PM Lee has identified productivity growth, population and identity as the key challenges facing Singapore over next 50 years. I agree with his view. Article.
However, he talked as if he was an academic researcher who has just made this discovery. He forgot that he had been in the government for over 30 years and was primarily responsible for the policies that brought Singapore to this difficult situation.
Where were these policies?
1) He was responsible for several policies that caused Singapore to have low productivity. He introduced measures such as the Goods & Services Tax and the dozens of calibrated measures that was wasteful and unproductive and create expensive administrative work for businesses and the government agencies. Low productivity is caused, to a large extent, by the ecosystem on how business is carried out.
2) The low birth rate that led to a declining local population was caused by the high cost of living, the high cost of housing and by national service. While he was not primarily responsible for these measures, he could have played a major role to identify these problems and found effective measures to combat them.
3) The lost identity is a result of his policies to increase the population to bring in foreigners and to grant permanent residency and citizenship to them easily. He failed to recognize that this would bring about serious problems, especially as the local population had to make a big sacrifice in serving two years full time in national service, and another ten to 15 years in reservist duty. The local born males have now described that they face a serious disadvantage in competing for jobs in Singapore against the foreigners.
Singapore will continue to face daunting challenges, if the root causes are not identified and the bad policies, that has been a cancer on our social and economic fabric is not eradicated.
PM Lee speech at Ho rih hwa lecture
ReplyDelete30 Jun 2015
Larger countries can rely on their hinterland and natural resources to survive, but Singapore has only its human capital to speak of. Improving productivity and maintaining economic growth are thus the only way for Singaporeans to continue finding good jobs and creating opportunities.
- Improved productivity = good jobs? How?
- Improved productivity = opportunities? How?
Larger countries with hinterland and natural resources do not rely on improved productivity to find good jobs and opportunities?
He is just trying to rationalize his incompetence. Waste of time even to listen to him. I recall people stop everything they do when his father speaks as they find it very worthwhile & important. What a contrast!
ReplyDeleteThe father dun just whine and deny his own shortcomings. The elder Lee would grasp the bull's horns and turn the animal around to find sensible solutions, won't take the easy way out to apply short term, short sighted policies that harm us and destroy our National Identity.
ReplyDeleteLiving in denial mode out of pride would destroy Singapore, what's there to boast when you are enjoying the shade of trees planted by the previous generation.
Watch out for the opening tap of being inundated with other Asean Nationals when the Asean Free Labour Movement takes effect this year end.
GE must take place before this clock strikes midnight hour.
It's quite true that not many bother to listen to PM speech nowadays while we were serious about similar speech by the past PMs. As Mr Tan said, his speech is more of academic sort without providing solution. It can even avoid the actual issues altogether (since no solution can be tabled). Our countrymen are just fed-up with the lip service after paying the huge package. Many ministers behave the same without fear.
ReplyDeleteIn HK, the Transport Department Head (like our LTA Minister) has to present his explanation to the whole legislative council for the delay of the high speed train project and gets their acceptance (after scolding, usually). Without taking responsibility, how do we expect senior civil servants to work hard despite the highest paid in the world?