When Rogers uprooted his family from New York and moved to Singapore in 2007, he famously declared, “If you were smart in 1807 you moved to London, if you were smart in 1907 you moved to New York City, and if you are smart in 2007 you move to Asia.” Six years later, he says he remains very happy about this decision and his daughters enjoy going to Chinese schools in Singapore.
While he describes Singapore as being “extraordinarily well run,” Rogers believes that limiting immigration will be detrimental to its future development. “One of the reasons why Singapore has been successful is because it encouraged immigration and nearly everyone in Singapore is an immigrant or family of an immigrant,” he says, before adding that “Lee Kuan Yew [Singapore’s founding Prime Minister] is a second-generation immigrant.” With its low taxes, low unemployment rate, and good rule of law, Singapore has always been an appealing immigration destination. In recent years, it has also become a haven for the world’s rich and famous. Besides Jim Rogers, Singapore’s new residents include Chinese celebrities Jet Li and Gong Li, as well as several members of Forbes Asia‘s Singapore rich list: New Zealand-born investor Richard Chandler (No. 5), Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin (No. 8), and property tycoons Raj Kumar & Kishin RK (No. 11), among others. Full story
