Ok, a few misconceptions here.
Bandwidth: There's a huge difference between local bandwidth (content within Singapore), and International bandwidth (content out of Singapore). Local bandwidth is orders of magnitude cheaper than International bandwidth.
Content: Singapore's local content is pure sh*t compared to the amount and quality of local content that countries like Japan and Korea. As a result, our usage pattern focuses on International content placing a high usage on International bandwidth. In other words, we're paying more for International bandwidth, than say our counterparts in Korea/Japan.
Speed (or perceived speed): Let's put it this way. Even if the local ISPs come up with 1Gbps FTTH (Fiber To The Home) access, your "perceived speed" won't change much. Why? Because the total International bandwidth out of Singapore is finite and limited. So what if you have big-a$$ access fiber to your ISP, when your ISP only has a few Gbps of bandwidth peering with Tier-1 backbones??
Density: Agreed. Someone staying in a HDB block chock full of bit torrent happy kids will surf at a snail's pace compared to another person staying in a block largely with older folks. This has to do with the manner in which your ISP aggregates bandwidth from your neighborhood to the central office.
Bottomline: Want faster access bandwidth? Don't want to pay more? Sure! But first get off your lazy butt and start creating compelling, kick-a$$ local content!!! It takes time. We don't have the population mass of Korea/Japan. And for that reason, we'll always be behind them as far as bandwidth/price/performance is concerned.
The Future: The Gaming industry (not your kiddie MMORPGs, but the multi-billion $$$ gambling) is making in-roads slowly but surely. If the cards are played well (no pun intended), more International peering partners will want to have better bandwidth into Singapore, which in turn makes our access cost cheaper. See the economics?
Hope this clears up a little.