Return to Singapore 1995

Li Xiaofan realized that from now until next summer when the Singapore government introduces strict real estate control policies, it is an excellent window of opportunity to invest in local real estate in Singapore and make huge profits.

But there are two difficulties in front of him: one is money, and the other is identity.

To invest in Singapore HDB flats, you need at least Singapore permanent resident PR status and you need a family or joint name to trade in the secondary market. Foreign residents like him who have not obtained PR can only buy high-end private apartments and villas designated by the government, which are not only extremely expensive but also have much higher taxes and fees than local citizens and PR holders in Singapore. Generally, you can only choose non-landed private houses and Sentosa residential areas, and you need to pay 15% additional stamp duty and 3% stamp duty, as well as a considerable amount of legal fees. At the same time, if the owner intends to resell the property within four years after purchasing the house, he still needs to pay a certain proportion of the seller's stamp duty.

So choosing to speculate in HDB flats is the best choice at the moment, but the threshold is very high.

Li Xiaofan took out his notebook and recorded this business opportunity first.

After saying goodbye to the agent, Li Xiaofan continued to wander around the community commercial street in Tampines.

He bought a Lianhe Zaobao of the day, asked for a cup of iced Coke, and sat down at McDonald's to rest.

While drinking Coke, he found that there were several large advertisements for training and tuition centers on the upper floor of the agency opposite. Many parents were taking their children in and out of these training and tuition centers. The children wearing glasses had bitter faces.

This scene was very similar to the mainland before rebirth.

In Li Xiaofan's impression, there were very few cram schools in the mainland in 1995. Teachers taught in the classroom, and children did not have much homework when they went home. When he was in primary and secondary school, he basically finished his homework in the afternoon self-study class, and when he got home, he played all the time.

Unlike the children in China today, they are overwhelmed by academic work and their parents complain.

There are several articles in the Lianhe Zaobao supplement today discussing the "fear of losing" spirit of Singaporeans. Because Singapore is an elite society, the entire education system is selecting elites at all levels, and the entire society is guaranteeing the interests of these elites. If you open the resume of a minister, a member of parliament, or a CEO of a state-owned company, they have been receiving elite education since kindergarten. From the best kindergartens, primary schools, middle schools, junior colleges to universities in Singapore, these elites who have been selected from various levels receive high government scholarships to study in top universities abroad. After returning, they are carefully trained in the Singapore system with high salaries, and enjoy a life of luxury and wealth...

There is no harm without comparison, so those local people who have not entered the elite system began to complain constantly, complaining about their hard work, low income, and various complaints...

Then many Singaporeans began to worry that their children "lost at the starting line". In order to enter these key kindergartens, famous primary and secondary schools, and strive to enter the elite system, everyone also racked their brains and participated in various trainings, and parents also had various anxiety disorders.

Li Xiaofan looked at these articles and felt that it was very similar to the current situation in Shanghai before his rebirth. The colleagues in the company who were parents in Shanghai were also worried about their children's studies and were anxious.

Suddenly, a phenomenon attracted Li Xiaofan's attention. These children in cram schools basically wore glasses. There was an eyeglass store next to the agency store downstairs opposite that was doing very well.

There is a news in Lianhe Zaobao today: According to data provided by the Singapore Health Promotion Board, the myopia rate of sixth-grade primary school students in our country has remained at 65% in the past 10 years, while the myopia rate of first-grade primary school students has remained at 28%. At the same time, the myopia rate of new recruits around 19 years old in our country has remained above 80% in recent years, which is basically consistent with the data of new recruits in 1982.

The director of myopia research at the Singapore Eye Research Institute said that our country began to reform the education system in the late 1970s, and successively implemented the fourth-grade primary school and secondary school diversion systems, which led to fierce competition among students, forcing students to spend more time reading and writing, and less time for outdoor activities, causing vision deterioration. The Health Promotion Board said that Singapore's child myopia rate is still one of the highest in the world, which needs to attract great attention from all parties...

The highest myopia rate in the world, Li Xiaofan suddenly felt keenly: the optometry industry, this is a good business!

Before rebirth, Li Xiaofan attended a reunion of technical secondary school classmates when he returned to his hometown during the Chinese New Year two years ago. Among the classmates, Pan Zhenming is the most successful in his career. The Donghai Zhenming Optical Technology Company he founded is doing very well.

Donghai Zhenming Optical Technology Company is mainly engaged in the research and development, production and trade of precision optoelectronic instruments for optometry. The fully automatic mold-free edge grinding machine they independently developed can process lenses of various materials and quickly grind the edges into shape. In addition, there are a series of optometry machines such as scanning centering instruments, fully automatic computer focal meters and computer ophthalmometers, which have seized a lot of domestic markets.

Even the world's largest optometry company, France's Essilor Group, is negotiating joint ventures or acquisitions with their company.

Because Li Xiaofan helped Pan Zhenming participate in the design of the instrument control circuit boards of Donghai Zhenming Optical Technology Company, he has a good personal relationship with Pan Zhenming.

Once when Pan Zhenming came to Shanghai to attend the 12th Healthy China Forum, he also asked Li Xiaofan to attend it together.

At that forum, "China will be the largest market in the global optometry industry!" The words of Dumano, the global leader of the optometry industry, CEO of Essilor Greater China, and CEO of the Global Instrument Division, impressed Li Xiaofan.

Li Xiaofan remembers Dumano's introduction: the total sales revenue of Essilor Group of France exceeded 8 billion euros in the past year, and the group's three traditional businesses: lenses, sunglasses (reading glasses) and optical equipment all performed strongly.

Before coming to China to take office, Dumano had served as the head of Latin America for 6 years and had worked in the eye and optical industry for nearly 20 years.

"Although the population of Latin America is one-seventh of that of mainland China, the market is four times larger than that of China. We have the responsibility to help Chinese consumers have a good vision at any age..."

At that forum, Li Xiaofan remembers that Dumano's speech made Pan Zhenming, who was sitting next to him, extremely excited.

Dumano believes that although the annual sales of glasses in mainland China have reached 100 million to 300 million pairs, it is still far from enough. Many people who need vision correction have not yet worn suitable glasses. The fundamental problem lies in the indifference of Chinese people to eye health awareness, not economic ability...

Then at that forum, the National Health Commission released the first "China Eye Health White Paper", and the data showed that the overall incidence of myopia among children and adolescents in my country was 53.6%, and 90% of college students were myopic. In particular, the use of electronic product video terminals has become a trend at present. During the epidemic, many people worked online, and young people participated in cloud classrooms, which caused more damage to their eyes...

Thinking of this, Li Xiaofan suddenly became inexplicably excited: This industry related to ophthalmic health is too big, and it is very meaningful, benefiting the country and the people!

At present, the optometry industry has great potential!