What criteria do you use to consider it a success?
On my part, I consider it a failure on the Singaporeans' part
because all of that work resulted in no profit until the
Singaporeans handed to majority stakeholding over to China.
You don't go into business to put in a lot of work only for someone
else to reap the profits.
If we're using your analogy above, you've taken the cat home,
fed it, groomed it and brought it up healthy, but now it's gone to
someone else's house to catch mice instead of yours.
