An Abridged article I read on the Net a while ago... Sharing with all brudders and sisters here....
The simple truth is that any society can fail. America is vulnerable. So too is Singapore.
Singapore's greatest strengths may also be the source of its greatest vulnerabilities.
One of Singapore's greatest strengths is that it is the world's most globalised nation. There is no doubt that Singapore has succeeded in a spectacular fashion because it has been the best surfer on the tidal wave of globalisation.
But what happens to the Singapore economy if we move from an era of globalisation to an era of de-globalisation? De-globalisation has not arrived. And if it arrives, how does Singapore avoid failure? I think Singapore is doomed.
Another of Singapore's big strengths is good governance.
Every society in the world, without exception, has experienced bad governance. Inevitably, Singapore will experience it some day. Can Singaporean society cope with bad governance? Can we ever conceive of the possibility of Singapore experiencing bad governance?
The best way of preparing for bad governance is for the population to rely less on the government to provide solutions and to rely more on individual citizens to find solutions. But the unfortunate corollary of good governance is that Singaporeans have come to rely on the Government to solve their problems.
Let me provide one small but significant example: Singapore is one of the cleanest cities in the world. But this happens because we employ an army of cleaners. Few Singaporeans take personal responsibility to remove litter.
I see this most vividly when I go running in the East Coast Park after a weekend. Mountains of rubbish are left thoughtlessly everywhere. One way to create a greater sense of responsibility is for each citizen to take individual responsibility for litter. Each citizen should pick up at least one piece of litter each day. If we cannot even pick up our own litter, can we prepare ourselves for the day when more individual responsibility would be needed?
A third strategic strength of Singapore is our ethnic harmony. Indeed, it is remarkable what Singapore has achieved in this area. Can we fail in this area?
The older generation of Singaporeans has fully absorbed the virtues of ethnic harmony.
The older generation of English-educated Singaporeans has a near total blindness to ethnic differences. I am not sure that the younger generation of Singaporeans can match this.
Some of the anecdotal evidence I have heard suggests that the younger generation of Singaporeans are more aware of their ethnic differences, partly because of the segregation caused by our second-language policies. This is one area we need to monitor carefully, if we want to look for possible causes of Singapore failing.
I have suggested only three possible ways how Singapore might fail. The likelihood is that if Singapore fails, the failure will be due to a completely unanticipated cause. Ironically, Singapore is a legend in military history because it provides a textbook example of how things can go badly wrong when you don't think of alternative ways of failing.
The British expected a Japanese naval attack on Singapore from the south. Instead, the Japanese came on bicycles from the north. The British discovered too late that their big guns were pointed in the wrong direction.
Winston Churchill and other British leaders were shocked when the supposedly invincible fortress of Singapore fell to the Japanese in February 1942.
Having fallen once as a result of a complete surprise, can we fail again?
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
The simple truth is that any society can fail. America is vulnerable. So too is Singapore.
Singapore's greatest strengths may also be the source of its greatest vulnerabilities.
One of Singapore's greatest strengths is that it is the world's most globalised nation. There is no doubt that Singapore has succeeded in a spectacular fashion because it has been the best surfer on the tidal wave of globalisation.
But what happens to the Singapore economy if we move from an era of globalisation to an era of de-globalisation? De-globalisation has not arrived. And if it arrives, how does Singapore avoid failure? I think Singapore is doomed.
Another of Singapore's big strengths is good governance.
Every society in the world, without exception, has experienced bad governance. Inevitably, Singapore will experience it some day. Can Singaporean society cope with bad governance? Can we ever conceive of the possibility of Singapore experiencing bad governance?
The best way of preparing for bad governance is for the population to rely less on the government to provide solutions and to rely more on individual citizens to find solutions. But the unfortunate corollary of good governance is that Singaporeans have come to rely on the Government to solve their problems.
Let me provide one small but significant example: Singapore is one of the cleanest cities in the world. But this happens because we employ an army of cleaners. Few Singaporeans take personal responsibility to remove litter.
I see this most vividly when I go running in the East Coast Park after a weekend. Mountains of rubbish are left thoughtlessly everywhere. One way to create a greater sense of responsibility is for each citizen to take individual responsibility for litter. Each citizen should pick up at least one piece of litter each day. If we cannot even pick up our own litter, can we prepare ourselves for the day when more individual responsibility would be needed?
A third strategic strength of Singapore is our ethnic harmony. Indeed, it is remarkable what Singapore has achieved in this area. Can we fail in this area?
The older generation of Singaporeans has fully absorbed the virtues of ethnic harmony.
The older generation of English-educated Singaporeans has a near total blindness to ethnic differences. I am not sure that the younger generation of Singaporeans can match this.
Some of the anecdotal evidence I have heard suggests that the younger generation of Singaporeans are more aware of their ethnic differences, partly because of the segregation caused by our second-language policies. This is one area we need to monitor carefully, if we want to look for possible causes of Singapore failing.
I have suggested only three possible ways how Singapore might fail. The likelihood is that if Singapore fails, the failure will be due to a completely unanticipated cause. Ironically, Singapore is a legend in military history because it provides a textbook example of how things can go badly wrong when you don't think of alternative ways of failing.
The British expected a Japanese naval attack on Singapore from the south. Instead, the Japanese came on bicycles from the north. The British discovered too late that their big guns were pointed in the wrong direction.
Winston Churchill and other British leaders were shocked when the supposedly invincible fortress of Singapore fell to the Japanese in February 1942.
Having fallen once as a result of a complete surprise, can we fail again?
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
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