Average Joe White virtually invisible in Singapore!

[MatureDJ]

Oh BTW, if you go to Singapore, make sure to not overstay your visa:

http://www.breitbart.com/national-secur ... ying-visa/

Why in the h3ll would anyone want to visit that hellhole?

[publicduende]

Singapore is an 'off shore' banking center. Rich individuals can hide money in Singapore, kind of like the role Switzerland had in Europe. There is more to the economy than ships coming and going.

I hope I did not give the impression of using Singapore to hide wealth. The new FATCA law renders former offshore hiding places null and void since both you and the bank must annually declare your holdings. If there is a discrepancy, you are toast and the Dept of Treasury and IRS, will come after you.

I do advocate offshore banking as a diversification strategy and a hedge against future capital controls.

So yes, Singapore is to Asia what Switzerland is for Europe. At least Switzerland is a large country full of scenic beauty and has a long and deep history. Singapore is an artificial urban utopia masterminded by the rule of a single family. When I was living there about 8 years ago the "God simulator" games were still popular and my foreign friends and I used to compare it to a well-played game of SimCity.

As to people who have to pay FATCA...they just switch citizenship. Eduardo Saverin, Internet billionaire (and billionaire from family legacy, this is less known), has been a Singapore citizen since 2011. Married to a local beauty and moving millions across the coolest investments in the world. No more FATCA to worry about. That's who Singapore is made for.



By the way, offshore banking is good when you have a lot of money. Most private wealth managers in SG won't even talk to you if you have less than $10M to give them.

[MrMan]

Oh BTW, if you go to Singapore, make sure to not overstay your visa:

http://www.breitbart.com/national-secur ... ying-visa/

Why in the h3ll would anyone want to visit that hellhole?

That's severe. I don't have a problem with Singaporeans caning for an intentional violent crime as heinous or worse than the caning. But caning for overstaying a visa? If they'd just use a regular best or something like that, it wouldn't be a bit deal. But their method of caning is brutal. That's really extreme for overstaying a visa.

But caning may be one reason for the low crime rate in Singapore. I was in Singapore many years ago, probably ten years ago at that trip. I heard an add that said something like, "The crime rate in Singapore is less than 2%. But be careful, because low crime does not mean no crime." I don't remember the exact percent. It was something like that. What would a 2% crime rate mean anyway? What is a unit of crime. Whatever the case, Singapore is a well-ordered society. When I've been there, I felt relatively safe.

I think if I ever accidentally overstayed my visa there, I'd be on the first fishing boat I could find to Batam, Indonesia, or Riau or something like that. If I couldn't get a boat, I might buy a floatee, a life vest, and a paddle, head for the beach and see if I could paddle to Batam. Indonesia just fines people the last I heard. The other alternative would be Malaysia, especially if you could find a way to make it to the entrance immigration agent for Malaysia without talking to the exit agent for Singapore.

Back around 1998 or 1999 after Soeharto stepped down and the big riots,I heard about someone who had a half-Indonesian daughter on a US passport whose passport lapsed. His visa agent didn't keep up with it, and neither did he. Immigration threatened the take his daughter and hold her hostage if he didn't pay $80k or something ridiculous like that. So he just paid someone else to issue her an Indonesian passport. But realistically if you go to the airport with an overstayed visa, you are looking at a daily fine that wasn't incredibly high, way back when. A few hundred dollars could cover a family.

[HouseMD]

FATCA lasts for ten years after you renounce your US citizenship, and violation can easily get you extradited for tax evasion. So Mr. Billionaire is still paying what little taxes his accountant can't swindle him out of (he's likely minimizing sales for the ten year block).

[starchild5]

Oh BTW, if you go to Singapore, make sure to not overstay your visa:

http://www.breitbart.com/national-secur ... ying-visa/

Why in the h3ll would anyone want to visit that hellhole?

You would want to research Amos Lee....He exposes how fake Singapore is....He is a teen blogger and was arrested for his opinion on late PM lee...He was just granted asylum in America.

It's actually much worse than any place in Asia. You are only free to use the beautiful roads and walkways if you do not criticize the government on anything. He says the same government is ruling Singapore for last 50 years...all Media is owned by the government etc...

check out his videos...I found him one of the smartest guys in Asia. I think Winston would not like to be challenged on most free thinking Asian tag...but this guy is a serious threat to Winston's crown

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNJo_aZL9i4[/youtube]

[MrMan]

FATCA lasts for ten years after you renounce your US citizenship, and violation can easily get you extradited for tax evasion. So Mr. Billionaire is still paying what little taxes his accountant can't swindle him out of (he's likely minimizing sales for the ten year block).

That doesn't make sense to me. 50% of millions of dollars is better than 0% of million of dollars. He could also invest in investments that are likely to have a paydate further out, for example a company that uses equity finance that is expected to IPO in 10 years. He could have in the contract to force a sale. And of course, investing in one company doesn't make sense, but investing in several of them where his capital would grow where he could take it out after 10 years would make sense. I just read Singapore does not have capital gains tax.

I don't know why a billionaire really cares if he pays taxes or not. It is not like having $500 million instead of $1 billion is going to effect your day-to-day lifestyle. You probably wouldn't buy a fancier brand of cavier to eat for breakfast.

[HouseMD]

FATCA lasts for ten years after you renounce your US citizenship, and violation can easily get you extradited for tax evasion. So Mr. Billionaire is still paying what little taxes his accountant can't swindle him out of (he's likely minimizing sales for the ten year block).

That doesn't make sense to me. 50% of millions of dollars is better than 0% of million of dollars. He could also invest in investments that are likely to have a paydate further out, for example a company that uses equity finance that is expected to IPO in 10 years. He could have in the contract to force a sale. And of course, investing in one company doesn't make sense, but investing in several of them where his capital would grow where he could take it out after 10 years would make sense. I just read Singapore does not have capital gains tax.

I don't know why a billionaire really cares if he pays taxes or not. It is not like having $500 million instead of $1 billion is going to effect your day-to-day lifestyle. You probably wouldn't buy a fancier brand of cavier to eat for breakfast.

Capital gains aren't taxes until they are sold (capitalized). He can make plenty of profit, the trick is billing his living expenses as business expenses and minimizing capitalization through other similar means until ten years has passed.

[MrMan]

Okay, I think we are saying the same thing. When you said 'minimizing sales' I was focusing on the fact that he was an Internet billionaire. My mind went to online retail sales. I don't know about him. He could have his money in company stock that he could sell off years down the line.

For other readers, if you buy stock and the price goes up, you don't pay taxes on the increase of the stock price until you sell it. If he waits 10 years, he may not have to pay taxes on it. It is also possible to have stock in private companies for which there is no active market to buy and sell the stock. It can be difficult to get your money out of a company like this, especially if they retain earnings (keeping the money to invest it in the company, hopefully, instead of paying it out as dividends to shareholders.) But shareholders can have a contract to force a sale, and certain types of company may be able to IPO, going onto the stock market where sales are sold at a profit to investors. Or they can be acquired for cash by larger companies that want to buy them up. Large internet companies, for example, will buy smaller companies that have technology or services they want.

[publicduende]

FATCA lasts for ten years after you renounce your US citizenship, and violation can easily get you extradited for tax evasion. So Mr. Billionaire is still paying what little taxes his accountant can't swindle him out of (he's likely minimizing sales for the ten year block).

Shit, didn't know that. Wow...Being American...the gift that keeps giving!!

[publicduende]

Don't want to turn this thread into a Singapore-bashing one but, coincidentally...

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-05-2 ... -sp-downgr

Noble is one of SG's crown jewels, together with Standard Chartered (long sold back off to the Brit and plunged back into tier-3 mediocrity).

[MrMan]

The long-haired young man in the video didn't sound Singaporean. Maybe he spent some time in North America. For all his complaints, has he been arrested?

A Singaporean friend of mine hinted at some of the same ideas. Singapore had the same ruler, prime minister I think, for decades. But they use the law and make everything formal and the world doesn't consider their country to be a dictatorship.

Does this make Singapore a bad country? There are some bad things about Singapore. I consider some of their punishments to be too harsh. It sounds over-regulated. I like to be able to get a taxi on the side of the road without lining up at designated taxi stands for example. But does that make it the worst country in the world or even a 'bad country' compared to other countries? I don't think so.

Is the fact that the same leader was in power a long time make it a bad country? No. If it isn't as democratic as other countries, does that make it a bad country? No. Benevolent dictatorships can work. I'd rather live in a benevolent dictatorship than in a democracy where most people thought you should chop someone's hand off for stealing a chicken or a pair of shoes, and where there is a basic lack of human rights.

Singapore does seem like it could be a kind of dull place to live. Happiness indexes are often skewed toward the culture in which they are developed. One of them asks questions which highly rank countries where people consider themselves to be free. There are certain variables that cause the Scandinavian countries to rank high, followed by the Anglo and other European countries. They don't ask questions about living together in harmony, which may be a more eastern view of happiness. I'm not saying Singapore is all that harmonious. It's probably too career-obsessed. It's expensive to live there, so there are probably a lot of people there with their noses to the grindstones all the time.

On the other hand, they do try to figure out away to get their working-class citizens into some kind of housing.

I heard the government was promoting events to get singles to meet so they could marry several years ago. Women can be career-oriented, and it may not be the best place to meet women compared to the surrounding region. Some Singaporean men import brides from Vietnam and other places.

[zboy1]

Singaporeans and to a lesser extent, Hong Kong people, are basically clones of Westernized, Asians with the worst traits of native Asians and overseas Asians mixed together in a toxic mix.

Avoid.

China, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia are much better places to find woman and to have a social life.

[starchild5]

The long-haired young man in the video didn't sound Singaporean. Maybe he spent some time in North America. For all his complaints, has he been arrested?

A Singaporean friend of mine hinted at some of the same ideas. Singapore had the same ruler, prime minister I think, for decades. But they use the law and make everything formal and the world doesn't consider their country to be a dictatorship.

Does this make Singapore a bad country? There are some bad things about Singapore. I consider some of their punishments to be too harsh. It sounds over-regulated. I like to be able to get a taxi on the side of the road without lining up at designated taxi stands for example. But does that make it the worst country in the world or even a 'bad country' compared to other countries? I don't think so.

Is the fact that the same leader was in power a long time make it a bad country? No. If it isn't as democratic as other countries, does that make it a bad country? No. Benevolent dictatorships can work. I'd rather live in a benevolent dictatorship than in a democracy where most people thought you should chop someone's hand off for stealing a chicken or a pair of shoes, and where there is a basic lack of human rights.

Singapore does seem like it could be a kind of dull place to live. Happiness indexes are often skewed toward the culture in which they are developed. One of them asks questions which highly rank countries where people consider themselves to be free. There are certain variables that cause the Scandinavian countries to rank high, followed by the Anglo and other European countries. They don't ask questions about living together in harmony, which may be a more eastern view of happiness. I'm not saying Singapore is all that harmonious. It's probably too career-obsessed. It's expensive to live there, so there are probably a lot of people there with their noses to the grindstones all the time.

On the other hand, they do try to figure out away to get their working-class citizens into some kind of housing.

I heard the government was promoting events to get singles to meet so they could marry several years ago. Women can be career-oriented, and it may not be the best place to meet women compared to the surrounding region. Some Singaporean men import brides from Vietnam and other places.

YES> HE WAS ARRESTED TWICE... That is the big problem in Singapore.....merely for expressing his opinion...That's how amazing singapore is ...hiding behind good roads and infrastructure while harboring criminals on top who do multi billion dollar swindling.

Blogger Amos Yee arrested again

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/b ... ed-again-0

Singapore police arrest 17-year-old over critical Lee Kuan Yew video

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/ ... -yew-video

Blogger Amos Yee arrested again

http://www.asiaone.com/singapore/blogge ... sted-again

The big problem with "Benevolent dictatorships" is they seem to not handle a 17 year old kids opinion

TEENAGE SINGAPOREAN BLOGGER AMOS YEE DETAINED IN US WHILE SEEKING ASYLUM

http://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/a ... ing-asylum

[MatureDJ]

The long-haired young man in the video didn't sound Singaporean. Maybe he spent some time in North America. For all his complaints, has he been arrested?

YES> HE WAS ARRESTED TWICE... That is the big problem in Singapore.....merely for expressing his opinion...That's how amazing singapore is ...hiding behind good roads and infrastructure while harboring criminals on top who do multi billion dollar swindling.

Blogger Amos Yee arrested again

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/b ... ed-again-0

Did he get caned?

[Eric]

Why is it So much easier, I mean natural to find love overseas? I've really only had experience in and around the middle east. But why? I've been trying to figure that out for years..