For the 18 of you who are wondering why Nas Daily wants to set up his! company! in! Singapore! (just like you’re wondering why he puts exclamation marks on every word he says in his videos), wonder no more.
Nusier Yassin, otherwise known as Nas Daily, uploaded a video on Friday to his popular Facebook page explaining why he decided to call Singapore home for his business, the Nas Daily Media Company.
The video features footage from his first Singapore meetup that he had at Botanic Gardens, which happened under much scrutiny as political watchdogs wondered why it was easy for Nas to get a permit when others were reprimanded for having other meetups.
The police later clarified that Nas was having a meetup that did not champion for any causes, whereas other people who were reprimanded were championing specific causes in their meetups.
In his video, Nas puts an upfront disclaimer: Singapore is not an ideal place to live in. The weather is crazy (we agree), the prices are expensive (we definitely agree) and it is not perfect (no country is, really).
Despite that, he brought up six reasons why he wanted to set up his company in Singapore:
#1: It’s safe
According to Nas, crime rates in Singapore are “so low” that “you’ll never worry about your belongings or any serious crime”. We don’t know if Nas has seen the news we’ve been publishing, such as fights with knives in Orchard Road and uncles at hawker centers pretending to be wrestlers.
But, it’s hard to argue that Singapore’s no-guns policy and safe streets at night does make it one of the safest places to live in Asia.
#2: It’s attractive for business
Nas said he set up his company here because corruption rates are apparently lower than crime rates, with “no hidden deals or mafia”.
We would invite Nas to visit the lorongs in Geylang to find out for himself if the mafia here truly exists; maybe they won’t be in suits but might be armed instead with gaudy highlights in their hair and Tik Tok accounts.
#3: It’s easy to get around
Unless you’re on a crazy Go-Jek ride where the driver fights with you over S$7, we do concur with Nas that Singapore’s small size makes it easy to get around.
However, Nas uses the analogy of driving here as he equates the ease of access to a “15-minute drive”, knowing full well that some Singaporeans cannot afford to drive. A little bit privileged, if you ask us.
He also said that it is easy to shop here due to the country’s many, many, many malls, which means Singaporeans don’t have to wait for items to be shipped over to their homes. We can’t argue with this point so we give this to Nas.
#4: It’s easy to communicate
Everyone speaks English in Singapore, which is true, but Nas may not have seen some of our uncles who can barely string sentences in English, much less make their English sound legible or coherent.
We believe Nas may want to take a few lessons in Singlish and learn how to order kopi (Malay for coffee) at a hawker center in Pioneer or Tampines West if he really wants to communicate with the local locals. Or else, he may very well be living in a privileged bubble in his atas condominium.
#5: It’s in a strategic location
Singapore does enjoy a strategic location, said Nas, being close to countries such as China, Japan, Philippines, Malaysia, and Australia.
“You can do business all around Asia and get there in a couple of hours,” said Nas. We think he might be unable to exactly do business in Malaysia given the fact that he holds an Israeli passport but he does have a point about the ease of connecting with other countries… if he gets enough business deals to fund his travels, of course.
(Not that he has a problem doing so, given just how much traveling he has done as a result of starting his Nas Daily videos.)
#6: It has spirit
This point is a bit suspicious to us because it is supported by footage of enthusiastic Singaporeans at his Botanic Gardens meetup, which could probably be a biased point given the huge amount of waving and cheering they did at the meetup all to worship the very man they love.
We think Nas still has yet to discover the grumpier side of Singapore, from frumpy aunties at the mixed rice stalls to grouchy passengers on crowded buses and trains.
But perhaps, we might be a little bit too negative, so we’ll wait and see how Nas gets used to living like a local here. Our main ask? For Nas to live like a true local, not an expat whose only connection to locals is saying hello to the cleaning lady at his condominium.
