Is the next Singapore next to Singapore?

China begins to ship bullet trains to Indonesia, 4 new airports in the Philippines, a proposed new tallest building for Singapore, and more construction and transport news in Southeast Asia.

Last week I featured Johor Bahru, which has been styled as the Shenzhen of Southeast Asia (Johor Bahru is to Singapore like Shenzhen is to Hong Kong). Another city that has benefitted from its proximity to Singapore is Batam in Indonesia.

Batam is about 5 km away from Singapore at its closest point across the Singapore Strait, and about an hour away by one of the frequent ferry services. Batam is not going to be “the next Singapore” anytime soon, though it has prospered from being a cheaper industrial alternative.

Batam is best known for being an industrial centre, but there is a city of over one million people that live there, so I was curious to see what its future holds. This week’s articles feature the biggest projects underway and a proposed light rail line.

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“Special Economic Zones and self-governing statelets across the Mekong region have become conduits for human trafficking on a massive scale.”

🇰🇭 Cambodia

“The Battambang town administration informed all house and business owners in Svay Por commune to remove all billboards by August 1 as it is preparing to submit the town to UNESCO for inclusion on its historical cultural heritage list.”

🇮🇩 Indonesia

🇱🇦 Laos

🇲🇾 Malaysia

[Updated: East Coast Rail Link]

🇵🇭 Philippines

“Iloilo, an opposition stronghold, pioneers a new approach to urban life.”

🇸🇬 Singapore

🇹🇭 Thailand

🇻🇳 Vietnam

The test run was meant to be in 2022 (apart from the years that it is already delayed).

When the Paris Notre-Dame announced renovations, I said half-jokingly that the renovation of the Paris Notre-Dame Cathedral will be finished before the Saigon Notre-Dame Cathedral.

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