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The line between work and play is seldom distinct in game development, which for a country like Singapore must be troubling. It hasn’t become the sixth-richest nation on Earth by twiddling its thumbs. While older countries built media empires, celebrities and, of course, games, this island off the coast of Malaysia was building itself.
For its youth, that’s meant national service, the pursuit of high grades, and a brisk path into a secure profession. Like banking. The perils of creativity have been left to other nations, Singapore’s spend-happy consumers importing culture like their government imports sand, water and labour. Despite strict laws governing etiquette and personal behaviour, not all of which keep pace with those of the modern world, they’ve created a melting pot without equal, with one foot in Asia and the other in the west. It’s connected, both in language and infrastructure, and faces few of the barriers that insulate countries like Japan, Korea and China. It’s perfect, in other words, for the industry its schools and parents fear the most.
So the Singapore government, certainly one of the most proactive and efficient, faces multiple dilemmas. How do you attract companies like EA when a game like Mass Effect is banned for featuring something as passé as a same-sex love scene? How do you exploit a groundswell of local creative talent when your schools, handed a knockout portfolio, skip the pages in search of old-fashioned grades? Who needs educating more in that scenario: the adults or the kids? If Singapore can find the answers – and, as you’ll see, it’s on its way – it won’t just become a global hub for media, but an example that certain other islands would do well to observe.