This paper provides a comprehensive cultural and business analysis of Singapore, examining how major elements of culture — including religion, ethics, values, social structures, and ethnic relations — shape business practices in the city-state. It compares Singapore's cultural dimensions with those of the United States and assesses implications for American firms seeking to enter the Singaporean market. Topics covered include Singapore's economic development, heritage conservation policy, the influence of British colonization, ethnic integration programs, housing policy, and the challenges of sustaining growth in a small, open, trade-dependent economy. The paper draws on a wide range of scholarly sources to argue that Singapore's success rests on disciplined governance, multicultural integration, and adaptive economic policy.
The objective of this study is to examine how the major elements and dimensions of culture — including religion, ethics, values, attitudes, manners, customs, social structures, and organizations — are integrated in Singapore and how they shape local business conduct. This work also compares these elements and dimensions with United States culture and business practices. Finally, this work examines the implications for U.S. businesses that wish to conduct business in Singapore.
Abeysinghe and Choy (2009) report that the economy of Singapore has undergone a transformation that has turned it into "an Asian powerhouse" due to "far-sighted economic policies." The economy of Singapore demonstrates the outcome of a market-driven approach during a period of rapid development, characterized by high per capita income and an environment free of corruption in which the workforce is both motivated and educated. The financial infrastructure of Singapore is legally well established.
Koolhaas and Mau (1995, p. 1013) stated that Singapore is "incredibly western for an Asian city." Urbanization and globalization are said to have "set in motion an expanding global culture of McWorld that is fast eclipsing local culture in many Asian cities" (Yuen, 2006, p. 831). Hall (2000, p. 640) is reported to have stated that culture "is now seen as the magic substitute for all the factories and warehouses, and as a device that will create a new urban image, making the city more attractive to mobile capital and mobile professional workers." Others have interpreted the economic benefits of culture more narrowly, noting that it is "a means to encourage urban tourism development" (Yuen, 2006, p. 640).
Osman-Gani and Tan (2002) report Singapore to be one of the most dynamic economies in Asia and one that "has consistently been ranked one of the most competitive nations in the world, with a world-class infrastructure and high standard of living that is comparable to developed countries such as the United States" (p. 819). Singapore is located at the southernmost tip of the Malaysian peninsula, "a strength that enables it to be the focal point of interaction between the East and the West." Singapore is home to hundreds of multinational companies from America, Japan, Germany, England, France, Scandinavia, and other parts of the world. The main religions in Singapore are Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, and Taoism (Osman-Gani and Tan, 2002). Osman-Gani and Tan additionally report that interactions "among the three main ethnic groups occur daily in social and business life and have become an essential part of doing business in Singapore" (p. 819).
Lefebvre (1996) states that the city "historically constructed is no longer lived and understood practically. It is only an object of cultural consumption for tourists" (p. 148). Heritage tourism has driven the issue of conservation in European cities, in American cities, and in Asia. However, the Asian urban heritage has received consideration from only a very few scholars. Mason and de la Torre (2000) concluded that "the philosophy, planning, policy, and practices of urban heritage conservation are rooted and in many ways still dominated by canons and assumptions formulated a century ago in Western Europe and North America" (Yuen, 2006, p. 640).
Yuen (2006) writes in "Reclaiming Cultural Heritage in Singapore" that Hall (2000) argued culture is now viewed as the fix-all for the manufacturing sector and that it will result in the creation of a new image for urban areas, making the city more viable to mobile capital and mobile professional workers. The economic benefits are cited as a reason to support urban tourism development. Yuen (2006) notes that cities in Asia and throughout the world undergoing rapid modernization are unknowingly destroying their heritage resources due to the demands of urban development. Ley (1987) describes this process with reference to Vancouver as follows:
"a corporate urban landscape, the product of an increasingly corporate society … the planning and design of the modern city was a blueprint for placelessness, of anonymous, impersonal spaces, massive structures, and automobile throughways."
Likewise, historic buildings in Singapore have been destroyed due to pressure to create newness, and as a result Singapore has started to look homogenized — much like any other city in the world — and has lost much of its cultural interest. Heritage conservation is an idea supported by tourism revenue, and this is true throughout the world as well as in Singapore.
The Singapore Tourism Task Force Report stated that in order to draw tourists to Singapore, the historical districts would have to be preserved. Tourism dollars are cited as the largest economic driver of cultural and heritage conservation. Visitors to historical and cultural sites spend on average more than $631 over an average stay of 4.7 nights, compared to $457 over 3.4 nights by other travelers in the United States (Yuen, 2006, paraphrased). Aitchison, MacLeod, and Shaw (2000) report:
"the presence of the past within the landscape itself … has also long evoked fascination and is a strong motivator for leisure and tourism. Whether a landscape has historic or cultural associations or demonstrates the mark of previous civilizations, the heritage it symbolizes seems to have deep roots and suggest a wide appeal." (p. 94)
Cultural and heritage-based tourism is the focus of many cities throughout the world. Philadelphia, for example, reported an investment of $12 million in private and public spending on heritage tourism. European cities are similarly reporting increased spending on cultural and heritage tourism. Richards (1996) reports that cultural tourism is among the most rapidly expanding segments in the global tourism market, with cultural tourism evolving into an entirely new tourism industry with various interpretations of heritage as well as the interpretations applied to Singaporean products and experiences in the city (Yuen, 2006, paraphrased).
"Place identity, city branding, and Asian roots policy"
"Ethnic quotas, multiculturalism, and national integration"
"Foreign investment, trade exposure, and development dilemmas"
"Synthesis of growth, integration, and sustainability challenges"
You’re 23% through this paper. Sign up to read the remaining 4 sections.
Sign Up Now — Instant Access Already a member? Log inAlways verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.