Tiger Beer’s brewer, Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore, is phasing down large-scale brewing at its Tuas plant and moving production to Malaysia and Vietnam, cutting 130 jobs. Yeo Hiap Seng has shifted can manufacturing to Johor and Selangor, axing 25 workers in Singapore. H&M is relocating its Southeast Asia headquarters from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, axing about 80 regional positions. ExxonMobil has sold off its entire network of 59 Esso petrol stations, is looking to close down for good one of its two Jurong Island steam crackers, and plans to cut its Singapore headcount by up to 15% by 2027.
Singapore’s stock market has never been worth more. It edged past Indonesia this past week to become Southeast Asia’s largest bourse, Bloomberg reported, with its total market cap rising to US$645 billion ($824 billion) against Jakarta’s US$618 billion. The Straits Times Index (STI), which first cracked the historic 5,000 mark in February, is back above that level again. It’s a defining moment, which makes it all the more awkward that so many businesses are either downsizing their operations in the city-state or moving out entirely.
Gardenia is the latest in a procession of household names heading for the exit. The bread brand, synonymous with Singaporean breakfasts since 1978, announced on May 20 that it was shutting its Pandan Loop bakery and retrenching 141 workers. Similar to many others before it, Gardenia has chosen Malaysia — Johor Bahru, to be precise — for its new production centre.
