Singapore - the little red dot of the world - has been put in the spotlight by the US Presidential Elections not once, but twice.
The first time was when Kenneth Sng, a Singaporean studying in Washington University, delivered the opening speech as the Student Union President, at the start of the second US Presidential debate on 9 Oct 2016. (See here for details.)
That was a moment of pride for Singapore. Even PM Lee praised Kenneth on Facebook, saying "Glad that he mentioned 'Singapore, my home', in his remarks. Well done Kenneth. Keep the Singapore flag flying high!"
Then came the second time when Singapore was again mentioned. However this time, the reason for the mention was puzzling, some even going as far as to say that it was
Then candidate Donald Trump (now, unbelievably, President-elect), during his campaign rally on 6 Nov at Florida, had stated that Baxter Healthcare Corporation had laid off off 199 workers and move their jobs to Singapore. (See here, here, here, here and YouTube video here from the 1:48:30 mark)
Trump, whose own line of merchandise is made outside of the US.
Pic: SGAG
Some think that Trump was simply being his typical clueless self and probably thought that Singapore was part of China. (which actually happens more often that you might think).
Pic: SGAG
When you put Singapore next to the US, its obvious how small we are. (And we are NOT a part of China)
Geographical Size
Singapore: 687 SqKm
US: 9,147,593 SqKm
Gross Domestic Product
Singapore: $293 billion which ranks 38th in the world.
US: $17.9 trillion which is the highest GDP in the world.
(Source)
Population Size
Singapore: 5.78 million (2016) (Source)
US: 323.95 million (2016) (Source)
The States has a population that is more than 50 times larger than Singapore!
As the facts above show, Singapore is really a microbe when compared to the US. And yet, Trump feels threatened by the loss of "199 jobs".
And as far as Baxter Healthcare is concerned, their global website states that "Baxter employs approximately 61,500 people worldwide and conducts business in more than 100 countries."
That isn't at all surprising considering that Baxter Healthcare is a global company. And when you consider the "199 jobs" that Trump quoted, that number becomes insignificant when you consider the size of the whole company. This isn't a fair representation of the facts at all, Trump!
Even PM Lee, whether as an intentional throw-back at Trump or not, mentioned in this little factoid in his congratulatory letter to Trump.
"... Investments by Singapore companies in the United States, combined with America’s exports to Singapore, have created some 240,000 jobs for American workers. ..."
And let's see what the facts are relating to US and Singapore Trade. Here's some information extracted from the Office of the US Trade Representative.
U.S.-Singapore Trade Facts
U.S. goods and private services trade with Singapore totaled $68 billion in 2012 (latest data available).
Exports totaled $43 billion; Imports totaled $25 billion. The U.S. goods and services trade surplus with Singapore was $18 billion in 2012.
Singapore is currently our 17th largest goods trading partner with $49 billion in total (two ways) goods trade during 2013. Goods exports totaled $31 billion; Goods imports totaled $18 billion.
The U.S. goods trade surplus with Singapore was $13 billion in 2013.
Trade in private services with Singapore (exports and imports) totaled $17 billion in 2012 (latest data available). Services exports were $12 billion; Services imports were $5 billion.
The U.S. services trade surplus with Singapore was $7 billion in 2012.
Source: Office of the US Trade Representative website (as of 11 Nov 2016)
Read more:
Channel NewsAsia: Singapore among countries stealing US jobs: Trump
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