Is it true LKY has set a very high standard?
What did he do during the last two deep recessions. We did not
see any success in restructuring the economy to value-adding
technology-driven economy talked about for 20 over years by all his
million-dollar ministers.
All major projects aimed at restructuring the economy so far
still have not taken off or achieved major breakthrough from
micro-electronic to wafer fab to precision engineering or
biomedical which was even criticised by her own daughter for lack
of vision, practicality or breakthrough like a shotgun
approach.
All the million-dollar still have not implemented the
value-adding technology-driven knowledge-based economic
restructuring. There was very little mention of the failed economic
restructuring other than occasional lip service.
Such lack of talents in economic restructuring has been the main
factor for our last two deep recessions. Go and read the old
newspaper cuttings on ministers constantly putting the blame on
people for failures in restructuring their skill instead of
ministers for lack of ability in master-planning and executing as
previously Dr. Goh Keng Swee would have done. Perhaps after Dr. Goh
Keng Swee has left there was no heavy weight minister including LKY
himself who are equally able and capable to create whole new
technology start-ups or new industries to create value-adding jobs
for our new graduates or citizens. Up to now LHL who was supposed
to oversee the entire economic restructuring exercise during the
last two recessions have yet to produce the desired final
results.
LKY probably is only relying on property and location play to
get by with the help of world recovery to say he was successful
without any real solid success to sustain the frail economy.
However at the first sign of world recovery of which Singapore was
among the last of the Asian dragons to recover from about 2004 once
the property began to move due to economic cycle the ministers and
MM Lee quickly claimed for credit talking about leadership and many
theories like all foreigners will create jobs for citizens when
actually the real intention was to suppress wages of citizens to be
competitive. It looks like other than cutting CPF and citizens'
wages and open the door to cheap foreign labor on the excuse of
talent there is no other solutions to restructuring.
Intrinsically our own domestic sector of the economy is still very
frail and weak thriving mainly on some retailing and services and
we have not created in-depth strategic manufacturing facilities as
smaller countries like Finland or Switzerland have done.
During any recessions these foreign companies would be more
attracted to lower-cost countries as seen during past recessions
leaving us very much in a lurch.
Through years of one-tracked cutting of citizens' wages and
promoting foreign investments at the expense of own SMEs and
domestic sector and strategic skill training and
technology-start-ups, the whole economy has been downgraded to
third world falling behind Korea, Taiwan and even Hong Kong in
terms of creating major world-beating computer, or manufacturing
world-needed products or services.
The ministers are only keen in throwing monies at foreign
investors but not create more incentives for our own domestic
businesses which have to struggle against all kinds of taxes and
rising business costs in utility and transportation etc.
Surely if our ministers have the talents they would not have
neglected promoting our own local businesses first before promoting
the foreigners. There has been a total lack of understanding of the
need to promote hands-on practical knowledge applications and
incentivise manufacturing of our own technology and knowledge-based
products.
A first-world country is one which should excel in terms of
practical knowledge applications, innovation and abilities to
produce world-needed products by being able to motivate our own
citizens and just keep throwing money incentives at foreign
companies or engaging in property play IR or being at the mercy of
world economy.
This kind of wage-cutting pro-foreigner government could only be
good in putting up showy look-good projects like various
world-class hubbing or biotech or biomedcal which have yet to make
any major breakthrough.
In any world slow down or recession we will again see the true
color of this type of look-good pretentious talent-talk boasting.
It will be another repeat of the last two recessions with no
particular areas of excellence. People will once again lose their
jobs by thousands and foreigners will again be leaving us to go
elsewhere to cream another golden pots and take us for fools.
So judge for yourself : Is LKY that world-best as he has
claimed?
