Because Singapore is one happening place, biz-wise. I mean, the future
here is so bright.... What other country is preparing to clone itself,
calving like some high-tech socioeconomic iceberg? Yes, here it is, the
first modern city-state to fully take advantage of the concept of
franchise operations Mini-Singapores! Many!

In the coastal city of Longkou, Shandong province, China (just opposite
Korea), Singaporean entrepreneurs are preparing to kick off the first of
these, erecting improved port facilities and a power plant, as well as
hotels, residential buildings, and, yes, shopping centers. The project, to
occupy 1.3 square kilometers, reminds me of "Mr. Lee's Greater Hong Kong"
in Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash, a sovereign nation set up like so many
fried-noodle franchises along the feeder-routes of edge-city America. But
Mr. Lee's Greater Singapore means very serious business, and the Chinese
seem uniformly keen to get a franchise in their neighborhood, and pronto.