Extracted from ChannelnewsAsia, 18 August
2006 :
S'pore's clean, wholesome image not
enough anymore: MM Lee
By Farah Abdul Rahim, Channel NewsAsia |
Posted: 18 August 2006 2221 hrs
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has said that Singaporeans will be
given equal opportunities in housing and education although their
rewards cannot be the same.
He pledged that Singaporeans would be given the basics, but they
have to be flexible and nimble enough to change.
For that same reason, Mr Lee said, Singapore's clean and wholesome
image is just not enough anymore.
Mr Lee was speaking at the Tanjong Pagar National Day Dinner on
Friday.
Giving an upbeat assessment, Mr Lee said that economic conditions
are favourable for good growth in Singapore over the next five
years.
Singapore's brand name is sought after, even in the Gulf states,
Russia and China.
The Russians have invited Changi International Airport to help
upgrade their airport, and the Gulf states look to Singaporeans as
quality partners.
Mr Lee said: "If you say you are Singapore, anywhere you go, you
carry a Singapore passport, they know you stand for integrity,
capability and reliability. In the Gulf oil countries - Qatar, Abu
Dhabi, Dubai, Bahrain - when they employ a financial officer, you
know, the Arabs employ Singaporeans. I was surprised when I went
there - how many Singaporeans are employed by wealthy Gulf Arabs
because they are trustworthy, they know the system and they are
absolutely reliable."
Mr Lee added that Singapore has to educate the young to higher
standards so that they can move up the value chain and do higher
end and more difficult jobs.
At the same time, the government will continue to invest in new
schools to develop talent.
These are the basics that are needed for Singapore to continually
adjust and grow, MM Lee said.
But Mr Lee warned that the government cannot stop the worldwide
trend of lower wage increases for the lower income group, thus the
urgency to learn new skills.
To move ahead and compete, Mr Lee felt that the services sector is
the sure sector, which cannot be "migrated so easily" or
outsourced.
He said: "To create this kind of economy, we must have a different
kind of Singapore. The Singapore that we had - very orderly, very
wholesome, very clean - is not good enough. They want a fun city,
buzz - because you now got a new generation of tourists who go to
places with excitement. If you want to compete beaches on beaches,
forests, lakes, seaside - you lose. You can't beat Thailand, you
can't beat Malaysia, you can't beat Indonesia and you can't beat
Philippines, but we can become the Paris in Southeast Asia."
Mr Lee related his recent visit to Clarke Quay, where he saw the
place come alive till the early hours of the morning.
He expressed his hope to see more of such places in
Singapore.
Mr Lee said: "Tourists were there till about 4 to 5 o'clock in the
morning, drinking, eating, chatting. The river is there and we've
got Crazy Horse, Ministry of Sound, so cars are lining up. But
Crazy Horse charges so much, it is half empty and losing money, but
we told them, never mind, once the casinos come up, they will get
the business."
This is because tourists, if they are high rollers who gamble
hundreds of thousands of dollars in one night, they will go and
watch Crazy Horse for entertainment, said Mr Lee.
"So we must have more of this!" added Mr Lee.
Looking ahead to the next general election, due by 2011, Mr Lee
said voters must use their votes wisely and not to take for granted
that the People's Action Party will form the government of the day.
- CNA/ir
Casinos not good for Singaporeans,
Crazy Horse too expensive for us - and more of this kind of higher
value services will be provided and all designed for the overseas
visitors to spend the tourist dollars for the treasury of Singapore
Incorporated.
Finally, after decades of ignoring the nudging of Singaporean
"Night Life Entrepreneurs
" , it has taken His own Son to be at the helm for Him to
wake up to realise that :
"The Singapore that we
had - very orderly, very wholesome, very clean - is not good
enough. They want a fun city, buzz - because you now got a new
generation of tourists who go to places with excitement.
"
Was it only a recent event that tourists will go to places with
excitement, places that has a buzz ? Where has Singaporeans been
going overseas to enjoy the missing buzz in Singapore ?
If this is not a view from the cloistered ivory tower, what other
confirmation do we need ?
After four decades of smugness, now our Singaporean Values will
need a rethink to accomodate that it is not good
for Singaporeans to be corrupted by the
buzz, but it is alright for us to promote our buzz, to satisfy the
corrupting panders of tourists.
"Do unto others, what we
will not do to ourselves" - will have to be a
new maxim
to be learnt by our subsequent generations.
With the announced Singaporean
talent to be trained for this higher value added entertainment
sector - will we see Singaporean Girls being featured in the
Crazy Horse show too ?
Perhaps also a publication of a Singaporean Playboy
to be sold to foreign visitors only - afterall Indonesia has a
highly popular local version of the 'fuzzy Bunny
Magazine' despite being the largest Muslim
population on earth; and HongKong has its local edition, featuring
their "local
assets" - should we not also promote our own talent
too ?
Afterall, we are into the New Entertainment Bizzness and all, why
not release the energy of creativity, and let a "thousand blooms go
forth to blossom and sow its seed to multiply further" ?
For all you know, this may hit 'two birdies with one stroke' -
solving a sluggish economy with this new found zest, which will
naturally relax Singaporean energy to finally procreate and
increase the population numbers too.
