Japan had zero resources too, how did they become the second
biggest economy in the world ? ... their domestic economy was a
result of their own spending after their boom .....
and I am sick of people saying that we have to be competitive
.... Singaporeans are enterprising, we are not sheltered, naive, or
dependent .... lots of people have survived and made our way
outside of our nanny state ....
you know what's the real billion dollar answer ? ... it's
because we have become too dependent on foreign investments and
goverment enterprises ... in singapore, the majority of big
businesses have goverment links, or a directly goverment owned ...
Singtel, Sembawang, Jurong shipyard, NOL, Singapore airlines, DBS
bank, ST, the list goes on and on .... what's left over are the big
foreign players ....
creative got farked over by the goverment before .... that's why
their research center is located in malaysia, in a direct slap to
the goverment, for attempts at reverse engineering their products
... remember the two chaps who thought of licensing minivans to
sell food at carparks in the CBD ? ... instead of being granted
their licenses, the authorities took their idea, and started
selling licenses to the general public, and the two chaps got not a
single cent ....
this is the crux of the problem .... i resent being told we are
spoilt, we're a nanny state, we can't survive on our own, all of
which is untrue .... the only truth is that we are over-regulated
and managed to the point that on one is able to exercise judgement
and initiative even if they want to ... all the time we're being
forced to play a field that's getting ever crowded with one hand
tied ... CPF contributions, yearly NS obligations, High housing
costs, all that against a backdrop of lowering wages caused by
foreign competition ....
something's got to give ... we cannot keep being asked to accept
less and less forever ... low wages is not the only way for us to
compete .... infact, it is NOT the way for us to compete ... anyone
would tell you, sooner or later, everyone would be facing the same
wage structure, what then ? ....
Well, be prepared to be very sick for a very long time, because
the reality is, Singapore does have to maintain its competitive
advantages. Hell, even the govt acknowledges that!
Singapore may be doing very well now, but if any of our neighbours
ever gain a cost-efficiency advantage over us, watch the good days
fall like a ton of bricks.
Maybe, YOU are "enterprising, ... not sheltered, naive, or
dependent", but that doesn't mean that everyone else is.
Easy, just step over to SC and point proven.
