Tech Hub Locations Outside the West?

Koreans and Chinese are heavily investing in Luzon! The land prices in population centers have increased 10 – 1000X in past few years.

I wrote in email:

Philippines is loaded to the gills with beautiful young ladies, but the road congestion sucks big time. Angeles City mitigates the congestion problem because can fly internationally in/out of Clark airbase just next door (to avoid the horrible 5 hour bumper-to-bumper traffic from Manila). Can even have an office inside the airbase. Housing could be in a condo with everything within walking or scooter distance. Suburban detached housing just does not make any sense in Philippines unless want to forsake proximity to civilization and then deal with time-wasting, stressful, grueling congested road trips into town. And then security, neighbor [and local govt officials] conflicts become a problem in rural areas.

Probably no safer and more convenient place to live in Philippines than inside of Clark airbase. Well Bonafacio City in Manila is more upscale, but that is a high rise concrete jungle.

From Angeles/Clark to the West facing (i.e. with sunsets) beaches around Subic and north of Subic is not too arduous for a (preferably 3 day) weekend stay, but not convenient enough for a day trip.

100 Mbps Internet connections are available in this area, and ostensibly also inside of the airbase. I will be trialing the 100 Mbps starting Dec. 30. The fastest I’ve experienced thus far is 10 Mbps which was a significant boost compared to the 1 – 3 Mbps I had had in Mindanao. But the 50+ Mbps with very low latency I experienced 2017 in Singapore was amazing for me (remember I had not experienced cable Internet in the USA since 2003).

Clark airbase is also a special economic zone with duty and tax incentives for investors:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark_Air_Base#See_also

Compare the average low temperatures for Clark/Angeles to Davao from November to May and immediately I understand why I am more comfortable here (and that is not even including the chill factor from the more steady breezes). And the lack of a break in the rainfall for the winter season (a break which GenSan has but...). Davao is just too damn close to the equator for a Westerner, even one with Cherokee genetics such as myself.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angeles,_Philippines#Climate

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davao_City#Climate

Thailand can offer upscale development right along picturesque beaches (although friends told that the beaches in Pattaya are dirty), but the average low temps are brutal and much higher:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phuket_Province#Climate

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pattaya#Climate

I will be in Pattaya in January to compare it.

Phuket is inconvenient being too far from Bangkok airport. And what’s the attraction of a beach in Asia when it’s going to be congested and polluted. Much better to live somewhere with a nice breeze and large chlorine-free swimming pool. I have done the research already on how to disinfect a pool with a commercially available combination of UV light and silver ions.

In short, don’t attempt to reproduce the Austrian or California lifestyle in Asia. Adjust to the advantages and disadvantages and leverage the advantages.

I forgot to mention and it’s mentioned on the Wikipedia page for Angeles City that the city has many ladies who look like that have American fathers. And the reason is that there were 800,000 kids born to expats here!

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I am really tired of Davao is the backwater aspect of it with the overhang of spoiled brat warlords. When I drove over to Dahican beach near Mati, Mindanao, I was really discouraged to see that [redacted] (son the [redacted] and both of them former mayors of [redacted]) had constructed a beach house with wall that violated all DENR regulations and he had a sweetheart location arranged with a hotel and road location adjusted just for his corruption, I realize the warlording thing is just ingrained in Mindanao. The [redacted] can’t even stop his own son from acting like a spoiled asshole. I heard they banned a foreign lady for life from the Philippines because she posted on her Facebook about it. Also outside the beach house was a very angry large man who was really pissed off that we even asked him if that house was owned by a foreigner I was looking for. The scene just reminded me of everything I hate about the Philippines and that is why I left that place the next day and lost all interest. Ditto General Santos City (GenSan). Also I found that some or perhaps many/most of the ladies in Gensan are not gaga about foreigners. The ladies in Gensan tend to lose all interest entirely once they have some money. They do not seem to be impressed by our physical features (e.g. white skin and long nose) the way many other filipinas are. That is the Moro and native tribes attitude that the Americans were dealing with at the turn of the 19th century, which ostensibly remains very strong in southern Mindanao. I remember before my eye was gouged in 1999, that ladies in Mindanao used to run away screaming, “his eyes are like a cat.” Really they were that ignorant! Some of them ran away because they thought I was a white ghost. Seriously. And many admitted to me that they thought I only wanted to enslave them like a pig and use them and never love them the way their family loves them. Seriously Mindanao is a backwater of epic degree.

They kicked the Americans out of Mindanao. Even the American-based Dole was forced to divest. The local politicians and oligarchs fight over everything.

Now the Koreans are attempting to take over Angeles City from the Aussies, Europeans, and Americans. Which is fine. Much better to have Korean money preventing the place from succumbing to the backwaterness that results when the filipinos take the dominant economic control of a region. Think of Filipino (mis)management in the way you observe how many native American tribes has mismanaged their sovereign enclaves within the USA. As the Indian male told me today he was advised by his female filipina attorney, “Never trust any filipino.” That’s correct.

[redacted…]

The Vietnamese apparently are doing a much better job of managing their place from what I’ve heard from friends and seen on Youtube. But the climate of the river delta sucks. Welcome to New Orleans but without any winter. Perhaps slightly cooler in the island on the West of Vietnam but the deluge of rainfall is going to hem us inside:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ph%C3%BA_Qu%E1%BB%91c#Climate

That beach does look very nice though:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ph%C3%BA_Qu%E1%BB%91c#/media/File:Star_Beach_(B%C3%A3i_Sao).jpg

[redacted…]

I’ve had my eye on that 36 hectare island for more than year now. I‘m kinda not surprised it is not sold yet, given that Filipinos are very much into income producing properties and proximity to concentration of economic activities. But that appears to me a jewel.

[redacted…]

These islands offer the benefit of seclusion but then will need to hire full time security with military weaponry to guard against sea invaders. Anyway if investing $3m and setting it up as a tourist destination, retirement living, and/or tech hub, then presumably can afford the security. So then being so close to the airport, then low chance of being kidnapped as your security would escort you to the airport. Really [redacted] screams “come invest”. It’s the untapped jewel of the northern Philippines which has the windiest climate in the entire country other than

[redacted…]

The only other islands that I researched where around Cebu especially Bantayan island (10877 hectares) and surrounding small islets, but the problem is none of them are anywhere near as affordable and many locals already populating the islands around Cebu because for one reason the government relocated many of the 2013 Yolanda typhoon victims from Samar/Leyte to those islands. And then you have a long boat and overland travel to the Cebu airport. Probably would not want to put the tech hub in Cebu city because of extreme corruption and horrendous Internet connectivity on Cebu island. Instead imagine a tech hub in Clark and the vacation location being that Badoc island. Could travel by land or even boat very quickly whereas, to transport from a small island around Cebu to Angeles/Clark might be a more arduous journey. Also the climate around Cebu is warmer and less breezy although slightly improved over Davao:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_islands_of_the_Philippines#Cebu

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bantayan_Island

Many people I guess want to avoid the typhoons that hit Luzon although some hit Cebu/Visayas with lower frequency. And perhaps they think Visayas is the source of the innocent gentle Filipinas unlike the “gold digger” Tagalogs of Luzon. But it’s easy to go visit Visayas and/or Mindanao and bring a lady back with you to Luzon. I do not find that living at the “source” outweighs the backwardness, less agreeable climate and security threats. It is strange for me to finally admit this, because I stubbornly advocated the “source” over the past 2 decades because I was trying to escape from society. But I’m in a different place in my attitude towards my life now.

I haven’t found any other islands that have better accessibility, climate and solitude coupled with proximity to a possible modern tech hub. Instead remote islands like the following linked one which is just impractical:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamalican

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Think about where to invest proceeds […] where the future is bright and cheery and not gloomy as for the West. If thinking about investing for the future, then Asia is the place to be. One concern is if China and the USA go to war in the South China Sea. But I can’t imagine the Chinese expropriating all the land in the Philippines.

[redacted…]

Foreigners can’t own land in any of these S.E. Asian countries, except […] Taiwan straight up for Americans:

https://www.asiapropertyhq.com/foreign-land-ownership-asia/

However, we can lease up to 75 years in the Philippines:

[redacted…]

Note a corporation is required anyway for owning more than 5 hectares in the Philippines.

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So IMO Singapore and Malaysia (visited both) are just too near to the equator for Westerners. Okay to visit as a tourist but not to live. Food was horrible and overpriced in Singapore. Singapore is very modern though and fast Internet. But Angeles City is now good enough in those respects […] If I want super modern, I can have a tech hub in another location such as:

1. Austin, TX, USA
2. Paso Robles, California, USA
3. Kaohsiung, Taiwan
4. Australia?

https://www.businessownersideacafe.com/business_ideas/top-tech-hubs-australia-startups-keep-eye.html (click to see their office space rentals)

Note the rising level of fintech investment related to blockchain:

https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/xx/pdf/2019/07/pulse-of-fintech-h1-2019.pdf

Note the startup and fintech rankings diverge with Austin for example high on startup but not even on the top 20 for fintech:

https://about.crunchbase.com/blog/ranking-the-startup-ecosystems-of-1000-cities-and-100-countries/

https://about.crunchbase.com/blog/ranking-of-fintech-ecosystems/

https://findexable.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Findexable_Global-Fintech-Rankings-2020exSFA.pdf#page=24

Notable to me above is the push by India, Tokyo, and Sydney to compete in the startup hub, with Chinese cities losing ground. Also for the fintech compared to global financial centers, the old (and newly in China) industrial centers cities are falling way behind. Makes sense as China is a lower quality culture that prioritizes oligarch control, walled off Internet, and profit by cutting corners (including environmental degradation, etc) which antithetical to startups which want highest quality environments. Spain is moving up in top tiers in both rankings. Chile and Philippines are a ways back but within the top 30 to 50 (Philippines #38 startups and #46 fintech, Chile #30 and #35). Taiwan is newly on the list at 50 on both rankings, but probably will move up rapidly as the mad scramble to spread out into the globe from Silicon Valley accelerates.

Chile is the highest ranked for startups in South America! Brazil very highly ranked for fintech but #37 for startups. Maybe the new President will dismantle some of the bureaucracy. Australia the only ranked in top 10 for startups in Asia. S. Korea and India in top 20, Singapore, China, Japan and Chile in top 30. Philippines at #38 looks impressive considering the relative poverty.

Can anyone tell me why I should even consider Malaysia? Okay foreigners can own land there. And they make retirement residence easy. But do I really plan to stay in the same country for more than 6 months a year and be subject to residence taxation. Look at the ongoing corruption scandals in Malaysia. I’m very skeptical of Islamic countries. And the equatorial climate is not my preference.

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Ah it is 6am and I noticed the LSU vs Oklahoma championship bowl game has started […] will buy her breakfast at Phillies Sports Bar so we can watch it on the wall sized screen […]

So nice to be here in Angeles and can enjoy some of my pastimes from the USA for the holidays. Feels closer to home.

I’m not only contemplating Western engineers who might want to escape the societalcide to work in an Asia tech hub for a more bright future. After reading the Taiwan: The Next Crypto Capital of the World, I’m also wondering if Taiwanese who might relish the opportunity to work outside their country for the cultural experience or necessity if in the future China suppresses Taiwan.

With some of the world’s top technical universities such as National Taiwan University (NTU), there is no shortage of talent. NTU is ranked among the top 1 percent (94 out of 28,000 universities around the world) globally. Taiwan’s overall literacy rate is now […] at a mind-blowing 98.7%.

Its hard to believe that this level of innovation and talent can come from such a tiny island […] the cities of Shanghai, Delhi and Tokyo each have a population larger than the entire country of Taiwan.

Not bad for a country with only 23 million people.

Taiwan is Restricting Chinese Video Apps Like TikTok for Fear of [China’s] Disinformation

So you want to work at Google:

SINGAPORE — […] Google has been ranked as one of the top companies to work for. […] considering the high salaries and perks such as stock options, massage rooms, nap pods, laundry services and hairdressers, and mechanics for your car on site.

The tech giant receives more than a million job applications a year […] only a few thousand make the cut.

Currently, Google has 114,000 employees worldwide, with 1,500 in its Singapore office.

Engineers want to focus on their vocation, hobbies, and social life. They prefer to have all the necessarily amenities arranged for them efficiently.

Angeles City is loaded with nightlife, sex, and activities such as mountain climbing, go cart racing, off road motorcycling, river rafting, hang gliding, billiards, etc..

Also as implied in the blog Why hasn’t ride-hailing found success in Taiwan?, Taiwan (perhaps ditto Japan) is probably a bit too Asian uniformity/conformance antiseptic for my tastes.