Why Most FTrash Refuse Citizenship?

Arrival
Of the Stars.
Film-stars like Jet Li, Jackie Chan begin to make a presence and add buzz to changing Singapore. By Seah Chiang Nee.
Apr 18, 2010.
(Synopsis - In recent years, the Lion City has become a top destination for Asia’s rich and famous, adding glitz to its business facade.)
THE next time you stroll along Orchard Road, don’t be surprised if you run into Chinese actress Gong Li doing her shopping, a film critic wrote.
Or encounter Jet Li with his wife Nina Li Chi buying groceries at a supermarket, said Angela Lim in Yahoo Singapore.
You may even see kung fu star Jackie Chan – a permanent resident since 1998 – outside one of his luxurious condos in central Singapore.
(Last month Jackie and singer-songwriter Emil Chau bought four upmarket Centennia Suites facing the Singapore River for more than S$10mil.)
To be sure, we are nowhere as near star-studded as Los Angeles or even Hong Kong, which, inch for inch, probably yields more movie folk than any other city.
But as Singapore gains status as a global city, it is beginning to attract international personalities to take up citizenship or permanent residency.
Its attraction includes a stable, largely non-corrupt environment where they can safely park their wealth and their families and allow them to make money elsewhere.
And, of course, there are no paparazzi to intrude on their privacy.
In recent years, the city has become a top destination for Asia’s rich and famous – and a few from the West, too.
Not all are as famous as Jackie Chan or Jet Li, and many are just “very successful” rather than “super successful” but their arrivals help add buzz to this changing city.
This business hub has its own share of notables, too.
The latest to settle here is Jim Rogers, a billionaire investor who sold his New York mansion for US$16mil and took up permanent residency here.
(Rogers, who co-founded the Quantum Fund with George Soros in the 1960s, later created the Rogers International Commodity Index. From here, he makes frequent forays to New York.)
A China optimist, he has enrolled his seven-year-old daughter in a local school for its Mandarin teaching. “Moving to Asia now is like moving to New York City in 1907,” he said in an interview.
This is one good spark coming out of an unpopular decision to mass immigration. Singapore’s ability to make itself attractive to film stars and business entrepreneurs stands out as a bright spark.
The input of world-class talent and wealth not only helps the economy but also livens up the city’s buzz.
Singaporeans generally admire success and achievements, and having people like Jet Li or Jackie Chan or Jim Rogers adds to their self-confidence as a newly-emerging city state.
The arrival of wealth has given Singapore the largest millionaire population in the world on a per capita basis. In 2008, Forbes said the combined wealth of the richest totalled US$32bil.
Last year, as their country was hit by its worst modern recession in history, Singaporeans were pleasantly surprised to learn that their screen hero Jet Li had become a Singapore citizen.
He had renounced his citizenship in America and moved to Singapore with his wife and two daughters, living in a newly-bought S$20mil bungalow. He also set up his charity fund, One Foundation.
A year earlier, another China-born star, Gong Li, had taken up citizenship, after marrying a wealthy Singaporean businessman.
The star of such films as Red Sorghum, Curse of the Golden Flower and Memoirs of a Geisha told the media that she did not intend to make Singapore her home.
“No, I doubt it. Hong Kong and Beijing will still be my bases because of my work,” she explained.
Giving up her Chinese nationality had raised anger among many Chinese fans who described her as “a traitor”.
The migration of stars is often regulated by their fame and audience. As they gain world recognition, they are no longer just China’s stars, but global talents – and many are opting to reside abroad.
As a rule, only a few who became PRs here actually take up citizenship. This makes Jet Li and Gong Li the exceptions.
While their homes and families may be here, it is unlikely that many of them actually live here for long periods.
“My best guess is that these super grade celebrities would probably be in town for a few days a year, or a week or more,” said one surfer.
“They have lots of big and beautiful homes in some of the top class cities, with their super busy money-making schedules they probably won’t even show up a day in Singapore.”
Another prospective settler is Hong Kong-born singer Coco Lee. “I am seriously considering moving to Singapore. I really like the weather and food here, the streets are clean and the entire city is abundant with greenery. It’s great.”
She plans to move here from San Francisco.
Hong Kong tycoon Richard Li is planning to settle in Singapore with his girlfriend Isabella Leong and their newborn son Ethan, according to Hong Kong’s Apple Daily.
Jackie Chan’s links with Singapore are probably deeper than most. He has long been an admirer of Singapore’s disciplined development and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew’s role in it.
This has led some foreign critics to describe Singapore as a talent poacher – particularly in sports, where it aspires to be a top regional player.
The table tennis trio that was imported from China that won Singapore the team silver medal in the last Olympics have all adopted English names.
They could hardly speak English when they came.
Li Jiawei, Wang Yuegu, and Feng Tianwei, who ranked among the world’s best, are now known as Tiffany, Ivy and Joy. A little integration sometimes does take place.

(This was published inj The Star on April 17, 2010).
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