I'm a big fan of Singapore. I've lived here twelve years. It's our home of choice. I obviously love it here, but this week, I'm loving it more than usual.
First off, my teenage son left his wallet and phone in the bathroom at soccer practice. In most countries, he'd never see that phone again. But not Singapore. Nope! Somebody found it and immediately turned it in to security at the school. They didn't even want the reward that I'd offered. They just wanted to do the right thing and help a young man get his phone back. Seriously. Where else would that happen? This, by the way, comes only a couple of weeks after he left the same wallet in the MRT. Again, it was returned immediately. And yes, I am now looking at one of those wallet chains that good ol' boys from my home state of Texas wear. It may be the only solution for my son's forgetfulness.
But I'm also pretty proud of Singapore over the whole Taylor Swift thing. I found some really amazing, decently-priced tickets (lucky me!) and took my teenage daughter on opening night. I got tickets the day before we went and, when I told her we were going after all, she literally cried. She never once begged or whined for tickets so I was kind of shocked when she was so over-the-top happy that I'd scored some tickets. And let me tell you, that Taylor Swift puts on one amazing show! It was worth every bit of effort to find seats. I felt like Mom of the Year.
And if you ask me, Singapore is kind of like Country of the Year. I know half the globe is mad at Singapore over the exclusive Southeast Asia contract, but man - what a smart business move! Truly - keeping Taylor Swift here for six concerts was a masterstroke for Singapore's economy. Sure, Taylor Swift got a big ol' bucket of money for doing six shows here. Nobody is saying how much exactly though Channel News Asia is reporting the grant as they're calling it was between $2-$3 million without revealing its source. But if you think about it, Taylor Swift and her crew also didn't have to travel like a mad dog. Staying put was good for her and good for Singapore's post-covid economy. To me, it just shows how smart and savvy Singapore is and why it's the strong economic center it is in this region. Business can be cutthroat and Singapore played its cards really well.
How lucky are we to live in a country where its people return wallets and phones and the government comes up with a brilliant way to watch out for its economy? Go Singapore, go!
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