OpinionSingapore’s strong leadership leaves Hong Kong trailing in education, technology and the economy

“A tale of two cities”, the title of Charles Dickens’ classic novel, has often been used to describe the love-hate relationship between Hong Kong and Singapore, the “little dragons” of Asia which made history in the 1990s as part of the World Bank’s narrative on the “East Asian miracle”.

For a long time, the two cities were neck and neck in competitiveness, free markets, container terminal throughput, their airports and various economic and educational measurements. In the past decade, however, the divergence in development between the cities has started to widen, and the disparity is not confined to economic performance.

There is a general sense that Singapore has surpassed Hong Kong as a vibrant economy and as a relatively harmonious society with a common dream. Singapore’s international reputation reached a zenith recently in the first all-Asian cast, Hollywood hit movie Crazy Rich Asians . While some critics are right to take the screenwriters to task for the glorification of ostentatious consumption, the movie unmistakably shows a conspicuous pivoting of wealth to Asia – as symbolised by Singapore.

Hong Kong’s underperformance is particularly troubling, given the support it consistently receives from China, its motherland and geographical hinterland. Mainland China provides a rich pool of resources for the city’s sustenance, an ample source of liquidity and a booming market for the city’s services.

By contrast, to tap into China’s market and manufacturing prowess, Singapore has to use its ingenuity to work out one project after another to hitch itself to China, starting with the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park in 1994, the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco City in 2007 and, most recently, the Sino-Singapore Chongqing Connectivity Initiative, a joint venture designed to siphon some of China’s trade through the “southern channel”.

As an “inalienable part of China” and its first special administrative region, Hong Kong has a natural pride of place in the nation. Yet cultural differences, ideological conflict, historical baggage and perhaps persistent weakness in the local administration’s efficacy and credibility appear to have combined, making it hard for Hong Kong to take full advantage of China’s assets as the world’s second-largest economy.