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Comment by shaki-dora | Hacker News Reader

It’s fine, I was arguably overdoing it for comedic effect. Still, for Americans especially, I believe there are destinations in SE Asia that are far more rewarding than Sing Sing. If you need the economic environment, HK would be an obvious choice, and maybe Shanghai. If you are doing remote work, the list becomes far longer. I spent three years in different cities worldwide in ca. 3-month intervals before getting stuck in Berlin, and I would recommend Barcelona, Florence, HK, Australia’s east coast, Melbourne, Cape Town, Buenos Aires, Rabat, Cairo, Tel Aviv, Beirut (check the local war forecast), and Havanna.

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I've only visited once and for a weekend.

My prejudices were not quite reflected in what I actually saw, since I came totally prepared to hate the living bejeezes out of this place.

It's not quite as black and white.

What impressed me most was the garden at the bay. Where they invested a cool billion to build a garden on the most expensive (reclaimed) real estate in the world.

The food is fantastic too.

I understand why my parents loved it. It's instant asia without the hangover you get in places like Bangkok, or Kuala Lumpur.

That said, and while I didn't totally hate it a weekend is fine and I don't really need to go back.

The comparison with Dubai seems apt. If you're not into shopping malls it's mostly a rather drab place.

And there's always the slight undercurrent of fascism, which I intensly disliked. I got the strong impression that if you don't go with the flow you're a pariah and a social outcast.

It also doesn't help that they charge roughly S$ 20 (and up) for a bloody beer at any place, which is halfway in the city center. It's a place where happy hour really makes sense.

So, if I want a huge city with unmatched shopping oportunities, which has still a lot to offer in terms of liveability I rather chose Tokyo.

At least you didn’t quote William Gibson.

Lol...I was waiting...

No, it's not. Downvotes are not for opinions you disagree with.

I agree, but will never ever comment on this (in a thread, where I'm downvoted).

The worst is being downvoted for the dissemination of fact, ideally supported by sources.

Some lesser smart members of this fine forum seem to even downvote comments like this if they dare to go against the party line.

Then again, and as the moderators outline correctly, it's often auto-corrective and I, for one, upvote comments, which are unfairly downvoted. No matter their merits.

Edit : Clarification

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