Let's get facts straight 1) I had used 2 or 3 hours figuratively to express how much closer Dubai was to the Western Europe than Singapore. 2) You are not seriously comparing London to Australia are you? 3) I saw this year's entire smoke event on BBC & Bloomberg and it was much more severe than what you have alluded to, it was so thick Haslinda Amin said she could not see ten feet away and everyone was wearing breathing apparatuses 4) I have traveled the World, Singapore besides suffering from Indonesian smoke is also tropical i.e. its hot and humid where as in Dubai its dry desert heat much more bearable 5) Sophisticated travelers seek a lot more than beaches, they seek life style. However as I said if I was seeking a tax shelter it would be Monaco not Singapore or Dubai.
I have been to both places and much prefer the Singaporean lifestyle, personally. Dubai felt a little sterile to me. The smog in Singapore was pretty bad, but it went away quite quickly, to be fair. Horses for courses, innit?
Ultimately that's what it always boils down to: Horses for courses. I doubt either Singapore or Dubai would suit me -- I like a bit of scale to a city -- yet I suspect six months in either would be fun. That said my wife is pretty damn adamant about not spending time in the Middle East or anywhere else where woman are considered chattel to be treated as the men see fit. In the interest of domestic bliss I am not taking the other side of that debate!
Yes ... that's my understanding. At this point in my life I have no patience for those that want to tell me that I need to be more tolerant of others intolerance because it is their culture. I'm prepared to accept what's reasonable in any culture even if it's not my cup of tea but treating people as second class citizens is offensive no matter how it gets dressed up.
The smog was unpleasant but in my 7 or 8 years in the region I only recall it being a major issue once (in 2006 or 2007 I think). Singapore property is pricey but I should imagine it compares very favourably with Monaco. It's ridiculous to suggest the only attraction is beaches. There's the excitement of cities as diverse as Bangkok, Saigon, Jakarta, Phnom Penh and others too numerous to mention; the world's greatest historical site at Angkor Wat. On the subject of freedom of speech they are not perfect but in general the judicial system is totally clean(quite a novelty for SE Asia). The weather can be extremely humid but the temperature never reaches the absurd heights of summer in Dubai, the cost of cars is insane, the people can resemble automatons but overall it's quite a liveable place.
It would be very much easy for a trader who is single to move from country to country this way, but if we are living with family, then shifting with the entire family is a hassle.
You mean like the soldiers in Iraq who are fighting for...I forgot, what are they fighting for again? Oh, Lockheed, Northrop and Halliburton - that's it. So yeah, there are people who understand this and don't want their offspring to risk their lives to make someone else just a tiny bit richer.