Why Singapore failed since 1970s to restructure its economy
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Gph Keng Swee was the only one who had done the right things to industrialize and create whole new industries from the ground level. After he left, LKY has failed to do same. New ministers called talents were all presumed to be talents but when it comes to holistic implementation of whole programs of upgrading the economy and industries to value-adding and technology-driven industries they do not have any holistic or strategic talents to turn ideas into realities. LKY being a lawyer could not see whole picture of what is involved to produce conditions for technology start-ups from sending the right people to the right overseas courses and bringing them back to produce new technology start-ups as Taiwanese had done during the 1960s-1970s in computer industries. He was too interested in controlling the populations and preserving his power to go into such brass tacks without which we missed the really critical leadership in economic restructuring. His constant talking and conceptualization about talents and leadership did not produce anything more than a few yes-men only interested in currying favors and gaining his support for selfish power game. The whole country during the vital period 1970s - 2000 consisted of control freaks out to serve him and curry favor rather than restructuring the economy which require a higher level of leadership which are totally dedicated to strategize the total restructuring plan without which nothing could be gained to create our own value-adding technology-driven industries. That is why Singapore had no choice without good action ministers but to rely only foreign companies to invest rather than taking the lead in motivating our many talents in areas of innovation to produce products services and creating international brands. That is why today our domestic economy is largely retailing and primitive services which are unable to compete with others in the international arenas except the few pre-existing MNCs taken over by GLCs to survive a third rate economic activities. Since Goh Keng Swee left no one of the ministers paid millions dollars and assumed to be talents have yet to make wave in creating whole new areas of technology start-ups or innovative products or services except in promoting some bio-medical or bio-tech which were neither here nor there without mastering or understanding the holistic interactions between knowledge and knowledge application and mass practical knowledge applications which only captains like Stanley Shih, Warren Buffet, Li Ka Shing or Goh Keng Swee could understand. So it is time to rethink the ministerial talents we need to restructure the whole new industries which would value-add our products and services and provide citizens with first world jobs and prosperity.
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The economic problems faced by LKY in the 1960s and 1970s were made worst by the fact that the British was pulling out from the Far East and dismantling their military outposts.
LKY's priority was torn between population control and finding jobs to keep a restive population from being swayed by the politicians with socialists leanings.
His quick fix solution was to implement an aggressive Family Planning program, and coupled with the opening of the Singapore economy to MNCs prepared to invest in light industries in Singapore - which largely involved in low-tech consumer goods.
The entire working age population was blindly geared to provide the labor to attract such economic plans of the 1960s and 1970s; hawler licenses were restricted only to those above 45 years, and all who are below this age are encourage to work in either the White or Blue Collar Work Force.
Enigneers and technicians were produced by the Polytechnics and the Vocation Institue {later renamed as ITE}.
Those who applied for other courses in the University had to obtain Suitability Certificates - which were vetted against ISD records to determine family background and connections to Communist activity.
It was in the late 1970s, that the Government decide to remove private enterprise in the various essential services provided to Singaporean, and which were in the hands of a few successful families controlling various key industries and businesses in Singapore since the Colonial days.
With the government taking large stakes in private enterprises, they have a bigger interests in ensuring a sufficient supply of qualified work force to support the various businesses owned by the government.
These businesses range from Food & Beverage Manufacturing, to Ship Building, from operating shipping lines to public land transport companies, from the supply of building raw materials to the supply of essential and strategic food supplies, from the acquistion and sale of seized land, to property development.
These government activities were all in competition with Private Enterprise and resulted in the demise of the Small and Medium Enterprises.
It was only in the late 1990s, that the government decided belatedly to educate a new workforce and gear the next generation towards higher value added skills - for the purpose of meeting the government's new ambition for Singapore to be in the cutting edge industries of Bio-Sscience and Electronics, as well as in International Finance and Banking.
Can Singaporeans be treated as manufacturing products to be manfuactured on short order based on the 'favorite flavor of the month' of the PM in office ?
Other small countries - such as Switzerland, Israel, Sweden, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Ireland, Densmark- have more open types of political and economic environment, that ares not based on any Central Planning from a Master's Voice.
Their political system are open and consultative, which allow educational, ecnomic, and industrial institutions to closely consult and support each other, with information flowing freely across their respective entities.
Singapore's political and economic model still remain a centralised top down approach - that do not tolerate nor sensitive to required changes, even as it regularly challenge Singaporeans to be more flexible and enterprising.
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Altho its smallness means lack of natural resources,
would you say being so small is also highly mangeable?
How long all the roads need to be build?
How many buildings need to be built to appear developed?
How many rivers to clean? How long these rivers? How wide?
How much surface area of the public area to clean to appear clean and green?
How many schools need to be built ?
How many universities need to be built?
How many carparks need to be built?
How many JOBS need to be created ?
I no no de. So I asking.
I must say, all answer is many many lah. Like this internet squad song song until your ... very song lor. U belief me of nots?
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Woah.....TS is blissfully ignorant.
Restructuring workforce, is not the same as restructuring economy.
Which the govt did for both. And it is not LKY who does the recomendations. There are other bodies that are not directly under the government that does the recommendation, like the NWC, MAS etc etc.
And......there were many changes. Please read up.
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Originally posted by balance_else_complacent:
Altho its smallness means lack of natural resources,
would you say being so small is also highly mangeable?
How long all the roads need to be build?
How many buildings need to be built to appear developed?
How many rivers to clean? How long these rivers? How wide?
How much surface area of the public area to clean to appear clean and green?
How many schools need to be built ?
How many universities need to be built?
How many carparks need to be built?
How many JOBS need to be created ?
I no no de. So I asking.
I must say, all answer is many many lah. Like this internet squad song song until your ... very song lor. U belief me of nots?
whys is it you dimnish the gahmen's efot? not easi for yessir-man take ordar from mighti-1. ebri-tme changie mind, some time left, always time right. if u b-leave u wurk under 1, you also `tau-hin'.
road dig, and cover, dig, den cover again. evri-day, i go work, i piss-off bcos of jam. baricade here, there, car side miror onli yestday got scratched by passing motor, all bcos of narrow road and evrybody wants to get to job on time so no boss can scold.
i actuali symphaties wif gahmen workers. work xtra hard. lucky i not one.
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Originally posted by 16/f/lonely:
Woah.....TS is blissfully ignorant.
Restructuring workforce, is not the same as restructuring economy.
Which the govt did for both. And it is not LKY who does the recomendations. There are other bodies that are not directly under the government that does the recommendation, like the NWC, MAS etc etc.
And......there were many changes. Please read up.
(honestly) just out of curiosity, do you think bodies like NWC, MAS, etc. etc. have an independant point of view or do they just `toll the line'?
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16/f/lonely, Results needed are : Highest Standards of Living equal to the Swiss. World-beating products of household names like Toyota or Samsung or Nokia. All citizens are averagely enjoying highest standards of living through success in economic restructuring. Retirements of all above the age of 55 as originally conceptualised by the CPF schemes. Give me your answers to the above-stated questions. Have our million-dollar ministers achieved these results as forecast by LKY and his government?
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Originally posted by redDUST:
(honestly) just out of curiosity, do you think bodies like NWC, MAS, etc. etc. have an independant point of view or do they just `toll the line'?
MAS holds more power than LKY, that's for sure. It works in the interest of the economy, not politics.NWC is interesting. It's a tripartite organisation with representatives from MNCs, the govt and NTUC. It is not under the parliament nor accountable to it, but has the recognition. So you can say it's a govt manifestation in a way BUT.
Note: The chairman of NWC is the only one who can make the recommendation of what to do. And he/she must be a professor from one of the local uni. And, any of the components making up NWC can veto or call for a meeting to make another recommendation.
The power and influence of NWC is shown in the fact that it's like CASE. The recommendations are not law-binding, but the govt tends to follow the recommendations and add legislatives if they see fit because of the nature of NWC members, who comprise NTUC (yeah, govt trade union), MNCs. So the recommendations lend weight because these representatives compromise allowing for orderly wage adjustments etc.
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Originally posted by robertteh:
16/f/lonely,
Results needed are : Highest Standards of Living equal to the Swiss.
World-beating products of household names like Toyota or Samsung or Nokia.
All citizens are averagely enjoying highest standards of living through success in economic restructuring.
Retirements of all above the age of 55 as originally conceptualised by the CPF schemes.
Give me your answers to the above-stated questions. Have our million-dollar ministers achieved these results as forecast by LKY and his government?
Swiss are good.
World-beating products, heard of Hyflux (and PAP
) boh?Find me a country where ALL citizens enjoy that.
Personally unless I'm a lazy arse I would not sit at home at 55.
So the answer is: Mostly achieved.
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Lky setted up MAS in 1970s, so who has more power? think again
Lky 'controls' parliament
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monetary_Authority_of_Singapore
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Singapore is not considered to be a first world country, 16/f/lonely, since you said that singapore is a first world country, do you know what are the requirements of a first world country?
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Originally posted by snowfoxx:
Singapore is not considered to be a first world country, 16/f/lonely, since you said that singapore is a first world country, do you know what are the requirements of a first world country?
I never said that. -
Originally posted by snowfoxx:
Lky setted up MAS in 1970s, so who has more power? think again
Lky 'controls' parliament
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monetary_Authority_of_Singapore
Yes. But does he run it? Maybe from the background, but not directly.There are bodies that are not accountable to the parliament.
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Originally posted by 16/f/lonely:
Woah.....TS is blissfully ignorant.
Restructuring workforce, is not the same as restructuring economy.
Which the govt did for both. And it is not LKY who does the recomendations. There are other bodies that are not directly under the government that does the recommendation, like the NWC, MAS etc etc.
And......there were many changes. Please read up.
As what you have said, there are other bodies doing the recommendations, do you know the meaning of recommendations? to recommend is to suggest, not to act or execute the policies, the ulimate decision STILL lies with the gov who has the power to act it out, there are a thousand and one recommendations from different sources, isnt the role of the gov to decide on them? when did the role of governing fell to these recommending bodies? So are you implying that the gov becomes a puppet?
theres a analogy in layman's term. i ask you to kill someone, and you kill that person... who is the one that will be pressed for murder charges? you or me?
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Originally posted by robertteh:
Gph Keng Swee was the only one who had done the right things to industrialize and create whole new industries from the ground level.
After he left, LKY has failed to do same. New ministers called talents were all presumed to be talents but when it comes to holistic implementation of whole programs of upgrading the economy and industries to value-adding and technology-driven industries they do not have any holistic or strategic talents to turn ideas into realities.
LKY being a lawyer could not see whole picture of what is involved to produce conditions for technology start-ups from sending the right people to the right overseas courses and bringing them back to produce new technology start-ups as Taiwanese had done during the 1960s-1970s in computer industries.
He was too interested in controlling the populations and preserving his power to go into such brass tacks without which we missed the really critical leadership in economic restructuring.
His constant talking and conceptualization about talents and leadership did not produce anything more than a few yes-men only interested in currying favors and gaining his support for selfish power game.
The whole country during the vital period 1970s – 2000 consisted of control freaks out to serve him and curry favor rather than restructuring the economy which require a higher level of leadership which are totally dedicated to strategize the total restructuring plan without which nothing could be gained to create our own value-adding technology-driven industries.
That is why Singapore had no choice without good action ministers but to rely only foreign companies to invest rather than taking the lead in motivating our many talents in areas of innovation to produce products services and creating international brands.
That is why today our domestic economy is largely retailing and primitive services which are unable to compete with others in the international arenas except the few pre-existing MNCs taken over by GLCs to survive a third rate economic activities.
Since Goh Keng Swee left no one of the ministers paid millions dollars and assumed to be talents have yet to make wave in creating whole new areas of technology start-ups or innovative products or services except in promoting some bio-medical or bio-tech which were neither here nor there without mastering or understanding the holistic interactions between knowledge and knowledge application and mass practical knowledge applications which only captains like Stanley Shih, Warren Buffet, Li Ka Shing or Goh Keng Swee could understand.
So it is time to rethink the ministerial talents we need to restructure the whole new industries which would value-add our products and services and provide citizens with first world jobs and prosperity.
Yup... I am amazed by some of the global company created by Taiwan. Acer, no need to introduced. Asus, another house hold brand. HTC PDA phone??? Giant bicycle. Fame in US and world wide. Maxxis tire and many many more. While our poor sg produce none! Creative?? Hahaha... -
Originally posted by 16/f/lonely:
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Originally posted by 16/f/lonely:
Woah.....TS is blissfully ignorant.
Restructuring workforce, is not the same as restructuring economy.
Which the govt did for both. And it is not LKY who does the recomendations. There are other bodies that are not directly under the government that does the recommendation, like the NWC, MAS etc etc.
And......there were many changes. Please read up.
if you have any knowledge about economics, that i am sure you will not make this statement.
A workforce is a subset of a economy, workforce is a component of our economy, i have not seen any economy that does not have this component of workforce, if you have, kindly enlighten me on any economy that runs purely without its component of a workforce.............
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Originally posted by 16/f/lonely:
Swiss are good.
World-beating products, heard of Hyflux (and PAP
) boh?Find me a country where ALL citizens enjoy that.
Personally unless I'm a lazy arse I would not sit at home at 55.
So the answer is: Mostly achieved.
Typical PAP dog answer! Yr nick u better go bar and post some reply there , it will be more enertaining... -
Originally posted by snowfoxx:
yes you said that, theres your quote to help jog yo'ur memory..
" MAS holds more power than LKY, that's for sure"
now you rem, don't ya?
No no no.....referring to S'pore being first world. I never said that, I somba!Workforce is part of the ecomony. But restructuring workforce, is not totally the same as restructuring economy! The title is misleading although correct to a certain degree.
To say that S'pore has not restructure its economy solely because it did not restructure its workforce (which I disagree) is like telling half a story.
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Originally posted by zenden9:
Typical PAP dog answer! Yr nick u better go bar and post some reply there , it will be more enertaining...This is much more entertaining than B-A-R, or B-R-A, for the matter.
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Originally posted by 16/f/lonely:
MAS holds more power than LKY, that's for sure. It works in the interest of the economy, not politics.NWC is interesting. It's a tripartite organisation with representatives from MNCs, the govt and NTUC. It is not under the parliament nor accountable to it, but has the recognition. So you can say it's a govt manifestation in a way BUT.
Note: The chairman of NWC is the only one who can make the recommendation of what to do. And he/she must be a professor from one of the local uni. And, any of the components making up NWC can veto or call for a meeting to make another recommendation.
The power and influence of NWC is shown in the fact that it's like CASE. The recommendations are not law-binding, but the govt tends to follow the recommendations and add legislatives if they see fit because of the nature of NWC members, who comprise NTUC (yeah, govt trade union), MNCs. So the recommendations lend weight because these representatives compromise allowing for orderly wage adjustments etc.
have an attorney friend in MAS, who has since left. he vetted monetary policy matters so they are legally binding. he revealed something interesting; that the intricacies of the entire monetary bodies in singapore is such that no one other than LKY and (perhaps) his immediate family know the actual wealth of the country.
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Originally posted by redDUST:
have an attorney friend in MAS, who has since left. he vetted monetary policy matters so they are legally binding. he revealed something interesting; that the intricacies of the entire monetary bodies in singapore is such that no one other than LKY and (perhaps) his immediate family know the actual wealth of the country.
The President as well. -
Originally posted by 16/f/lonely:
The President as well.personally, i doubt so.
but this is a never ending discussion, so it ends here (for me at least).
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the economy is consist of the workforce, i can't see how they are different... like what i said above, they have a subset r/s......
back to the main question, i can't see how singapore's pursuit of foreign talent (one of our main 'economic policy' now could benefit the local people, i think it benefits the regime in terms of the money generated, i can't say it benefits the country, because the distribution of the money 'rarely' goes back to the people.........., so this way its at the expense of the local people. Other countries like japan even through after the economic slowdown after 1980s and aging population, refuse to import 'talent', they are still doing very well, as one of the most developed country in the world.
Singapore is run like a company, with profits over the employee's welfare i think.... singapore in itself is a migrant society, many of our forefathers are not born and bred here. sad but true. thus, i believe it will continue this way......
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Originally posted by redDUST:
have an attorney friend in MAS, who has since left. he vetted monetary policy matters so they are legally binding. he revealed something interesting; that the intricacies of the entire monetary bodies in singapore is such that no one other than LKY and (perhaps) his immediate family know the actual wealth of the country.
wow, you know quite a lot