Difference in fate: a tale of the two Southeast Asian Tigers

(A comprehensive comparative analysis of the difference between Philippines and Singapore.)

By

Danah Mae V. Emanig

Filamer Christian University

2023-2024 First Semester

In the west of the Pacific Ocean lies a cluster of countries called the Southeast Asia, comprised
primarily two subgroups, the mainland and the maritime. Southeast Asia is an accumulation of
countries in Asia, forming a union for its best interest of development.

Maritime Southeast Asia refers to the countries in Southeast Asia that are in Archipelagic
and Island in physical geographic characteristics. Both Philippines and Singapore are part of
Maritime Southeast Asia having the physical characteristics belonging to the group.

Figure 1. Shows the political

map of Southeast Asia.

Physical Geography

Philippines is an archipelagic country lying in the eastern rim of the Asiatic Mediterranean. The
country is fenced by the South China Sea in the west, Pacific Ocean in the east, Sulu and Celebes
Sea in the south, and Bashi Chanel in the north. The country is subdivided into three major island
groups, the Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Manila in Luzon is the capital of the Philippines.

As an archipelago, Philippines comprises of a total of 7,641 islands. The country is

second to Indonesia in Southeast Asia to have the most numbers of Islands and is ninth in the
whole world.
 As for the county’s landscape, it is composed primarily of
mountains, plains, and coastal lowlands spreading a total of 32,
289km of coastline.

Being placed near the equator, the country has tropical season,
characterized by high temperatures and heavy rainfalls. The country
is also highly susceptible to natural hazards and disasters as it is
sitting in the pacific ring of fire, more so the country is bare of
protection as it is nakedly exposed to the Pacific Ocean in the right,
having to deal with multiple typhoons every year.
Figure 2. shows the Philippine map
Figure 3. Shows Singapore map

Meanwhile, in the south-eastern edge of the Malay Peninsula lies

the county of Singapore. Singapore is an Island City-State with
Palau Ujung as its main Island or what is popularly known as the
Singapore Island the island has a total area of about 734km
squared. This is a diamond shaped island that is separated from
Malaysia by the strait of Johor. The island is a flat, which is low-
lying with a central plateau.

The country, unlike the Philippines has very limited natural water
area and resources. The country also comprised of several
islands, 62 to be exact. Only three of this countries are inhabited. One being the popular, Sentosa
Island which is a tourist spot. The country is also a tropical country just like the Philippines,
Singapore has high humidity and plentiful of rainfall season.

Culture, Traditions, and the People

The citizens of the Philippines are called Filipinos. Philippines boasts an estimated 175 spoken
languages, varying by region and island. Filipino is a national language, both Filipino and
English are recognized as official language of the Philippines. The country is mainly catholic by
religion, and this is heavily influenced by the Spanish colonization during the Second World
War. The Filipino culture is widely known in the world as one of the most culturally rich
countries.

Talking culturally, the Philippines is a

fusion of Eastern and Western influence.
Mainly influenced by the counties that once
colonized the country. This fusion can be seen
on how the country celebrated both Western
and Asian traditions. The food is a mix
between East Asian and Spanish influence.
This cements Philippines as one of the most
culturally rich and diverse countries in the
world.

A place where culture, race, traditions, and people melt together. Singapore is considered
to be a salad-bowl as people of different culture and origins mainly settle in the country. The
people of Singapore are called Singaporeans, these people were originally Austronesians who
arrive from Taiwan. Mainly, language spoken in Singapore is Singaporean Mandarin, however
the national language of the country is Malay. Unlike the Philippines, Singapore’s biggest
religion is Buddhism, this is similar to multiple Southeast Asian countries who also have
Buddhism as their main religion.

Despite these differences, the two countries also share similarities especially in
widespread Asian traditions. Heavy East Asian influence spreads in both countries. From the
infamous no shoes inside the house of the Asians, to the Chinese influence in cuisines. Both
countries are keen to having vibrant and well celebrated festivals.

These various multicultural influences in both countries and also their fellow SEA countries are
evidences on why Southeast Asia is considered as the World’s Melting Pot of Culture.
 Government and Political System

The country of Singapore has Parliamentary Republic as its government type. Government in
Singapore is modelled after the Westminster system, with 3 separate branches: the Legislature
(which comprises the President and Parliament), the Executive (which comprises Cabinet
Ministers and office-holders, and is led by the Prime Minister) and the Judiciary. The head of the
state is the president, and the prime minister serves as the head of the government. Tharman
Shanmugaratnam is the current President of the country. As for Prime Minister, Lee Hsien
Loong currectly holds the position.

Figure above shows Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong Figure above shows Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam

The country, unlike the Philippines does not have a local government and holds no local
elections. Singapore is a democratic country still, with the citizens voting on the national
elections the moment they turn 21. PAP or the People’s Action Party has been dominating and
leading the country’s election for approximately fifty years. Founded by Lee Kuan Yew, who
served as the first prime minister of the country, the party has been taking a big role in the
economic development of Singapore.
 Philippines is a Democratic Republic with a
presidential form of Government. The country is
governed by a three-branch system which has its
individual jurisdictions, the power of the
government is divided into these three branches.
These branches are the Executive (the office of
the President), Legislative or the Congress
(comprised of the Senate and the House of Representatives), the Judicial (the Supreme Court and
lower courts). The Legislative branch is authorized to make laws, alter, and repeal them through
the power vested in the Philippine Congress. This institution is divided into the Senate and the
House of Representatives. Currently the head of the legislative department are Senate President
Juan Miguel Zubiri and House Speaker Martin Romualdez. The Executive branch is composed
of the President and the Vice President who are elected by direct popular vote and serve a term
of six years. The Constitution grants the President authority to appoint his Cabinet. These
departments form a large portion of the country’s bureaucracy. The current President of the
Philippines is Ferdinand Marcos Jr. the son of late Filipino Dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

Figures

The Judicial
Upper left: branch
Senate Presient Juan Miguel Zubiri holds the power to settle

Upper right: House Speaker Martin Romualdez

controversies involving rights that are legally
Lower Right: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

demandable and enforceable. This branch

determines whether or not there has been a grave
abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of
jurisdiction on the part and instrumentality of the
government. It is made up of a Supreme Court and lower courts. The current Chief Justice is
Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo, serving as the country’s 27th Chief Justice.

Economics

Both counties were dubbed as Tiger Economies in Asia at some point, stating the roaring growth
of both economies in a short period of time yet, only one of the two countries retained its
economic status, Singapore. Currenlty, Singapore sits as the 11 th biggest economies in the whole
of Asia while the Philippines is at 16 th according to trading economics. In 2024, Singapore is the
country with the third largest GDP per capita in Southeast Asia while the Philippines is at 4 th
place according to the IMF.

Singapore despite being a small country, continues to dominate the economy. Holding
one of the world’s largest port, the country is the top maritime capital of the world with the
second busiest port in
terms of shipment.
The country is also a
major manufacturer of
electronics and
chemicals. They
currently have one of the most stable economies in the world. Currently having a positive
surplus, the country does not have any foreign debt and has a high government revenue.

There is also a low percentage of unemployment in the country, with only (1.90%)
unemployment rate. Singapore currently has a higher Human Development Index than the
Philippines. It is said that a person in Singapore makes 13 times higher in trade compared to
someone doing trade in the Philippines.

In terms of tax, the people of the Philippines pays a higher tax than a Singaporean would.
Accordingly business.asia.com, a comparison of taxes in a number of nations reveal that the
Corporate Income Tax in Philippines stands at 30% based on taxable profit. Meanwhile, in
Singapore, the tax on profit only sits at 17%.

The country also has one of the cheapest healthcare for citizens and permanent residents.
Singapore has now reached a universal healthcare coverage. In the Philippines on the other hand,
PhilHealth covers public healthcare.

The Philippine economy mainly has three

contributors that makes it up. Service, agriculture,
and industry.

The country is known as an agricultural country,

with main crops being sugarcane, coconuts, rice,
corn, banana, etc. It is mainly based on food
processing. The services sector makes an
enormous contribution to the country’s GDP at
around 61% and provides about 58% of the nation’s
labour force. Over the past years, the sector has
expanded tremendously, particularly in
telecommunications, business process outsourcing
(BPO), and finance.

The BPO boom in the Philippines is attributed to several outsourcing advantages that companies
enjoy, such as high spoken English proficiency, a highly educated labour force, and lower
operational and labour costs.
In development, the dependency ratio of Singapore is good while that of the Philippines is
alright. Singapore also has higher Human Development Index in terms of education, health an
income.

The Philippines takes the bigger share in agriculture due to the country being agricultural.
Singapore only employs 0.2% of its workforce in agriculture while 39.8 percent of the
Philippines is in the labor force of agriculture.

Both countries relies heavily in their Service sectors, more that 80% of Singapore’s
workforce is in the service industry. In the Philippines, almost have of the country’s GDP comes
from this sector alone.

Currently, in 2023, the economy of the Philippines has slowly recovered after a big dip during
the pandemic. The said country was dubbed as one of the fastest growing economies of the
moment.

The counties of Singapore and Philippines have multiple similarities as much as

differences. In summary, the Philippines currently faces significant challenges that negatively
impact its competitiveness and reputation throughout the region. The nation has a tax system that
is relatively expensive. This essentially harms the general public, whose employment, with the
exception of top positions, pay about mediocre income. Furthermore, the elevated crime rates in
the Philippines indicate elevated levels of poverty and unemployment. These and other elements
work together to lower human development levels, which are significantly lower than
Singapore's score. Nevertheless, Singapore has to put forward an attempt to lower the expense of
healthcare. To protect the nation's healthcare consumers from potentially disproportionate
medical costs, government subsidies, improved healthcare agreements, and appropriate use of
government-subsidized hospitals may be required. Furthermore, Singapore continuously
performs worse in terms of the class disparities than the majority of other regional nations. This
is a significant factor in public discontent and dissatisfaction with the governing body when left
unaddressed.
References

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economy/#:~:text=Services%2C%20industry%2C%20and%20agriculture%20are,the
%20country's%20most%20significant%20contributors

Business World, (2023). PH Remains a lower middle income economy- World Bank
https://www.bworldonline.com/top-stories/2023/07/03/531812/phl-remains-a-lower-
middle-income-economy-world-bank/

Difference between medieval southeast asia

https://www.reddit.com/r/polandball/comments/pmnh9g/the_difference_within_medieval
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Estimate Number of Islands https://www.statista.com/chart/15364/the-estimated-number-of-

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Fajutag, J (2015). The Philippine Culture and Tradition

https://www.globalizationpartners.com/2015/02/20/the-philippines-culture-and-tradition/
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Muhammad, R (2019). Singapore is world’s most competitive economy again.

https://iasg.com.sg/singapore-is-worlds-most-competitive-economy-again

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