And so they chose Singapore, that bastion of human rights?
More seriously, it will be interesting to track this person for a few years to see whether they thrive in Singapore. Good luck to her and hope she makes a difference.
it isn't<p>but reading the article helps<p>her reason wasn't some my tech shouldn't be bad people high moral ground but that she felt she can't do here work on here previous job anymore and the next job happened to be in Singapore, and the reasoning in order was also<p>- reduced funding / many projects getting side lined<p>- US moving away from decarbonization<p>- immigration policies discrimination against Chinese born people (even if they have left Chinese citizenship behind/are US citizens)<p>- and here not wanting to be put in a position where she is pressured to work directly on batteries for weapon systems like drones (!= general use systems being used in a military context)<p>so she chose Singapore because someone in Singapore presented here with a good job offer where she doesn't have to worry about this things<p>i.e. this isn't about the US being "evil" and Singapore being better, but about the US no longer being as good a place for civilian use battery production scientist
Moving, especially internationally, is disruptive. Even in bad times, you need to look to where things are going, not where they are in the moment. The USA is dropping on various freedom indices; if you move for this reason, you must ask if will it drop further, will it stabilise, or will it recover? And the same for the destinations you consider.<p><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/human-rights-index-vdem?tab=line&country=USA~SGP" rel="nofollow">https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/human-rights-index-vdem?t...</a>
Great chart! Thanks. I used it to compare a couple of other places too.<p>Yeah I don't see the gap between the US and Singapore closing in the next 5, 10, or 50 years. The current drop in the US is temporary. The lower score for Singapore is structural.<p>EDIT: but these are "just" stats, and do not speak to any person's personal position, like Meng's.
What was the last country Singapore waged war against, and when was that? AFAIK, I don't think Singapore has threatened the sovereignty of a single state after the inception of the country.<p>Probably it isn't a perfect country, probably no country is.
If decarbonization, immigration, and human rights are the drivers, there are better countries to pick than Singapore, including Japan, many in Europe, Costa Rica, New Zealand, etc.<p>On the other hand, Meng is probably right in picking Singapore from a self-interested position because that's where she studied (so has ties) and she believes it gives her a better stage for her research. Notably, she did not choose to go to China, which is where she grew up. So it is noteworthy that she has concluded better opportunities in Singapore.
When you think of the outlook of the USA, where for example the secretary of health and human services is a crusader against vaccination, do you feel like it’s a country that’s rising to meet the challenges of the future? Because to me it feels like we are in the beginning of a fall of civilization!<p>I don’t have the perspective to really say I know what’s going on, but I trust the scientist knows her business and her industry well enough to make a call for herself.<p>Do you have anything specific to show she’s making the wrong decision?
It's not the only reason cited, the first one:<p><pre><code> Meng took the job because she thinks the U.S. has turned away from a commitment to decarbonize its economy.
</code></pre>
Also:<p><pre><code> The Trump administration’s immigration policies</code></pre>
That's an ironic comment to see on hackernews, a forum most closely associated with silicon valley. Where creating attention traps and gambling apps while claiming to "make the world better" is accepted with a straight face.<p>That's not to "whatabout" it, but I do find it interesting how blind we are to our own delusions.