Only the Gulf states have as much prosperity as Hong Kong and as little democracy
, one blue, one yellow, arrive swaddled in a towel and wedged in a backpack. Wearing builders’ gloves and Guy Fawkes masks, the protesters balance them casually on a railing, like mixologists in a bar. Then the bricks arrive, piled on a trolley, hidden under a canopy of umbrellas. The protesters spend a few exultant minutes hurling projectiles and insults down the stairs of a subway exit at riot police below.
In a similar vein, many analysts hanker for a Singaporean solution to Hong Kong’s problems. The city-state realised early on that widespread home-ownership was essential to social peace. Over 80% of the population lives in homes built by government agencies, sold at subsidised prices. Phang Sock-Yong of the Singapore Management University says that, as far as housing is concerned, Singapore approximates the “ideal society” envisioned by Thomas Piketty in his book, “Capital in the 21st Century”.
Although Hong Kong’s economy is not the principal cause of the city’s unrest, it is a prominent casualty. At first, protesters vandalised firms unsympathetic to the cause. More recently, their sabotage has become less discriminate. “We want to give some pressure to the government economically,” said a student. From a barricaded bridge at, he and other protesters guarded a roadblock of uprooted trees, unscrewed railings and traffic cones, scattered on a busy thoroughfare below.
To some footloose multinationals, Singapore’s stability now looks appealing, compared with the threat of unpredictable commutes and closed schools in Hong Kong. But as financial hubs the two cities are less similar than they appear. In Hong Kong, “we go into China and compete,” says one Singaporean broker who moved to the city years ago. In Singapore, he adds, “they wait for China to come to them,” confident that they can be its gateway to South-East Asia.
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