranking countries having the highest level of perceived success.

Sources: CIA Factbook, Gallup Institute, Legatum Institute
* Norway and Denmark weren’t ranked in the Gallup poll, for the purposes of calculating the overall rank Sweden was taken as a proxy for the other Scandinavian countries.

The Gini coefficient is a measure of a country’s divergence from a “perfect” level of income equality, with higher values indicating a higher level of inequality. Singapore ranks below Hong Kong but still above Malaysia and a majority of the other developed nations. Importantly, the Scandinavian countries sit at the bottom of the table with the lowest amount of income inequality.

The Scandinavian countries also take pride of place at the top of the Legatum Institute’s Prosperity Index. The Legatum rankings are a balanced measure of success and take into consideration measures of the economy, entrepreneurship, governance, education, health, safety and security, personal freedom, and social capital. After the first 40 countries, the list is predominantly composed of developing countries with well known poverty, corporate governance, and corruption issues.

Based on the non-traditional indicators of success, it appears that the countries which have a more balanced view of success tend to be happier than those driven primarily by economic factors (something to think about before you buy that new iPhone or Louis V bag).

Last year Gallup ran a poll which attempted to measure the amount of happy emotions experienced around the world. Singapore came in at the bottom of the poll with 36% of people responding “Yes” to a short number of questions which asked about positive emotions.

Latin American countries took the top spots in the poll with 60%-54% of people answering “Yes” and other developed countries mentioned in the table above sat in the upper half of the results. The reasons Singaporeans gave for the gloomy Gallup results included having “no work-life balance” because they feel that they’re expected to study and work all of the time.

Singapore has traditionally been viewed as a back-office hub where a majority of the work is process-driven. The new economy rewards creative thought, which is hindered by mental stress caused by running the rat race day-in and day-out. As Singapore transitions from a process-driven economy to a knowledge-based economy, people should be encouraged to view success differently and place more value on a balanced lifestyle.

As the populations’ values change from the 5 Cs and realign towards measures that aren’t as focused on economic or academic pursuits, it will present an opportunity for Singaporeans to be more productive, successful, and most importantly happier.

What does “success” mean to you?

Sources:
https://www.gallup.com/poll/158882/singapore-ranks-least-emotional-country-world.aspx#2
https://www.prosperity.com/Ranking.aspx
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_capita

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