S'pore can join top 1st World nations in 20 yrs time: MM Lee

last SG · 2007-02-26T15:24:39+00:00

Wow...your english has miraculously improved to 'bombastic' levels.... Papa poodle teach baby poodle how to jump through hoops...how sweet.... How is papa...

maurizio13 SG

SINGAPORE : Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said Singapore could move into the upper half of First World nations in the next 10 to 20 years.

Singapore, he added, has revamped itself but the city-state must continue to grow.

Mr Lee was speaking at his annual Tanjong Pagar Lunar New Year dinner on Friday evening.

This Lunar New Year marks a new stage in Singapore's development, said Minister Mentor Lee.

The next five years will be good for growth, barring accidents.

And in order to grow, Mr Lee said Singapore has no choice but to attract investments.

To do so, Singapore has to keep its corporate and personal income taxes low.

Singapore must also make itself a great place to live and bring up children in, to attract investments from the most advanced countries.

And it is important to build ties with the region and with countries like China and India.

The Minister Mentor also said that Singapore must continue to attract foreign talent.

He said: "It is in our interest to make them feel welcomed, and to integrate them into our community, because they are the extra megabytes in our computer. The Singaporeans form the hard disk whether it's 5 gigabyte or whatever, you need this extra megabyte to be able to cope with all the expansion which we are now experiencing. "

Mr Lee observed that many businesses are also expanding abroad, with approximately over 230,000 Singaporeans and Permanent Residents overseas.

And they are using technologies like the internet and watching Channel NewsAsia, which is available in many Asian cities and soon world-wide, to keep themselves updated.

Mr Lee said Singapore must maintain links with these Singaporeans.

He also highlighted Singapore's various transformation like having a more vibrant night scene and cultural life.

The landscape here is also set to change with new plans and buildings in the Marina area.

Mr Lee said Singapore has studied other big cities like London and New York and it must incorporate their best features in a tropical version to fit this Lion City.

He noted: ''You must have a lively, vibrant city! If you go to London, or you go to New York, you see it humming day and night. Well, we're starting on that route. If you go to Clarke Quay or Boat Quay, you see people wine and dine al fresco till the early hours of the morning.

"That's just a start. With the Integrated Resorts, you can have a vibrant nightlife. Last year we had 9 million tourists. By 2015, we estimate we'd have 17 million tourists. Hotels will be up. Coins will jingle in all pockets!" - CNA/ch

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/260306/1/.html

First world nation with 3rd world government (hybrid regime).

I wonder if his megabytes associated with foreigners meant RAM or hard disk? If it's RAM, that would mean Singaporeans will play a secondary role supporting the foreigners. Geez! I always thought that we were the level 1 and level 2 cache in the processor. Of course, we know our 286 processor abit old and slow liao, need to change to new X64 or PPC soon.

AndrewPKYap SG

What he is saying is "over his dead body" because even how optimistic he is, he doesn't think he can last another twenty years. Laughing

maurizio13 SG

I think it's over his son's dead body.

Hahaha.....

Wan Sui Wan Sui Wan Wan Sui.............

play_n_play SG

100 years later, SG is the NO.1 in the world! Laughing

chiabaliao SG

The way he is putting it, Singapore will be nothing more than a replica western city – standing up like a sore thumb in a region that is so culturally rich and vibrant compared to Singapore’s blandness. Will it be great? Hardly. That’s the sad thing when you build a nation by means of suppression, discounting the people that make great cities what they are. You take away the soul and create artificiality, then that’s what you are going to get – a toy city for the ruling elites to play with, then they bathed themselves in self glory over what they achieved.

4getmenot SG

oh.. so now there is a upper half and lower half of 1st World?? Laughing

Gee.. i wonder who are the upper halfs and who are the lower halfs..

AndrewPKYap SG

I might sound very arrogant but frankly, I think the son is not as strong as his father. His father could not be bothered about "face" as far as International Reputation is concerned.

His son was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and was (he thinks) well respected by all Singaporeans as LKY's son.

He is trying to aim higher (unlike GCT) and that is why he wanted to host the IMF meeting.

He has been living in an ivory tower and got a real shock when the IMF president gave him a slap in the face and sided with the Civil Societies. If he gives up his ambition to be internationally respected and recognized, then Singaporeans are in for an even harder life. Laughing

The only guy in the cabinet I really respect is that Khaw chap. I can see that he is trying very hard to work within the system to make sure that Singaporeans do not suffer because of health costs.

Here you have the system trying to push up health costs and there you have that Khaw chap trying to make it affordable. It is a massively good joke.

Medicated Oil SG

I guess the chief poodle have been travelling too much around the world that he not aware of the fact that the lion city that his elite army managing is falling apart.

I am also sad that the chief poodle have been fed with sugar coated information from his lackeys that his elite lackeys are doing a good job and all his peassants slaves are doing fine and merry making after not given a raise for past 5 years and shouldering the cost of his travel and medical expenses.

So much merry is that the poodles are expecting the peasants to pay money to see them make a fool for themselves.

The lion city have lost its spirit and soul.

The city is just a stepping stone for foreign talents here for sponsored studies with the stupid peasants playing for all the scholarships.

AndrewPKYap SG

I think you hit it on the nail.... they are starting to believe their own propaganda. Laughing

googoomuck SG

As a matter of fact, Singapore has continue to grow in one area since the 90s, the ministers salaries. Its is worlds first and is also the highest. Thats outrageous. If anyone were to ask LKY for comments, he will cut him down.

How does Singapore keep income tax low?
Lets say Ive $30K savings back in the 80s before GST was implemeted. Ive paid income tax for this $30K back then. Fast forward to the present. If I decide to spend it now, I ll have to pay 7% GST. To me tax is tax, whether its income tax or GST.
Ill be paying tax twice for my $30K savings when I spend it today.

blueheeler SG

S'pore Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said Singapore could move into the upper half of First World nations in the next 10 to 20 years.

Nothing shockingly new about wanting S'pore to be 'world class'.

What is more telling about LKY's little Chinese new year speech is not about how pretty and vibrant S'pore will become, but how confident he is that this vision WILL be realised. Where does this long-term condfidence come from? From LKY's belief that the PAP will continue to win the next 2 to 4 elections, so as to be in power to realise these plans.

Most democratic governments in the world plan mostly for 4-5 years into the future only (instead of S'pore's >20yr plans), which means the govt will execute whatever it can in its 4-5 year-term, knowing that any plans beyond that may be scuttled by the opposition winning the next election.

But no such worries in S'pore.The ruling party has never had to look back since coming into power in 1965, and they have no reason not to believe that they can plan stuff for S'pore for the next 10, or 20, or 50, or 100 years, because no political challengers have posed a serious threat thus far, nor ever will into the near future.

I just hope that LKY's vision of the world-class S'pore involves a world-class freedom of expression for all S'poreans, be they pro- or anti-PAP...

allentyb SG

he avoid talking about the 7% gst Laughing

maurizio13 SG

The old man is already 84. Do you think he will live to 104? The son is already 55, with another 20 years will be 75. Think what he really meant was what AndrewPKYap said, over all their dead bodies.

Hehehe

Maybe all his grandchildren are not interested in taking up politics.

maurizio13 SG

That's was what I said in the GST thread. I think it's wholly unfair to those who were paying taxes at the higher tax bracket. The highest tax bracket in the early years were close to 40%. They decide to impose GST now, the savings of those old folks who use to save and tax at the higher tax rate, will then have to contend with the higher GST now. Gives new meaning to the expression double taxation. In countries like the UK, certain items are excluded from GST, things like basic necessities, because such goods are consumed by the poor and the rich. But it benefits the poor more, because they take up a greater percentage in the population than the rich.

Poolman SG

Top-half first world as in UK ? USA ? Australia ?

Bottom half as in HK ? Korea ? Spore ?

looked like MU , Chelsea , Arsenal ..... and we are Newcastle , Villa and Fulham ???
Mr. Green

(human) SG

Those who seek power are not worthy of that power. -Plato

LazerLordz SG

Well said.

BillyBong SG

What else can we expect from MM Lee apart from more boasts to heighten his over-inflated ego?

MM Lee also claimed that we have no homeless in SG. Days after, pictures of homeless vagrants started appearing all over the internet; some Singaporeans even took it upon themselves to seek out the forgtten minority of the people who sleep in void decks and pick up trash cans to make ends meet. Afterwards, they mockingly suggested MM Lee take a casual walk in the heartlands.

Again it was MM Lee who claimed the ruling party do not indulge in the politics of the 'gutter', yet who was the one who focused on name-calling during the Gomez incident? Which party members continued 'gutter politics' during elections 2006?

At this stage, its best he refrain from commenting on anything and let his 'young guns' take the reins, before he is labelled senile.

Medicated Oil SG

Young guns ? where ? who ? where is the ammo ?

There is only one poodle firing all the bullets, creating all the commotion and 'world vision'.

The second in command have become so senile that whatever speech he made is a joke, not forgetting his darling have created the expensive peanuts.

The commander in chief is trying to 'do his work' but he is too busy being 'mentored' by his step dad and daddy dearest.

Not forgetting the millionaire Prata man guarding his prata curry recipe kept in the safe instead of the 'real' money.

The rest of the poodles ?

One foreign talent - cooking out more ways to rob medical money from peasants, and now from aunties.

Another foreign talent - busy publishing her marriage to another old foreign talent.

Some of the post-65 poodles - Busy practising for the 'dance floor' and wayanging for the chingay wayang

Perm Sec - Extremely busy in cooking out 'logical and official' reason to fend off daily published article and queries of silly peasants. Always busy performing the poodle duty, if any, during the dance floor practise.

So, where is the young guns of the lion city ?

Sometimes, I feel that the forumers and commoners have more common sense and more practical solutions than the poodles that seem to live in another dimension who dun actually take bus, MRT or taxis.

The removal of bus lane is a simple example on how the poodle is excelling.

maurizio13 SG

Hahaha.............

Right on the money.

Mee Siam Mai Hum!!!!!!!!