Singapore, Jan. 7 (CNA) A Singaporean entrepreneur said in an article in a Singaporean newspaper Sunday that he decided to relocate his family to Taipei because of the values found in Taiwanese society.
"Taipei is not perfect but the Taiwanese have admirable socio-civic qualities," wrote Koh Kheng Wah, founder of Hearty SPIN, a Singapore-based social enterprise that creates special education, learning and communication assistive technology apps for individuals with special needs.
Taiwanese are "friendly, articulate and open-minded" and show more respect for people who provide basic services than do people in Singapore, Koh was cited as saying in the article headlined "Why Taipei is better for my kids" that appeared in the Sunday Times.
He said he decided to relocate to Taipei because he wants to give his two young children "the chance to grow up with certain values that I think the Taipei environment offers."
Although Taiwanese complain about the government, "they are also involved in grassroots initiatives to make the necessary changes, rather than wait for the government to act," he said.
Koh also said that Singaporean society sees professionals like bankers and lawyers as successful role models, but he suggested that society should also celebrate the efforts of people from all walks of life, such as entrepreneurs, educators, musicians, athletes, bakers and cleaners.
Koh's comments came in response to an op-ed piece that previously appeared in the Sunday Times. The commentary, titled "The dirty truth about Singapore," by Han Fook Kwang, detailed Han's observations during his trip to Taipei.
Han, the former editor-in-chief of Singapore's Straits Times, described Taipei as "clean" and the people as "civic-minded" and said the service in restaurants in Taipei was better than that in Tokyo.
(By Lu Hsin-hui and Jamie Wang)