Foreword
I first read Kiasunomics© back in 2017, when Sumit, Swee Hoon, and Tien Foo sent me a copy. It was interesting and easy to read.
I have some background in economics — I completed a BSc (Econ) degree back in 1991 — and I have to admit that economics concepts are not easily explained to the layman. I enjoyed how the authors contextualised the topics to Singapore, and made the issues easy to understand.
In January 2020, Swee Hoon passed me the draft for Kiasunomics©2, and I had the privilege of a preview before the book was published.
I believe most of us will find the authors’ insights on topics such as app-hailing, mobile payments, mobile wallets particularly interesting, with these technologies being recent innovations that have very quickly become part and parcel of consumer behaviour in Singapore. ‘Like Father, Like Son?’ will resonate with many parents. Inter-generational housing wealth is a topic that many in my generation are probably thinking about.
More importantly, many academics know that I am a champion of research into Singapore issues. We are a crucible of policy experimentation. Many countries are curious about how Singapore manages issues like ageing, education for a new era, housing for masses, inequality, and environmental protection. Even in managing the coronavirus disease, or COVID-19, other countries are interested in what we do.
I do not think that doing research on Singapore topics, versus gaining an international audience and publishing in top-tier journals, are mutually exclusive. Local research in fact distinguishes Singapore universities from other universities around the world.
I would therefore like to thank Sumit, Swee Hoon, and Tien Foo for their enthusiasm in local research. I am glad that they are donating the royalty proceeds from Kiasunomics© to bursaries and scholarships, and have pledged to do the same for Kiasunomics©2.
Ong Ye Kung
Minister for Education
(2015 – 2020)
Acknowledgements
Our thanks to our research collaborators as well as our National University of Singapore colleagues whose interesting and meaningful research help to make this book possible:
BASU Debarati
CHAROENWONG Ben
CHENG Shih Fen
CHEONG Alan
CHIA Liu Ee
CHOI Hyun-Soo
CHOMSISENGPHET Souphala
CHONG Juin Kuan
CHU Junhong
DIAO Mi
FAN Yi
GHOSH Pulak
GOETTE Lorenz
HE Jia
HO Teck Hua
KEPPO Jussi
KOO Kang Mo
LI Jing
LI Keyang
LIM Cheryl
LIM Yong Long
LIU Haoming
MAHANAAZ Sultana
MEIER Stephen
PAN Jessica
PAREEK Bhuvanesh
PNG Ivan P.L.
QIAN Wenlan
QIN Yu
REEB David M.
RENGARAJAN Satyanarain
RUAN Tianyue
SERU Amit
SONG Changcheng
TAN Poh Lin
TEO Ernie
TIEFENBECK Verena
VOLLMER Derek
WANG Davin Hong Yip
WANG Zhiwen
WONG Wei-Kang
WU Jing
YAN Jubo
YANG Nan
YANG Yang
YEUNG Bernard
ZHANG Jian
ZHANG Xiaoyu
ZHU Hongjia
ZOU Xin
Our heartfelt appreciation also extends to the organisations who generously shared their data with us so that research can be conducted to benefit the society.
The talented staff at World Scientific – Chua Hong Koon, Jiang Yulin and Jimmy Low – deserve praise for their role in shaping this book.
We also thank Professor Andy Rose, Ms Chua Nan Sze and Ms Dawn Chin at National University of Singapore Business School; Professor Lam Khee Poh and Associate Professor Yu Shi Ming at School of Design and Environment, and Dr Seek Ngee Huat and Board Members of the Institute of Real Estate and Urban Studies (IREUS) for their encouragement and support.
Finally, our overriding debt continues to be our families who provided the time, support and inspiration to our research and preparation of this book.
Note from the Authors
•The Singlish term kiasu means “scared to lose”.
•Some of the research findings presented in the book are from SSRN (Social Science Research Network) working papers. Readers without full access to the SSRN working papers can email to any of the authors for a copy of the working paper.
•Unless otherwise stated, values prefixed with simple dollar ‘$’ are in Singapore dollar.
List of Acronyms
| ABFER | Asian Bureau of Finance and Economic Research |
| AQI | Air Quality Index |
| ARF | Additional Registration Fee |
| ATM | Automated Teller Machine |
| AYE | Ayer Rajah Expressway |
| BTO | Build-To-Order |
| CBD | Central Business District |
| CEA | Council for Estate Agencies |
| CHAS | Community Health Assist Scheme |
| CO | Carbon Monoxide |
| COE | Certificate of Entitlement |
| COV | Cash-over-Valuation |