Abstract
This chapter interrogates elite forms of informality associated with the global super-rich and how such elite informality operates through spaces of exception that further entrench the privileged status of the urban elites. Drawing on the case study of Singapore’s Sentosa Cove development, the chapter demonstrates how the Singapore property state invokes what Ong (2006) calls ‘spaces of exception’ by framing (informal) elite practices as a pragmatic necessity in order to advance collective or national interests. In the case of the Sentosa Cove, the irregularities observed in the land sales were justified as being necessary because the elite development was considered by the state to be not only ‘unique’ in its own terms but also serves as an effective ‘spatial fix’ for luring super-rich capital into Singapore during times of economic uncertainties.
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Notes
- 1.
Some of the discussion in this section is drawn from my earlier work on Sentosa Cove (Pow, 2011).
- 2.
Under the Residential Property Act, foreigners, including permanent residents are only allowed to purchase private properties in Singapore subjected to several restrictions and only with the approval of the Land Dealings (Approval) Unit. Such approval usually takes up to five weeks for PRs and foreigners. Under the fast track scheme for Sentosa Cove buyers, the approval process is shortened to only 48 hours.
- 3.
The Financial Investor Scheme (FIS) which has been in place since 2004 was often been used by private bankers in Singapore to woo their foreign super-rich clients. However, the scheme was scrapped in 2012 by the Singapore government in response to growing public resentment over rising inequality, immigration and escalating property prices (The Business Times, 2012).
- 4.
The Sentosa Cove land sales irregularities have not been widely covered in mainstream media although it has attracted the attention of the social media (see e.g. Loh, 2014).
- 5.
Chua Thian Poh is a well-connected property developer in Singapore. He is the Chairman and CEO of the publicly listed company Ho Bee Investments Pte Ltd (later renamed Ho Bee Land) and is also the former president of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI). Chua is ranked 23rd on Forbes’ list of Singapore’s 50 Richest in 2014 with an estimated net worth of $1.3 billion (US$1 billion). He also serves as a ‘grassroots leader’ and has been the Chairman of the Bishan East Citizen’s Consultative Committee, a quasi-local government organization that is in charge of facilitating ‘interaction between the people and the Government by explaining government policies and gathering feedback from residents’. In 2014, Chua was awarded the Distinguished Service Order by the Singapore government.
- 6.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is one of several Select Standing Committees appointed by the Singapore Parliament to undertake various functions. Comprised of elected Members of Parliament, the role of the PAC is to oversee government expenditures and to ‘examine various accounts of the Government showing the appropriation of funds granted by Parliament to meet public expenditure, as well as other accounts laid before Parliament’ (see http://www.parliament.gov.sg/public-accounts-committee).
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Pow, CP. (2017). Elite Informality, Spaces of Exception and the Super-Rich in Singapore. In: Forrest, R., Koh, S., Wissink, B. (eds) Cities and the Super-Rich. The Contemporary City. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-54834-4_11
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