The Asianist

Singapore has long prided itself on being a unique international city of varying ethnicities, languages and cultures and being perhaps the cleanest and the most modern city-state in the world.

Now, Asahi Shimbun reports of its attempt to become the international education hub:

Try googling "Singapore" and chances are the word "hub" will appear alongside any mention of the city-state-whether in regard to transport, aviation, tourism, business, finance, even shopping.

With one eye on the sagging birthrate, and the other on its reputation as a safe, clean and prosperous nation, the government has come up with a plan to establish Singapore as Asia's premier "education hub."

Singapore already draws many Asian students from outside Singapore because of its English language system (some call it Singrish) and clean, modern infrastructure:

Even at the primary level, Singapore has long been a popular destination for thousands of Asian students keen to draw on the island's English-speaking culture.

In fact some 20,000 primary and junior high school students-four percent of the country's total 530,000 students-are from overseas. Boarding schools here attract kids as young as 7-years-old...

When Song Jong Fun, 15, first arrived at the dormitory five years ago from Pusan, South Korea, he says he was homesick and miserable.

But as he got used to his surroundings and the language, things started to click.

Now he says he feels like English has become his first language, and worries about his Korean ability...

Students can learn English yet remain an easy flight away from home; parents can breathe easy-conservative Singapore is said to be one of the safest countries in the world; it also has a squeaky-clean reputation for its spotless streets and amenities; and, it's not too hard on the wallet.

Of course, Singapore also has some of the cleanest, cheapest and tasty Asian cuisines in the world! It is a definitely a very attractive place to visit.

Alas! it is also an authoritarian confucianist state (some call it proto-fascist) where the government tightly regulates lives of its citizens (instead of resorting to government violence to enforce its rule, however, it does act in a more civilized fashion -- it launches libel lawsuits against dissidents and bankrupts them). It is the not the kind of place that freedom-livng Americans would make a permanent home.

In any case, the education hub policy has had some unintended side effects:

But the "education hub" project still has a way to go as there are problems on the other side of the school gates.

Some mothers who accompanied non-scholarship students have been caught working illegally-in the sex industry.

The scandal caused a major stir in the outwardly chaste government, which has since refused to issue work permits

Nonetheless, Singapore is on its way to being the premier trade and education hub in Asia. Already, many multinationals have relocated from Hong Kong to Singapore. Should there be some sort of political liberalization, it really would become one of the best places to live in the world.

When Lee Kuan Yew passes from the scene, perhaps.