YouTube video lists S'pore's top 10 feats including being the most expensive -- and exhausted country
Can't keep track of all the international surveys and rankings that Singapore tops?
A YouTube channel called Open Brain has helpfully posted a 12-minute video on Oct 20 listing the top 10 "achievements" of our small nation "with an area of just over 700 sq km and a population of just over 6 million".
The narrator breathlessly intones that despite lacking resources such as oil, natural gas, rubber and "even fresh water", Singapore is the world's third largest financial centre and Asia’s most important shipping hub.
"Super-rich individuals are flocking to Singapore, making it the place with the highest concentration of billionaires in the world." declared the narrator confidently.
And the video hasn't even started on the country's top 10 achievements yet.
The first list that Singapore tops is the 2024 Elite Quality Index, where we surpassed Switzerland to claim the summit. This comes in a segment about Singapore having the "best education in Asia".
What is the Elite Quality Index?
It apparently "provides a unique dataset for academic research, original insight on the human and economic development trajectories of nations and an applied benchmark for elite transformational leadership" and is a measurement of "sustainable value creation that shed new light on specific areas of the political economy".
Singapore overtook Hong Kong in the "Economic Freedom of the World" report in 2023, but the special administrative region of China regained the top spot in 2024.
According to the video, Singapore also has the wealthiest economy and safest city in Asia, and is second globally.
In the Corruption Perception Index, the country takes pole position in Asia but is ranked No. 5 globally.
Singapore apparently has the best airport (after Doha), busiest seaport (after Shanghai), the most efficient government and, of course, the most expensive city.
Saving the worst for last, the video concludes with Singapore topping the global fatigue index as the most exhausted country in the world.
Stomper Alex shared a photo of man who was apparently so exhausted that he was lying on the floor on MRT train on the North-East Line. He slept all the way from Dhoby Ghaut to Punggol station, according to the Stomper.
In terms of average working hours, Singapore ranks first in Asia with nearly 43 hours a week per person.
"In reality, long working hours are not a new phenomenon in Singapore as many perceive that Singaporeans possess an inherent spirit of resilience," said the narrator.
"Continuous effort is necessary to maintain the nation's competitiveness."
How else is Singapore is going to stay on top of all those lists?
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