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Friday, August 12, 2005
Zosa: Inventing and reinventing Singapore
By Elbert Zosa
Biz Vantage
CELEBRATION. Singapore celebrated its 40th anniversary this week with a bang. As its citizens rightfully should. The country has been very successful by any standard.
Singapore has excelled in that one true measure of performance—its people’s quality of life or standard of living. At current prices, per capita income in Singapore is now $25,000, far, far ahead of the Philippines’—and that gap continues to widen. (Yes, we were ahead of Singapore just decades ago, and worse, we have problems that could bring us down even further.)
The image of the strict, conservative Singapore apparently may be a thing of the past as the country perpetually seeks effective strategies to come out ahead of changing global conditions. Singapore’s success has been premised on focusing on areas that make the country compete effectively.
Singapore is going to give emphasis on financial services, advanced science and medical technology and, hear this, entertainment. There are some who remember Singapore when it used to give mandatory haircuts to unwilling visitors who sported long hair.
Acknowledging its limitations, such as its physical resources, and recognizing the rapid emergence of China and India in manufacturing and services, Singapore has decided to be complementary to these countries and to the Western advanced nations.
Financial services and advanced science and technology have worked for Singapore in the past. Tourism has also been a key component of Singapore’s economy. But the Singaporeans are jazzing up two areas in the Marina bay area and in Sentosa island as tourism growth has slackened.
After months of intense study and discussion, Singapore has also agreed to allow two casinos to put up shop in Singapore. They expect the casinos to contribute 1.3 percent to their gross domestic product.
Their government has promised its citizens that they will take all the steps necessary to avoid the perceived evils attendant to gambling.
Channel News Asia of Singapore, from time to time, airs their prime minister’s National Day speech and other interactions in Parliament.
These are very informative, reasoned messages and arguments that dissect specific issues intelligently. I once watched Lee Hsien Loong’s performance before Parliament, warning about the threats to the Singapore economy and the steps that Singapore must take along its major strategic directions.
Quality education, at every level, is one of the underpinnings of Singapore’s past and future achievements. The development of human capital has always been both a means and an end. In the past, Singapore sent its best and brightest to the top universities in the West. But over time, Singapore has also beefed up its schools.
One example: the Singapore government contracted the Wharton School to oversee the Singapore Management University ‘s Economics and Management departments, while Carnegie Mellon was also brought in to handle information technology.
Ph.D’s from top schools in the world have taken residence in Singapore. The key advantage to students is that they pay Singapore prices for world-class education at fees and living expenses much cheaper than in the United States.
There is much that we can learn from Singapore. Our children who qualify—especially for scholarships—can also advance their education in Singapore’s universities.
(elzosa@yahoo.com)
(August 12, 2005 issue)
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