Singapore tries to break free of the ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ cliché

One of my favourite spots to walk past in Singapore is what my daughter calls the “red car house”. Nestled on a corner in one of Singapore’s richest neighbourhoods, the house in question is actually a grandiose mansion with at least six red Ferraris and Lamborghinis parked outside. 

Owned by a wealthy local businessman, the house is well known in Singapore. It is so opulent that it features in a Crazy Rich Asians-inspired tour of the tiny, island city-state, based on the popular 2018 film.

The Hollywood hit was an invaluable marketing vehicle for Singapore and a gamble by its tourism board and film commission. Both threw their weight — and an undisclosed sum — behind the movie. The gamble paid off. After the film’s release, Singapore experienced a record number of tourists and enjoyed a wave of global attention.

Now, however, Singapore is trying to play down the movie and the image that it presents. A reputation for high living and expensive business costs have become a sensitive topic for locals ahead of the next general election.

The city, one of Asia’s main financial centres, has been ranked the world’s most expensive for nine of the past 11 years by the annual Worldwide Cost of Living survey from the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Singapore wants to convince locals and expats otherwise. “What does it really cost to live in Singapore — the world’s ‘most expensive’ city?” ran a recent article from one of the government agencies. This dismissed “familiar tropes”, including “over-the-top mansions in Crazy Rich Asians, the infinity pool at Marina Bay Sands and incredibly expensive cars”. 

The government’s arguments are not all that convincing. Cost-saving advice includes not having to buy seasonal clothing because “it’s summer all year round”. There are also promises of 45c cups of coffee (I am yet to find this deal) and the ability to rent government housing, held up as proof that the city is not “necessarily as expensive” as London or New York.

For some, the city’s extravagant reputation is still a bonus. Philip Choo, who was inspired by the book to launch the city’s first Crazy Rich Asians tour in 2014, says he is still enjoying high demand from customers, especially from the US. 

But a spate of recent news stories has reinforced the cliché of foreigners living lavish lifestyles and pushing up costs for everyone else. In May, 35-year-old Chinese citizen Wang YunHe was arrested in Singapore for allegedly running one of the world’s largest cyber crime computer networks. According to the indictment, his possessions included a luxury apartment in the city’s glitzy Orchard shopping district, a Ferrari F8 Spider and a number of Patek Philippe watches.

The result is that more Singaporeans are questioning government schemes that have enticed the rich to live here. One example is the family office regime. There are now more than 1,400 single family offices — funds that manage a family’s wealth — in the city-state, compared with 50 in 2018. 

Manu Bhaskaran, an economist and chief executive of consultancy Centennial Asia Advisors, told me that Singapore’s rising costs were the product of government policy. The “business model brings in foreign investors who bid up rents, wages, and other service costs . . . The family offices are an example — how much extra revenue do they generate for the rest of us?”

Perhaps aware of such sentiment, another government article has proclaimed that Singapore’s high cost of living is limited to wealthy expatriates. It claimed city ranking calculations include “products such as brand name raincoats and foreign daily newspapers” not typically purchased by Singaporean households.

Singaporeans are unimpressed. “Not sure why they cherry picked two items and said it’s not relevant to Singaporeans,” wrote one Reddit user. Another observed that the difference might lie in the suggestion that locals should have different expectations to foreigners. “It is only expensive for expats because the average Singaporeans are not supposed to aspire for the finer things in life.”

mercedes.ruehl@ft.com