The shifting goalpost on Quora


And so, I was asked to answer a question on whether the oil refinery industry in Singapore is sustainable for the next 30 years. 

First thought: since when I became an economic expert on my country? I gamely took up the challenge and wrote an answer an hour later,  based on international shipping routes and availability of oil, that was relevant to the question and I thought it was done.

5 minutes later, the asker updated the question description to include a line “Given the development and growing preference for green technology.”

Why couldn’t the anonymous questioner elaborate on his question earlier? Why didn’t I checked with him through the comments on the slant of the question? Why, why, why?

So I took another hour to add more relevance to my answer, adding alternative energy.

Anyway, my tl;dr answer:

Yes, it is sustainable for the next 30 years. But there are also investments being made on alternative energy.

Read more on Quora.


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