I think POET will be increasing their presence in Singapore. There is of course a long history with POET in Singapore with support from government agencies which continues today with SHINE. ITTR recently uncovered a connection with Celestial AI setting up shop in Singapore with the reveal of Cindy Palar, GM Celestial AI Singapore.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cindy-palar-8839314/ 

I am interested in what the view is of those with knowledge of Southeast Asian countries who are not directly in the sphere of China’s influence. 

A bit of history:

During World War II, Singapore was invaded and occupied by the Japanese Empire from 1942 to 1945. When the Japanese surrendered, Singapore reverted to British control, with increasing levels of self-government being granted, resulting in Singapore's merger with the Federation of Malaya to form Malaysia in 1963. However, social unrest, racial tensions, and political differences between Singapore's governing People's Action Party (PAP) and Malaysia's Alliance Party resulted in Singapore's expulsion from Malaysia. Singapore became an independent republic on 9 August 1965.

By the 1990s, the country had become one of the world's most prosperous nations, with a highly developed free market economy and strong international trading links. It now has the highest per capita gross domestic product in Asia,[2] which is 7th in the world, and it is ranked 9th on the UN Human Development Index.[3][4][2]