Last night, I got a WhatsApp message from a friend in Abu
Dhabi, to inform me that they were celebrating in the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”)
passport had just overtaken Singapore’s as the world’s most powerful. The UAE
passport lets you into 167 different countries visa-free versus 166 for Singapore.
As a good Singaporean, I offered my congratulations and we ended up chatting
about the history of Singapore and the comparison with Dubai.
On paper, Dubai and Singapore are very similar. Both are
small trading ports that have prospered with very little by way of natural
resources (OK, Dubai had some oil, and Singapore has a fabulous port). Both
have thrived as havens of stability in regions which aren’t known for it (a
more accurate description is that Dubai is a haven of “fun” in a region that is
the living opposite of “fun”). When my stepdad moved there in the early 1990s,
his only remark was that Dubai models itself on Singapore. Having visited in
2017 and most recently, two weeks ago, my description of Dubai is that it is “Singapore
on Steroids.”
Like Singapore, Dubai builds a lot of big tall buildings on very
little. Like Singapore, life in Dubai seems to centre around the “Shopping Mall.”
It’s just that everything in Dubai seems to be that much more extravagant than
in most places – Singapore included.
The description of Dubai as Singapore on steroids has spilled
into an interesting rivalry in a few areas. The most recent one was the battle for
British shipping Company, P&O Maritime Services, which became the subsidiary
of Dubai Ports after a takeover with ……Port Authority of Singapore (PSA). That’s
not all. Singapore’s national airline, SIA constantly competes with Emirates of
Dubai to see who produces the best fist class experience.
However, while Dubai and Singapore are similar in many ways,
their paths and approach to prosperity were and are very different and you have
to look at their different paths to prosperity in terms of their relationship
with their immediate neighbor. For Dubai, it’s the anchor Emirate of Abu Dhabi
and for Singapore it’s Malaysia. Both Singapore and Dubai share, what one
Indian business executive called a “constructive” rivalry where each tries to
out do each other in constructive things – ie you build a port, I build a
bigger one – you have an F1 race, I’ll have a better F1 race.
Yet, there are subtle differences in how the relationship
with the “bigger brother” has shaped the culture of both cities.
As a Singaporean, I’ve grown up with the message that
Singapore has succeeded in spite of everything. Lee Kuan Yew our founding
father, went as far as to describe the concept of an “Independent Singapore” as
a “ridiculous notion.” We are constantly reminded that Singapore has no natural
resources, particularly water and we are told that we need to “fight” in the
world for what little we have.
While, I do think from time-to-time, that the threat from
Malaysia and Indonesia is overblown, there was a time when it was not or at
least, it wasn’t worth the risk trying to find out. My two and a half years in
the SAF were all about ensuring that Singapore could hold its own in the world
should the neighbourhood bullies think we were a soft touch.
And Malaysia, has coincidentally done its part to ensure
that we can keep our culture and policies of paranoia. While native born
Singaporeans and Malaysians almost speak the same language, the politicians in
KL have uncanny ability to frighten us into something. Back when I was doing PR
for PUB, I always argued that the man who made Singapore’s “Newater” available
was the once and current Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dr. Mohammad Mahathir, who
had made threatening noises about cutting off Singapore’s water supply. At that
moment, our then Prime Minister, Mr. Goh Chok Tong, promptly revealed that we
had found a way of getting healthy recycled water and we, the public drank it
as a celebratory “up yours” to our cousins in the north.
While Singapore and Malaysia may seem like churlish siblings
to the rest of the world, there was a time when things were downright ugly
thanks to one of the worst of the “isms” – racism. Singapore remains majority
Chinese. Malaysia remains predominantly Malay. As an ethnic Chinese, I say this
with no malice intended but the Chinese are, as a group, more aggressive and
commercially successful. This minor fact allowed unscrupulous politicians to
play up resentments and there is a generation of people who have experienced
being on the wrong side of brutal race riots.
One of the ironies of history is that Lee Kuan Yew, who was
by all accounts, a man in a hurry and a man with great ambition, wanted
Singapore to be part of Malaysia. He had a vision where a well-run Malaysia,
with all its natural resources, could be exceptionally prosperous. Being part
of Malaysia would have made Singapore secure in terms of its food, water and
energy resources. However, Mr. Lee, while exceptionally brilliant, failed to
read the mood in Malaysia and the feelings of the ethnic Malays. His brash, let’s
finish it in half the time, style didn’t gel with Malaysia’s founding Prime
Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman. An excerpt of an interview with the “Tunku” can
be found below:
As was said around Lee Kuan Yew’s death, his greatest
success, namely independent Singapore came as a result of his greatest failure –
the Federation of Malaysia. Everything that Singapore has gotten right comes from
the sense of vulnerability of being thrown out unceremoniously from the
Malaysian Federation. As far as Malaysia was concerned, Mr. Lee was a brash upstart
who did not know his place and you can’t help but feel that Singaporeans treat
their Malaysian cousins as the bumpkins who didn’t understand the future.
Dubai and Abu Dhabi have a different sort of relationship. If
Singapore is Malaysia’s younger, pushier cousin with a chip on his shoulder,
Dubai behaves like the extrovert brother who understands big brother still
loves him but he’s big brother for a good reason.
The UAE was something that both sides wanted to happen. Both
Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktum (father of the current ruler of Dubai) and Sheikh
Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan (father of the current ruler of Abu Dhabi) got along
well enough to see the value of being in a federation together. The formation
of the UAE is famously recorded as being part of handshake deal between two tribal
leaders below:
While the relationship between Abu Dhabi and Dubai
(particularly between the ruling families), hasn’t always been smooth sailing,
both sides managed to come to an agreement on how to work together for each other’s
mutual benefit.
Dubai has marketed itself brilliantly, so much so that it
tends to annoy people from everywhere else in the region. I still remember
working for the Saudis and having to deal with upset Saudis who were asked “which
part of Dubai” are you from (Saudi Arabia being most of the Arabian Peninsula
and Dubai being a speck by comparison)?
While Dubai has positioned itself as the place to be in the
Arabian Gulf, Abu Dhabi the “real” power in the Emirate. Dubai was impressive
and had lots of activity (booze and spas included), it was very clear upon
entering Abu Dhabi that this was where the real money was. I always remember being
blown away by the Arabi women coming out of the Shangri La dressed in Abaya.
How does this work? I guess you could say that Dubai gets
away with it because Abu Dhabi is by no means the poorer relation in the way
that Kuala Lumpur is to Singapore. Big Brother is secure in his position.
If I return to my analogy of Dubai being Singapore on steroids,
its because Dubai comes from a very different perspective. In Singapore, we’re
told that you run or die. We can only do so much because everything is limited
and there are millions trying to have our lunch. You can’t have steroids because,
well there are no steroids.
While Dubai itself has no hydrocarbon wealth, it has an insurance
policy of a big brother with plenty of hydrocarbon wealth. While Dubai does
contribute to the federal budget of the UAE, Abu Dhabi remains by far and away
the place with the real money and as most famously shown in the 2008 crisis,
investors looked to Abu Dhabi to come to the rescue and Burj Al Arab became Burj
Khalifa in honour of the ruler of Abu Dhabi who stepped in to save the day.
As someone who was self-employed for many years, I realized that
I often ended up doing jobs because something was better than nothing even if
the job would end up costing more than it was worth. I needed money and didn’t
know when the next cheque was coming. People who don’t need the money can
afford to say no and eventually get their jobs and their price.
If you use that analogy, Dubai is the self-employed person
who can afford to say no because they know they have a back-up in the form of
Big Brother’s support. Dubai can build bigger and better than anyone else
because the damage of failure won’t be what it is compared to what it is in a
place like Singapore.
What does Abu Dhabi get out of being Dubai’s back up? The
answer is probably the fact that first movers don’t always win. Abu Dhabi is
well aware that it cannot live off hydrocarbons forever and its got to find
other sources of revenue – but which way should they go.
The answer lies in Dubai. While Dubai does this and that,
Abu Dhabi can sit back and observe what works and what does not work.
When I went to meet my friend in Abu Dhabi, it coincided
with the preparations of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. I remarked that Abu Dhabi
was quieter than Dubai and she said, “Yes, we are more conservative than Dubai
but we are now competing with Dubai to bring the world to us.” Tourism worked
for Dubai and so, Abu Dhabi is working to develop tourism. Abu Dhabi has also
seen what type of tourist they want (a different sort from Dubai). As far as
the Abu Dhabi -Dubai relationship is concerned, big brother is watching little
brother tread the stones in the river and following a more careful path.
Singapore and Dubai’s path to success are different. Neither
is better or worse, but suits their context. Historical conditions got
Singapore on the path that it did and the same is true for Dubai.
For entrepreneurs, there’s probably a lesson from both cities.
One should probably be like Singapore in the early stages of development – work
in Andy Grove’s maxim of “Only the paranoid survives.” Always have the
mentality that you can be squashed at any moment – it will help you conserve
resources and you learn to play off bigger boys against each other.
But you should also be like Dubai in the way it is
cultivated a symbiotic relationship with a “patron,” someone who will help keep
you safe from the nasty stuff the world has to offer.
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