Why can't all places be like Singapore

My travels brought me to Singapore again. The last time I was here was in 2011 and the place only got more beautiful than before. (random images added from my trip throughout the post)

First time I was here they were still building Marina Bay Sands, last time they didn't have the gardens by the bay yet.
The metro is super easy to use, the streets are clean and have broad walkways and some even have covers to protect you from the occasional rain shower.

The government seems to take care of everything, from government regulated housing programs, to guaranteed saving account and continuous improvement of the city, it's building and infrastructure.

So you would think living in Singapore should be very expensive. Since the government pays for a lot of things, taxes should be very high. If I compare to my home country Belgium, we have an income tax of around 50% and our infrastructure doesn't come close to want Singapore has to offer.

But when looking at the Singapore tax rate, you'll notice that your first $20,000 has a zero procent tax rate. Above that, the tax rate slowly goes up depending on your yearly income, but the highest tax rate 22% for a yearly income over $320,000.

That is a big difference compared to the 50% I pay at home!

So maybe the VAT is very high? In Belgium, we pay 21% VAT on most products. The rate in Singapore is only 7%.

How can it be that a country like Singapore can do so much for its citizens and only charge half and even less than half of the taxes than in most European countries? According to my friend who lives here, it's all about efficiency and long-term planning.

But isn't is outrageous that we Europeans pay so much taxes and get so little in return? How can we keep allowing our governments to charge high taxes and then just waste it on inefficient governance?
How long can this keep going on?