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[h=2]Huge land, large population, natural resources not necessarily conducive for fast growth[/h]
June 29th, 2014 |
Author: Ng Kok Lim
I refer to the 4 Jun 2014 Straits Times report “From 50 sq km slum to green city in strife-torn Angola”.
Surbana Managing Director Mr Louis Tay shared at the World Cities Summit about how African leaders often asked him if their countries can develop in less than the 40 years it took Singapore. African leaders are misinformed. Singapore was already at the cusp of becoming First World when it turned independent in 1965 as our 1960 per capita GDP adjusted for purchasing power parity was already in the Upper Middle Income bracket by World Bank classification today. LKY himself told businessmen in Chicago in 1967 that we were already a metropolis (you can’t turn a fishing village into a metropolis in two years).
Mr Tay explained to his African friends that bigger, more populous Africa with oil, gas and diamonds should develop faster than small, low population, zero natural resource Singapore.
• Does Mr Tay not know that the percentage of small population economies (less than 10 million) achieving World Bank’s High Income status is almost double that of large population economies (more than 10 million)?
• Does Mr Tay not know that economies not dependent on natural resources (less than 5% of GDP) achieving World Bank’s High Income status is more than double that of economies dependent on natural resources (more than 5% of GDP)?
• Does Mr Tay not know that Singapore has a natural resource far more precious than oil, natural gas or diamond? Our priceless geographical location has been the foundation of our prosperity since our founding in 1819.
Mr Tay is thus wrong, large populous African nations will find their progress not as smooth or as quick as smaller more nimble populations having no natural resources.
Thank you
Ng Kok Lim
Straits Times, From 50 sq km slum to green city in strife-torn Angola, 4 Jun 2014
I refer to the 4 Jun 2014 Straits Times report “From 50 sq km slum to green city in strife-torn Angola”.
Surbana Managing Director Mr Louis Tay shared at the World Cities Summit about how African leaders often asked him if their countries can develop in less than the 40 years it took Singapore. African leaders are misinformed. Singapore was already at the cusp of becoming First World when it turned independent in 1965 as our 1960 per capita GDP adjusted for purchasing power parity was already in the Upper Middle Income bracket by World Bank classification today. LKY himself told businessmen in Chicago in 1967 that we were already a metropolis (you can’t turn a fishing village into a metropolis in two years).
Mr Tay explained to his African friends that bigger, more populous Africa with oil, gas and diamonds should develop faster than small, low population, zero natural resource Singapore.
• Does Mr Tay not know that the percentage of small population economies (less than 10 million) achieving World Bank’s High Income status is almost double that of large population economies (more than 10 million)?
• Does Mr Tay not know that economies not dependent on natural resources (less than 5% of GDP) achieving World Bank’s High Income status is more than double that of economies dependent on natural resources (more than 5% of GDP)?
• Does Mr Tay not know that Singapore has a natural resource far more precious than oil, natural gas or diamond? Our priceless geographical location has been the foundation of our prosperity since our founding in 1819.
Mr Tay is thus wrong, large populous African nations will find their progress not as smooth or as quick as smaller more nimble populations having no natural resources.
Thank you
Ng Kok Lim
Straits Times, From 50 sq km slum to green city in strife-torn Angola, 4 Jun 2014
ENGINEER Louis Tay, whose work takes him frequently to Africa, says leaders there always want to know if their countries can develop in less than the 40 years it took Singapore.
Speaking on the sidelines of the World Cities Summit yesterday, Mr Tay said his answer is always: “Singapore has very little land, zero natural resources and only 5.4 million people. Your country is hundreds of times bigger, and you have oil, gas, diamonds and millions of people. Why can’t you do it?”
Mr Tay, 56, the managing director of aviation, city management and Africa for home-grown building and construction consultancy Surbana International Consultants, has worked to shape cities in, among others, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Niger, Nigeria and Rwanda, since 2003.
He and his 20-strong team of planners and engineers are now trying to turn a 54 sq km slum in Angola, about five times the size of Punggol Town, into a green city.
The slum, known as Cazenga-Sambizanga-Rangel (CSR), is right behind the central business district of Luanda, the expensive capital of rich but strife-torn Angola.
CSR is also the hometown of Angola’s present president, Mr Jose Eduardo dos Santos. About 2.1 million Angolans live there, many in illegal shelters with no proper sewerage system.
Surbana’s chief executive Pang Yee Ean, 45, said it has drawn up a masterplan for CSR that will, among other things:
• Create 320,000 jobs for its residents by organising their livelihoods, mostly trading, into clusters to form something of a business park;
• Build affordable housing, with rental flats for the poorest residents; and
• Have environmentally friendly features.
It is all in the spirit of sharing best practices that have made Singapore so liveable, said Mr Pang.
Speaking on the sidelines of the World Cities Summit yesterday, Mr Tay said his answer is always: “Singapore has very little land, zero natural resources and only 5.4 million people. Your country is hundreds of times bigger, and you have oil, gas, diamonds and millions of people. Why can’t you do it?”
Mr Tay, 56, the managing director of aviation, city management and Africa for home-grown building and construction consultancy Surbana International Consultants, has worked to shape cities in, among others, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Niger, Nigeria and Rwanda, since 2003.
He and his 20-strong team of planners and engineers are now trying to turn a 54 sq km slum in Angola, about five times the size of Punggol Town, into a green city.
The slum, known as Cazenga-Sambizanga-Rangel (CSR), is right behind the central business district of Luanda, the expensive capital of rich but strife-torn Angola.
CSR is also the hometown of Angola’s present president, Mr Jose Eduardo dos Santos. About 2.1 million Angolans live there, many in illegal shelters with no proper sewerage system.
Surbana’s chief executive Pang Yee Ean, 45, said it has drawn up a masterplan for CSR that will, among other things:
• Create 320,000 jobs for its residents by organising their livelihoods, mostly trading, into clusters to form something of a business park;
• Build affordable housing, with rental flats for the poorest residents; and
• Have environmentally friendly features.
It is all in the spirit of sharing best practices that have made Singapore so liveable, said Mr Pang.
