Aug 19, 2006
Of Crazy Horse And Ministry Of Sound
Singapore has become a brand name among some countries but there is
a constant need to find more ways for Singaporeans to make a
living. In his annual Tanjong Pagar National Day dinner speech last
night, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew spoke about some of these
ways
Straits Times
ECONOMIC conditions are favourable for good growth in Singapore in
the next five years. Japan is recovering; Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong,
Singapore are doing well; China and India are growing fastest and
lifting up the whole region.
But there are dangerous pitfalls:
(1) Price of oil that could spike to over $120 if the dispute over
Iran's nuclear processing plants leads to sanctions and
conflict;
(2) or if the war in Lebanon reignites or triggers off unforeseen
consequences that lead to further instability in the Middle
East.
This situation can become a crisis. But I believe this crisis is
containable because all major powers - US, EU, Russia and China -
know that what is at stake is the world economy to which they all
are interlinked in a globalised world. They all share an interest
in avoiding a crisis as, otherwise, oil prices will go up sky-high
and there will be a world recession.
However, even if there is a world recession, after a while there
will be a new world equilibrium. And if Singapore remains nimble,
adjusts and stays competitive, we can forge ahead. Our society is
based on excellence, with the most capable people in charge of the
most important sectors of the economy and our government, and our
system of government is flexible to respond quickly in a
crisis.
Singapore is now a brand name. Singaporeans are sought after in the
oil states of the Gulf because they are known to be capable, honest
and can work out proper systems. They like the Singapore system and
want to adopt parts of it.
Liaoning province wants Singapore to do a project in Changxin
island, 250 sq km in area, to kick-start the development over a
2,000km coastline of the Liaoning peninsula.
The Russians have invited Changi Airport consulting arm, Changi
Airport International (CAI), to be their consultants to upgrade and
administer their main airport, Sheremetyevo. Russia wants us to do
a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), so we are testing our ability to do
the job in two SEZs for six months, one in Tatarstan and the other
in Tomsk in Central Russia. We do not know the language, culture or
system; the distance from Singapore makes logistical support much
more difficult than in Suzhou or Bangalore; and Russia has a severe
climate. The Gulf States want us as partners in many ventures to
train and produce institutions of integrity and quality for their
countries. They want to attain what we have achieved for
themselves, with our collaboration.
We have to work out more ways to make a living in a small island of
700 sq km with no natural resources. We have to seek out new
activities to increase the incomes of Singaporeans.
From our earliest days we set out to create a more fair and equal
society. We knew we could never achieve complete equality. Human
beings are not born equal. They are highly competitive. Systems
like Soviet and Chinese communism have failed because they try to
equalise benefits. Then nobody works hard enough, but everyone
wants to get as much as, if not more than, the other person. Even
welfare socialism has had negative effects on the economy of UK and
EU as the workforce loses the incentives to excel and be better
rewarded.
From the 1960s to 1990s we created a more equal and fair society by
giving equal opportunities in education, health and housing. And we
gave substantial assets to every citizen by selling HDB homes at
heavily subsidised prices. Over and above this, low-income
households buying HDB homes get an Additional CPF Housing Grant of
up to $20,000 to help them become home owners. Now we have 95 per
cent home ownership. For the older flats, we add value by our Main
Upgrading Programmes, the Interim Upgrading Programmes and the Lift
Upgrading Programmes (LUP). The LUPs will be completed around 2014.
Beyond that, we will continue with programmes of regeneration to
maintain and enhance the value of everyone's HDB homes.
With surpluses we will do more Progress Packages every now and
again. This will give to older Singaporeans something for their
Medisave CPF accounts and to lower-income Singaporeans more
workfare bonuses to encourage them to work and improve their own
lives.
We have to concentrate on three basic areas to develop our full
potential - education, health and housing. The can-do spirit has
got us where we are. We can rise to the next stage by riding on the
rise of China and India that is making East Asia the fastest
growing region of the world.
We have to educate our young to higher standards so that they can
move up the added-value chain, doing higher end and more difficult
jobs. We will retain the higher end of the manufacturing sector
which we are doing by investing in R&D so that we remain
competitive for the final stages of manufacturing high-value
products. Investments in the bio-medical and pharmaceutical
sectors, petrochemical industries have been good for GDP and jobs.
But we cannot stop the convergence of wages worldwide following
globalisation. Low-end wages are kept down by large numbers of
low-wage Chinese and Indians and high-end wages go up because they
are needed as China and India are in short supply. This is a
worldwide problem: the lower income group not getting as high
increases as the high earners.
We are investing in new schools, ITEs, polys and universities to
develop a wide range of talents in music, theatre and the arts,
sports and in technical skills. The world market determines what a
man or woman can earn. We cannot raise protectionist walls, as some
European countries are trying to do, to their disadvantage.
Jobs in services cannot be migrated so easily as they cannot be
outsourced. We must increase the service sector. To do this we need
more buzz in our city. We need a more lively night scene. At Clarke
Quay by the river, people wine, dine and drink till 4 or 5 in the
morning at weekends. Our streets are more lively. Orchard Road and
the Singapore River have improved. In the next 10 years the Marina
will blossom. Entertainment outlets like the Ministry of Sound are
drawing thousands of Singaporeans and tourists every night. When
the Sands Integrated Resort at the Marina and another at Sentosa
come up by 2009 and 2010, live shows like 'Crazy Horse' from Paris,
now at Clarke Quay, will get a boost.
In the next few years there will be more jobs for our school
leavers and retrained older workers in the IRs and tourism. We will
also increase our international customers for education and medical
services.
Our system has continually adjusted to make possible Singapore's
economic progress, accompanied by ever-higher educational and
cultural levels of our people.
|
Add choongyong.koh as a contact
Loading...