@eatshitndie
Do we think the surrounding countries will be eternally grateful to us ? I think not.
nothing is eternal. it's a bold step like i said, and risks and rewards are not necessarily balanced. like what you said about the "hail mary", it's a calculated gamble with the small chance that it may succeed. and if it does, the payoff is a touchdown, a comeback win and end of game. but different from a "hail mary", the sg gov has time, patience, and the projection is long term. they can switch plans and or adjust accordingly depending on events and circumstances including happenstance.
the respective regime of each neighboring country may be hostile, may change or may be friendly. not all will be grateful as leaders come and go. there's no control over foreign leadership except through influence, assistance, goodwill, building of trust, mutual understanding, blah blah blah. investing in building friendly relationships and or partnerships with a neighboring country is a pain in the neck, but it's necessary. the population may rise in revolt, and the next morning you may be faced with a new regime or worse, anarchy and mass civil unrest, which may spill over.
investing in these populations, especially their young and brightest, is key. train them in the sg success story, and create crucibles for them to pick up best practices in sg, and when they return, some of them will, the returning ones will be the catalyst of positive change in their respective countries.
i wish the u.s. emulate the sg model and help foster better human education and cultivation of talent in mexico than the usual hostile and exploitative rich country vs. poor neighbor relationship that is going on right now. it's an extremely explosive one considering the thugs and drug cartels have virtually taken over rendering the mexican gov docile, corrupted and ineffective for any decent law and order to take place. instead of investing billions in building a fence and manning the border with the border patrol, the u.s. could have virtually taken over economic development across the border by investing in education, infrastructure and uplifting of the mexican economy. but no, stick to status quo, and it has gotten worse. a bold gamble needs to be taken. this mexican problem is gonna come back and bite painfully.
in sg's case, no gov can sit around in isolation and be satisfied about success at home within the garden walls. your neighborhood will determine your future livelihood. sg needs to proactively act rather than sit on her arse pretty and play coddle games with her voters. and if voters' aspirations and dreams are broken, so be it. they would be broken anyway years from now when hordes of refugees, thugs, criminals and destitutes descend on sg's shores if the economic underdevelopment continue to persist due to a lack of human capital improvements.
just look at johor. that's an example of the successful policy of fostering close ties with your neighbor, creating joint opportunities, intermingling needs and resources, and spreading wealth and goodwill around you. if sg continues this neighboring partnership model, she is virtually spreading her identity and characteristics to more geography and people as a peaceful means of conquest without the need for a hostile land grab or invasion.
