 Singapore now has the most powerful passport in the entire world. It also has one of the highest average IQs in the entire world, rivaling Japan, David. So how come more people don't talk about how Singapore might be the greatest Asian country in the world? Walaue, GDP, not too bad to a long story short, Andrew. This is going viral right now because just Singapore and Japan have been duking it out at the top of the passport power rankings for about five years now. What determines the strength of a passport? It does get into more macro real statistics that people often don't think about. Andrew, countries GDP, GDP per capita, diplomatic relations, economic and financial stability, citizens average income. And unfortunately, Nepal ranks down there with North Korea with only 39 and 38 countries approving their passport. Right, but with the Singaporean passport, you can go to 192 countries without a visa. So that is something to be proud of. But anyways, we're going to talk about how come more people don't talk about Singapore in the same light as Japan. So please hit that like button. Check out other episodes of the hot pop boys as we delve into the comments section. By the way, guys, you can get a visa even if you're from one of the lower ranked countries, but they basically rank mostly visa free access. Visa free access is almost like, yo, how much do I trust you without you submitting a visa application? Right, exactly. And you know, I mean, I think, David, we've been to Singapore several times in our lives actually probably like six or seven times. Been in Japan as well. Been in Japan before. Both very fine countries, fine, fine place, fine cities. They both manufacture a lot of high end items. You know, if you look at Singapore, Andrew, they do electronics, chemicals, biomedical sciences, logistics, transport engineering. In Japan, they do automobiles, consumer electronics, obviously Sony, semiconductors, copper, iron and steel, petrochemicals, et cetera, et cetera. David, you know, it's really interesting in the comment section and we're about to get into it. A lot of people were actually pointing out the issues that Japan has and that's why Singapore is able to overtake it on these metrics. But real quick, what makes Singapore so elite? I'm sure you guys kind of have an idea, but I'll just go through the reasons really quickly. Guys, it is a fairly small place, 5.5 million in population. It's a fairly new country, independent in 1965. It has a super strategic location in Southeast Asia, which makes it great for trade. It's politically extremely stable with very low corruption, super free market economy, very little foreign debt. It has manufacturing, very educated people, super strict on drugs and illegal activity. Oh my gosh, you won't believe it. I mean, that's actually what it's mostly known for in America. Andrew, is Americans getting caned over there for egging? Yeah. And then also a very liberal immigration policy as far as skilled workers go. So anyways, guys, those are just a few reasons why Singapore runs so well and ranks so high. And you're saying that you don't need to say anything for Japan because people basically think Japan is full of like waifu pillows and robots and sushi, right? Yeah, no, and Japan is ranked at the number at the top spot in a lot of these lists for many decades. But a lot of people feel like Japan's got issues. Well, I would say Japan's economy has been stagnant for 20 years. But it goes to show you, Andrew, even if they froze Japan 20 years ago, how advanced was it 20 years ago that it still seems advanced in 2023, even though it's been frozen? David, listen, I know Japan's pretty cool, man. I know they got manga, anime, sushi, but Singapore has Lee Kwan-Yoo, man. I'm telling you, Lee Kwan-Yoo is that dude. It also got chicken rice, but I feel like chicken rice, even though it's not nearly as famous as sushi. That's more something that Asian yappies know about. Yeah, chicken rice is delicious, but it's more of like a casual food thing. Why do you think there's no soft power for Singapore? Because a lot of people were saying Americans probably think that's like some third-world country in the tropics. Well, it's great for filming romantic comedies like Crazy Rich Asians. I would just say honestly, I think everybody from the youth that I've met in Singapore and everybody saying it is a little tough to be super free and expressing yourself and being like a crazy artist. Because you get fines all the time. I mean, you have to do mandatory military service if you're a guy. Is it like the kid in high school that's the overachiever, but people don't necessarily think they're that cool or good-looking? They don't think they're bad-looking, but they see their family life and how their mom's got their life so regimented in the Google Calendar. They're like, dude, I could maybe do that too if my life was like that. Singapore is a child of a tiger parent. That is for sure. 100%. For sure, for sure. Anyway, let us get into the comments section of course, our own takeaways, Andrew. Somebody said, I would like to know what percentage of adults in America think Singapore is some third-world country. Is this true? Obviously, it's not like Japan. Japan has this. Obviously, some people diss Japan for the whole Pearl Harbor World War II thing, but also people look up to it in America too, right? Yeah, but I think it's because Singapore is part of Southeast Asia, even though it's kind of, in my opinion, the Washington D.C. of Southeast Asia, kind of the capital. But yeah, since it's in Southeast Asia, it means that a lot of people associate that with like, yeah, being a third-world country or it being a crazy place. Right, that is the immediate thing that people go into in their mind in America, right? It's obviously very different than that. It's actually the third-world's largest financial hub, Andrew. New York, London, Singapore, number three. Wow! A lot of money going in and out of there. Singapore, you got to meet my Amar. Somebody said Japan is way too passive in letting DGEN expats ruin their country. Look at everybody acting a fool from, you know, Logan Paul to Johnny Somali. Everybody's just letting it go crazy, man. And then there was a whole plaza of cords and blah, blah, blah. Japan had to bow down to the Western elites and stuff like that. What do you think of this comment? This comment went everywhere and back. This comment is basically like, man, Japan's losing its edge, man. Look at what it's letting too many stupid foreigners in. Yeah, I guess I'm not, you know, I'm not in Japan. So, you know, we're not a super expert on this, but we do understand that Japan's got issues. Right. Japan's got a negative birth rate. You know, a lot of people are not marrying. Economy is stagnant for 20 years, right? Economy is a little stagnant. Innovation has been stagnant. Even though they were known as some of the top innovators in the world for decades. Well, they froze a lot of the systems. Like, they still use coins. They still use fax machines. But their fax or coin system works pretty well. I mean, I would say I was always shocked when I went to the Narita Airport in Narita, Japan, that it seemed super low tech and super low security. Yeah, they just trust the behaviors of the citizens. And obviously this guy's also indicating that a lot of Westerners know that they have low security in Japan because they rely on everybody to have good behaviors that are Confucian. So what happens when these people don't? Obviously, America does not want to necessarily ban Johnny Somali or Logan Paul just off behavior because that can create a geopolitical incident with the West. But I'm sure that they're thinking about right now how to prevent people from taking advantage of everybody's docility or civilness, right? You know what? They're saying that Japan is too nice to the foreigners that want to come in and mess around. We don't arrest. It's a tough thing. I can see like there's not a lot of young people high up in Japan's leadership. So they don't know how to approach. And obviously, Andrew, let's be honest, hasn't become an epidemic just because it's like a couple guys messing around. Yo, this comment was funny. Someone was like, yeah, Japan's definitely working to get that number one spot back. And then someone says, nope, they are too busy working on marrying underage dolls, robot dolls. Now, here's the thing. Japan is definitely more weird than Singapore. When you go to Singapore, first of all, they speak English in Singapore. So when you go there, it kind of feels like you're saying we're not as freaky. No. You're saying Japan more freaky, but what if we also like to get a little nasty? Not as freaky. It's not as freaky. Singapore not that freaky. You've never been to Geylang Rd. I think Singapore almost feels like a bunch of almost Asian Americans like 1.5 generation Asians in America, but then got shipped back to Singapore to create a country. So when you go there, some of the Singaporean, a lot of them, you kind of feel like they are westernized. So you kind of feel like they grew up in the West somehow. Right, right, right. Because you're saying, obviously it depends. Any place that was a former British colony, some people feel super western, even though they're born and raised over there. Right, right, right. There are some people who are born and raised in Singapore without any accent. Yeah, for sure. For sure. Somebody said, not a big deal. Japan is politically closer to the West while Singapore maintains its neutrality in Southeast Asia. Basically because obviously, you know, like we said, U.S., China, China, U.S., they're going at it right now. Japan went with the U.S. China split, I mean, I'm sorry, Singapore splits it down the middle. Yeah, because they're like, no, we don't have allies. We have no ally policy. Yeah, I mean, also most of the people in Singapore are Chinese. Of Chinese descent, I believe 70% of the population is of Chinese ethnicity, not of China. Somebody said, oh my gosh, Singapore, we have the most powerful passport and we only use it to go to Johor Bahru, which is just across the bridge in Malaysia. And I guess a lot of, I didn't know, but Johor Bahru is like, a lot of people will drive across the border just to get cheaper gas for their car because gas in Singapore is very expensive. Some people said, yeah, it's also crazy because Singaporeans, if they travel anywhere, it's going to be Japan, Bangkok, or Seoul. So isn't it funny, like if it's the number one and number two passports, but they're only just going to each other? Yeah, it's a fancy place. Singapore is a fancy place. Some people said so few Japanese people are interested in leaving Japan because they just love Japan and they like only really want to be there. Only 20% of the Japanese population even has international passports. Oh, that's interesting. I don't know if that's a true stat, but I guess I could see because Japan is, like Japanese do love Japan a lot, so they don't leave as much. Yeah, they're like, I would rather go to Osaka. Somebody said, why do so many Koreans travel overseas then? It's the same situation for them work-wise. You got to work a lot of hours just to maintain your lifestyle so you don't get a lot of vacation. And somebody said, yeah, Koreans just have a different personality. They're really outgoing. No, there is some truth to that. Of course, every culture has its own unique culture, as similar as they may seem to the outside people. Somebody said, your Singapore has the best passport, best airport. And then somebody said, but at what cost do we get it all? My bad, the accent is kind of slipped right there. But I guess people are questioning that for all this great infrastructure that pushes the metrics up or pushes the social floor or whatever, that at what cost? Because they all have to go national service, which is essentially mandatory military service. It ain't like life in other countries. No, no, no. It's because also not having technically allies with big countries, that means you have to have your own military. It is very costly to keep your military up. But they do have the great airport. That's like what? $3.2 billion, the Changi Airport? Yeah, and it costs like $1 billion a year to maintain. It's the best airport I've ever been to in any time. Shout out to Changi. It kills the Narita Airport. Yeah, Tokyo's got a couple of them though. Yeah, generally the Japanese airports... Well, as a Japanese, we do not judge our country on the airport. We judge it on the amount of sushi. Yeah, I think it's really interesting. Neutrality in today's world, it's a fascinating thing. I mean, that was what their decision was. It's working out for them to hedge in the middle. They're almost stunting in basketball between two coverages. My question is like how long can Singapore stay neutral? Does anybody have any insight on this? How long can they stay neutral? Singaporeans, please leave a comment. Somebody said, I'm amazed how Singapore managed to negotiate some sort of visa-free arrangement with every single country. This guy said, yeah, I would imagine it's easier when the population is really small, highly educated, and it has a very low percentage of criminals. So long story short, somebody said, when people have a good image of you and that image is backed up by hard metrics and statistics, people treat you a certain way. Yeah, but I will say this, man, and I know that Singapore is a small place. Their own local television is not super strong. Their own movie industry is not super strong. I think they import a lot of media, especially from America. What do you mean, boys become men? That's a great movie. Yeah, that was cool. I know a bunch of people. I met a bunch of people in Singapore that were in the movie. But I would say that, man, I think that just Asians love visiting Singapore. Like a lot of Asians I know like Singapore. You're talking about for the hawker stalls. Yeah, the hawker stalls. Everybody's just like, oh, it's so clean. It's maybe not the most fun and wildest place, but you wouldn't go to Singapore for that. Right, if you want to do some degenerate, you know, illegal behaviors, not the place. Yeah, I think there's a lot of other countries you'd go to for that. Somebody said as an American, I'm not surprised by this ranking when traveling abroad. I am no longer telling foreigners I'm American. It no longer seems to have the lustre and interest it once had in casual conversations. Listen, Americans do not want to hear that. They don't like to hear that, but when you step outside our bubble, then other places are doing excellent like Singapore, perhaps doing better than us. We have passed our peak and other places are still going to their peak. I hate to say guys, but I'm just telling you the truth. I'm a wide American. Um, I think that this is true to some extent. I don't know fully, you know, obviously if some people are going to agree, disagree, it depends on how you view this thing or that thing. But it doesn't feel like some other countries are like on the up and up, whereas America has lost some of its lustre, because you used to go abroad 15 years ago and be like, I'm from America. And people used to be like, oh, by the way, America still has the number eighth most powerful passport. No, I think everybody would walk around and be like, oh yeah, America does this better. America does this better. America does this better. Oh, you guys just got the Big Mac. We've had the Big Mac for like 25 years. Nowadays you're kind of like, uh, does America do this better? No, now you're like, man, they got 15 versions of the Big Mac. And 35, 40 years ago, how come they got all the new Big Macs? My question is how long, and this is kind of the wrap up of this video, how long can Singapore stay elite? Because at some point the population is small, but I think people are still like living there, so people are going to like reproduce and have families there and stuff. But they're going to need more skilled immigrants, so they're going to need more immigrants to come in. Is that going to threaten the Singaporean national identity and how long can Singapore stay elite? I always tell people this and it's obvious, but people really get a lot of morality mixed into it when we talk about it on a more macro scale. You can have an equinox of a gym, Andrew, or you can have the LA Fitness or the Esporta, and then you have like 24 hour fitness, I don't know, more towards the LA Fitness. How do you want to run your country? Oh. And there's a lot of cost associated with the monthly membership at equinox or there's even, you know how there's gyms even better than equinox that are like in every city now that are even like higher tier. I'm just saying like everybody has the certain capacities and decisions and everybody's got to buy in to run it this way. I'm just saying like I love hooping at the park too, but sometimes I don't like hooping at the park because the park just gets too crazy. So you're saying Singapore's like the equinox. Singapore is an equinox. Yeah. And there are costs associated with the equinox. Maybe you got a six hour work day. Maybe you don't got a lot of vacation time or savings because you know a lot of things cost a lot of money and a lot of tax to support the infrastructure. Pros and cons of every system and every schematic you run, every offense, defense that an NBA team runs. You're always giving up something. That's a funny analogy. Let me know what you think in the comments down below everybody. But you know the funny thing is I always say this there's a lot of like micro application of this macro analogy. Obviously we're talking about just like whether you can get into our country or not, but I always felt like in a weird way and by the way guys don't kill me for bringing this up. I always felt like kind of like being a guy in the western world was like having a Malaysian passport and then maybe being an Asian girl in the western world was like having a Singaporean passport where those countries they're right next to each other. They're pretty much brother and sister, but the Singapore password passport is powerful. Well, it's just got more open borders is what I'm saying. I don't want to dive into that analogy, but let me know what you guys think about it. Yeah, like we said let us know what you think in the comments section below. We got to gamut. We got to the comment section. Takeaways until next time. We'd hop out boys. We out. Peace.