Singapore's future
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For all to read. I copied this out for your reading. After reading it, i go on to celebrate my country's national day tomorrow.
Future of Singapore
This is a subject of rising concern despite the media's glowing employment figures. By Derek Wee
Oct 12, 2006
When I read the Straits Times article (dated 24 Sep) on PM Lee calling the young to be committed and make a difference to Singapore, I have so much thought about the issue.
I am 35 years old, graduated from University and gainfully employed in a multinational company. But I cannot help but feel insecure over the future of Singapore. Lets face it, it's not uncommon to hear, "when you are above 40, you are over the hill".
The government has been stressing on re-training, skills upgrading and re-adapt. The fact is, no matter how well qualified or adaptable one is, once you hit the magical 40, employers will say, "you are simply too old".
We have been focusing our resources and problem solving on low unskilled labour. But in reality, our managerial positions and skilled labour force are actually fast losing its competitiveness.
I travel around the region frequently for the past 10 years. It didn't take me long to realise how far our neighbours have come over the past decade.
They have quality skilled workers, and are less expensive. When I work with them, their analytical skills are equally good, if not better than us.
It's not new anymore. Taxi drivers are fast becoming "too early to retire, too old to work" segment of the society. I like to talk to taxi drivers whenever I am heading for the airport.
There was this driver. Eloquent and well read. He was an export manager for 12 years with an MNC. Retrenched at 40 years old. He had been searching for a job since his retrenchment.
Although he was willing to lower his pay expectations, employers were not willing to lower their prejudice. He was deemed too old. I wouldn't be surprised if we have another No. 1; having the most highly educated taxi drivers in the world.
On PM Lee calling the young to be committed and make a difference. Look around us. How dedicated can we be to Singapore when we can visualise what's in store for us after we turned 40? Then again, how committed are employers to us? But we can't blame them. They have bottom lines & shareholders' gain to answer to.
Onus is really on the government to revamp the society. A society that is not a pressure cooker. A society that does not mirror so perfectly, what survival of the fittest is.
But a society, where it's people can be committed, do their best and not having to fear whether they will still wake up employed tomorrow. Sadly, Singapore does not offer such luxuries and security anymore.
On the issue of babies. The government encourages us to pro-create. The next generation is essential in sustaining our competitive edge. Then again, the current market condition is such that our future has become uncertain. There is no more joy in having babies anymore; they have become more of a liability. It's really a chicken and egg issue.
Many of my peers, bright and well educated have packed up and left. It's what MM Goh called "quitters". It's sad but true, Singapore no longer is a place where one can hope to work hard their lives and retire graciously. It's really the push factor.
A future is something we sweat it out, build and call our own. Unfortunately, people like me, mid 30's going on 40's, staying put by choice or otherwise, we can't help but feel what lies ahead is really a gamble.
To PM Lee and the Ministers, we are on a different platform. Until you truly understand our insecurity, the future of Singapore to me remains a question mark.
(SPH rejected this letter - From: LocalSin) -
haiz....
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get off the foreign talents to ensure singaporeans survival.
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Another voice about Singapore.
I ATTENDED a private reunion dinner with a dozen families recently and left with a first-hand insight into one of Singapore's foremost problems.
It set me thinking. This year, the republic celebrates its 40th National Day; what will it be like in another 40 years?
How much of today's Singapore and Singaporeans will remain?
The ladies that evening had gone to the same school in the late 60s and were now mothers (and a few grandmothers) with children aged 20 to 28.
As the night wore on, I found out that the majority of their offspring were graduates or studying in universities, half of them overseas.
I soon learned that most had every intention of remaining abroad. The parents, mostly conservative people, had spoken of it matter-of-factly, as if it was a natural thing to do. From a handful, the number of Singaporean emigrants has turned into a torrent as globalisation intensified and jobs became harder to come by in Singapore.
Some are looking for more space, a freer lifestyle and bigger opportunities - what they think smallish Singapore cannot give.
All this - rising migration and a low birth rate - has become Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's biggest challenge, totally different problems his father encountered.
It will change Singapore's demography and its future.
Consider this: every year, 6,000 to 7,000 Singaporeans leave to settle down overseas, including many professionals. This is 15% of today's annual births, probably the highest proportion in the world.
One website survey, which is unverified, has put Singapore's average outflow at 26.11 migrants per 1,000 citizens, the second highest in the world - next only to East Timor (51.07).
Fortunately, the loss is replaced by the influx of foreigners, numerically speaking. For every one who leaves, three or four outsiders flock in to take his place.
For Singapore, it will mean a larger population and a weaker national cohesion. The "foreign" content will steadily increase as the "local" portion declines.
These recent developments offer little hope for improvement:
* Nearly half of all Singaporeans do not think they need to be a resident to be emotionally rooted to the country.
* Six out of 10 undergraduates said they wanted to go abroad to live or work mostly for better economic and job prospects, and enjoy a higher quality of life with less stress. About 7% attributed it to a lack of sense of belonging.
* An ACNielsen poll showed 21% of Singaporeans, mainly professionals, were considering emigration, half opting for Australia and New Zealand.
* Between 100,000 and 150,000 Singaporeans are studying, working or in business in foreign countries; leaders fear that many of them will not return.
This failure to build a strong-enough sense of belonging is ironic considering the state's rapid growth.
In 40 years, it has shot from a backwater to one of Asia's richest economies, with living standards envied by many.
The dilemma has led to calls for a redefinition of the word "citizen" to include Singaporeans who have become foreign citizens or PRs, if they retain a strong emotional home link. This is short of dual citizenship which is rejected by the government.
In recent years, I have detected a steady shift away from an inflexible attitude that condemned all Singaporeans who leave to improve their fortunes abroad as "quitters" or, worse still, "disloyal" citizens.
It is now accepted that they are not the same as people (a much smaller number) who have abandoned Singapore for good.
In fact, the opposite may be taking place.
Instead of condemning them, many conservative parents and some younger political leaders now believe that having its new generation working long periods overseas, without losing their loyalty, should be encouraged.
What is making it a necessary evil is the rapid change in the global - and Singapore's own uncertain - economy, rather than any domestic argument of right and wrong.
Singapore's future lies beyond its shores and Singaporeans can best serve their homeland if they are able to seize opportunities abroad.
Anyway, unlike before, the country can no longer provide jobs for every qualified youth.
The change in official attitude is evident. It wasn't too long ago that it set a cap on university places for doctors and lawyers for fear of unemployment.
Today, with the wider horizon in mind, the goal is to provide top education to meet a global demand.
"While loyalty to one's own nation is a virtue, the search for a better life elsewhere is not, in itself, a moral sin," Hansen Yeong wrote in a letter to the press.
Older leaders like Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong may not have changed their strong feelings about "quitters" but they have stopped criticising them in public.
Theirs is one of acceptance of the inevitable and moving to derive some benefits from it.
A result has been organising ex-Singaporeans in committees in several world cities to contribute ideas and promote business ties with Singapore.
Some critics blame the ruling party in part and say unless it frees more of its control on society, things will worsen.
Sinapan Samydorai, president of civil rights group Think Centre, said: "It's the failure of the government to understand the will of the people that leads them to move overseas."
There are, however, other reasons for optimism that the situation will eventually right itself.
Firstly, the state has set a birthrate target of 50,000 compared to the present 35,000. It is providing fresh incentives worth more than half a billion dollars a year, a powerful nudge to reluctant couples.
Some of those who take up foreign PRs are likely to return home eventually with a more rounded view of life.
Fong, a woman who had spent five years in Amsterdam, said online that she now had a better understanding of the good and bad, both of Singapore (she once disliked) and the West.
Sharing the view was university student Tyco who had lived in the UK for 15 years since eight. He found it hard to understand people who say the grass is always greener elsewhere.
He said he was ready to return and rough it out even if a job is hard to get. "It's home and I miss my chicken rice."
(This was first published in The Sunday Star on Jan 30, 2005) -
so much of foreigners coming.. i believe one day our children will get a foreigner and married off..
so our decendents most likely a mixed blood -
An abstract. heavy stuff.
7. The global connectedness and intertwining of the world has made it much more complex and complicated. But we have no choice but to learn to live with the uncertainties and volatilities if we want to be a player in the world arena.
8. We in Singapore have always had to live with the vagaries of the world. Our small size and absence of natural resources compel us to be an integral part of the world.
9. In the early days, we traded silk, ceramics and spices across the Arabic peninsular to China to the Indonesian spice islands.
10. Without any oil of our own, we are the world's third largest refinery. We manufactured goods and components for international markets. We have always functioned as an entrepot hub of the world. Today, our trade volume is two and a half times our GDP.
11. To be an entrepot hub, it is not just being located at the crossroads of the major trade routes. That helps. But far more important are four indispensable elements that we have built up, that together form the CORE underpinning by which we work - Connectivity, Openness, Reliability, and Enterprise.
12. Connectivity. Goods, people and information must be able to flow easily from one place to another for an entrepot hub. Our seaport is the busiest transshipment port in the world, connecting 600 ports in the world with 90 daily sailings from Singapore. Changi airport with connections to 130 locations is a great transit hub. There is now 21 terabits per sec of bandwidth linking Singapore to the world.
13. Openness. For a hub to be home to many different enterprises from diverse origins, it must be open, cosmopolitan, welcoming of ideas and talent, allowing free flow of capital and information. There has to be transparency in the way it works, with pro-business policies without any hidden domestic agenda. It has to abide by good governance and subject itself to international norms and standards.
14. Reliability. Things have to work. A system based on meritocracy will bring about greatest effectiveness and efficiency, reliability and trustworthiness. Consistent policies and practices, and unflinching security consciousness and measures that give comfort that properties and lives will be protected. Reliability, trustedness and security are even more crucial at these uncertain times.
15. Enterprise. A valuable intermediary is not simply a middleman. It has to have the enterprise and capability to solve the needs and the complexity of an interchange of many players. For example, solving a complex 200 X 200 port connections is very different from solving a 2 X 2 situation, probably a 10,000 fold more difficult.
16. It has to have the ability to adapt and respond to the changes that we will continue to see in the world. It requires well educated and skilled people, with the enterprise to innovate and adjust constantly.
17. Many investors have come to Singapore based on these CORE underpinnings. There are now over 6000 multinational firms in Singapore from the US, Europe, Japan with at least 60% of them operating their regional HQs in Singapore.
18. They help provide us a well diversified economy, with manufacturing contributing some 26% to our GDP, 11% from the financial sector, 12% from Transport and Communication and 13% from Business services.
19. The CORE fundamentals underpin what we do and helped us upgrade from a US$500 per capita economy to a US$24000 per capita economy - 40 to 50 fold, in about 40 years.
20. It is easy to forget them during good times. High tide raises all boats. But it is during low tides that we realize how such fundamental characteristics underpin our ability to navigate safely around the perils that surfaced.
21. There will be more disruptive changes around the world. Global economic downturn, terrorism, SARS, new terrorism, new SARS in various forms will continuously put the world to the test.
22. Like all countries, Singapore will be affected by these changes. Whilst we are confident that our CORE fundamentals will pull us through another upheaval, we recognized that we have to be adept and responsive to new changes.
BROADENING AND DIVERSIFYING OUR ECONOMIC BASE
23. An Economic Review Committee was set up to review our strategies and policies comprehensively and holistically. It involved some 1000 people from the industry, union, academia and the government.
24. Several significant changes were made. Corporate tax rate was reduced from 24.5% to 22% this assessment year and it will be further lowered to 20% by 2005. Similarly for individual income tax. The highest marginal tax rate was reduced from 26% to 22% this assessment year and will be further reduced to 20% by 2005.
25. More than just reducing cost, this reflects the keen desire to leave as much of the resources in the hands of corporations and individuals for them to more nimbly respond and adapt to the rapid changes in the world.
26. The ERC blueprint for Singapores longer term development aims to remake Singapore into
a. A globalised economy where Singapore is the key node in the global network, linked to all the major economies;
b. A creative and entrepreneurial nation willing to take risks to create fresh businesses and blaze new paths to success; and
c. A diversified economy powered by the twin engines of manufacturing and services, where vibrant Singapore companies complement MNCs, and new startups co-exist with traditional businesses exploiting new and innovative ideas. -
Wah you all dare to talk about Derek Wee again ah. Scarly the 'talk to my hand' character pop up again ah.
A parent can influence the child's thinking also meh? -
Err.... you have problem with people with 'mixed blood'Originally posted by FBI:so much of foreigners coming.. i believe one day our children will get a foreigner and married off..
so our decendents most likely a mixed blood
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Singaporeans decided their future 5 years a year back.
Since then, many so happy, they dun even complain about risen cost of living.
They simply so happy.
They get what they wish for. More good years!
Happy holiday. -
I teach my children that no one owes them a living; not me, not our government and not the rest of the world. I teach them, while they grow up, to start thinking how to stand on their own feet and plan for their own futures.
I teach them that location, whether it is Singapore or USA, isn't as important to them as their attitudes towards living.
Confidence to live.
As father, i guide my children using my best efforts.
Future Singaporeans should stand on their own feet and be well-connected global citizens. -
I can't agree with you more.Originally posted by Daddy!!:I teach my children that no one owes them a living; not me, not our government and not the rest of the world. I teach them, while they grow up, to start thinking how to stand on their own feet and plan for their own futures.
I teach them that location, whether it is Singapore or USA, isn't as important to them as their attitudes towards living.
Confidence to live.
As father, i guide my children using my best efforts.
Future Singaporeans should stand on their own feet and be well-connected global citizens.
If, after planning, anyone felt that he/she could have a better future for his/her self or family. Then have not fear or regret about migrating to some other country.
But if you think that your new host country will automaticlly take full care of you the way you complaint S'pore Govt didn't....... then you must be rather Naive. There are also HOMELESS people in Aust, USA, Euro..... etc. Or do any really thinks that everyone could just shake legs at home and wait for their monthly welfare cheque to come..... in that case, why would any sane person still wants to work -
It is definitely worrying for people reaching 40 or those already in their 40s when employment is concerned.
The gahmen is not doing much to help these people get employed. They just superficially tell the companies not to include age when they put up job ads. This is not sufficient help from the gahmen. The gahmen for all we know just don't have the commitment to help this group of people age 40 and above to get jobs in Singapore. If they are genuine, they can always implement new employment policy to help. The gahmen is only interested to put in effort to help the unskilled workers.
Real life encounter - a friend who just reached 40 this year has bad experiences when looking for job. She called the companies and the companies said there were vacancies and asked about her age. After she told them she is 40, they say the vacancies were not available. This is getting serious as I also heard age discrimination problem that others are facing. Employment agency uses the age discrimination to talk down to candidates.
Hey, Govt of Singapore, if you really have the heart for this age group of people to be employed, do something very useful to help!!! -
Singapore only so few people compared to India and China and hey, the rest of the world. This means that much less jobs need to be created and that much less market. Hey, we are not talking about providing jobs even for a state in USA, not to talk about the entire USA leh. Wah biang eh.
USA has income Gap and quite obvious.
That is also due to their size and population size.
When you have many more people, you have many more poor.
Singapore leh?
So few people only!
Countries have many cities and people.
We have only 1 city. And this is also our country and an island.
Rich-Poor Gap should not be obvious in singapore nor should it become a problem.
What happens when the pop reaches 6.5?
I dread to think man.
Happy Holiday. Your future is bright, indeed.
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I salute you! When I was reading your post, it struck me that it was written with a hint of sadness, sadness that a country we call home has grown to be so foreign, so alien.Originally posted by Daddy!!:I teach my children that no one owes them a living; not me, not our government and not the rest of the world. I teach them, while they grow up, to start thinking how to stand on their own feet and plan for their own futures.
I teach them that location, whether it is Singapore or USA, isn't as important to them as their attitudes towards living.
Confidence to live.
As father, i guide my children using my best efforts.
Future Singaporeans should stand on their own feet and be well-connected global citizens.
Perhaps, our children, or our children's children will live to see the day when Singapore is truely a place they can call their home.
Majulah Singapura! -
NDP 2007 Theme Song: There's No Place I'd Rather Be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVcUKBDJGgg -
The irony is that there are happy contented families as well as unhappy families in both democratic and communistic countries. is democracy / communism a power play between politicians of different civilizations only? is that the reason why the popular saying that "politics is dirty" ?Originally posted by bigmouthjoe:I salute you! When I was reading your post, it struck me that it was written with a hint of sadness, sadness that a country we call home has grown to be so foreign, so alien.
Perhaps, our children, or our children's children will live to see the day when Singapore is truely a place they can call their home.
Majulah Singapura! -
I thought it was the "Get out of my elite uncaring face" character?Originally posted by reddressman:Wah you all dare to talk about Derek Wee again ah. Scarly the 'talk to my hand' character pop up again ah.
A parent can influence the child's thinking also meh?
Got a talk to the hand meh?