Lion Of The East

How to live among the gods in Singapore, one of the most sybaritic cities on Earth.

- Keith Gordon

In July, when billionaire entrepreneur Sir James Dyson purchased a $32 million Good Class Bungalow, with prime views of the Botanic Gardens in one of Singapore’s most exclusive neighbor-hoods, it might have been a case of déjà vu for local residents. After all, he had just completed the purchase of the most expensive penthouse apartment in the city-state only weeks prior, the $54 million super-triplex at the elite Wallich Residence in the tallest skyscraper in Singapore. Even in a city of exorbitant wealth, limited space, and a premium for real estate, Dyson had made a statement. In a city of billionaires, the British inventor wasn’t going to settle, he insisted on the best.

But for a country whose large number of billionaire residents belies its small size, with 22 calling the city-state home, it was the Good Class Bungalow purchase that caught the public’s attention. Due to limited space, this category of home (there are only around 2,800 that exist), consisting of more than 15,000 square feet and typically including ownership of the land itself, is a symbol of wealth and one of the most sought-after purchases in the city.

Singapore’s role as an international center of business and commerce might only now be getting the attention it deserves as one of the world’s great financial centers, but the truth is the city-state has maintained its vital importance to the global economy for centuries. Despite a location that has ensured its geographical significance in Asia for more than 700 years, it wasn’t until the British established a trading post there in 1819 that it started to become the economic center it is today; but since then it has become a bridge between Asia and the rest of the world, developing into a hub of economic activity for the region, and eventually the world.