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[h=2]PM Lee: We cannot just measure our success by GDP growth[/h]
November 10th, 2012 |
Author: Editorial
PM Lee Hsien Loong
Two years ago, this was what PM Lee said at the National Day Rally (29 Aug 2010) at the NUS University Cultural Centre:
At the Singapore Children’s Society (SCS) 60th anniversary charity gala dinner held yesterday evening (9 Nov 2012), PM Lee now said that the country’s success cannot be measured just by GDP growth.
Mr Lee said Singapore “cannot just measure our success by GDP growth, as important as it is, but also by the growth of our values — compassion, empathy, altruism, love for our fellow citizens.”
Mr Lee added he is glad that many Singaporeans feel the same.
The current message given by PM Lee seems to deviate somewhat from the one he gave at the National Day Rally two years ago.
When he was earlier advocating the opening the floodgates for foreign workers to help drive GDP growth of Singapore, he did not realise that bringing in foreign workers in such large numbers would drive down the wages of a large segment of the population, thereby increasing the wage gap in Singapore.
Already, Singapore has the largest income gap among developed countries without the corresponding safety nets to mitigate the effects of poverty. In the past decade, there is an emergence of the “new poor” and a growing ultra-underclass. More and more Singaporeans are being left out and don’t benefit from the growth in the economy.
Till today, there is no serious attempt by the Govt to tackle the problem. Even Prof Lim Chong Yah’s bold idea calling for a “shock therapy” to fix the growing income inequality which he said is approaching dangerous levels because of Singapore’s over-dependence on cheap foreign labour, was quickly dismissed by the Govt.
Mr Lee said yesterday, “The government will always do its part to help the less fortunate especially through education, through housing, through financial assistance schemes but also through upholding meritocracy and keeping paths up open.”
But he stressed that the govt is not able to do everything for the less fortunate, “The government cannot, and should not do, try to do everything. It is too impersonal. It can be bureaucratic and help then becomes a matter of social administration, not of care and compassion. And eventually, this fosters an entitlement mentality, instead of a sense of mutual obligation of and of gratitude between the helpers and the helped.”
“Ultimately, it is not the incentives which make the difference. We hope Singaporeans will participate and will support such good works because this is the sort of people we are, and because this is the kind of society which we want Singapore to be.”
Hence, Mr Lee said Singapore should also measure success “by the growth of our values — compassion, empathy, altruism, love for our fellow citizens.”
It looks like to solve Singapore’s income inequality problem brought on by the cheap FT policy of Mr Lee’s administration, we now have to count on “compassion, empathy, altruism, love for our fellow citizens” to fix it for him.
.
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Two years ago, this was what PM Lee said at the National Day Rally (29 Aug 2010) at the NUS University Cultural Centre:
“This year, with the booming economy, we will definitely need more foreign workers so that we can create more jobs in Singapore. A few months ago, I mentioned to the press that we could need more than 100,000 foreign workers more this year. There was a big ooh which you could almost hear.
Well, since then, we have recalculated. Maybe, we will get by with a few less, perhaps 80,000 workers. But I said this to highlight the trade-off which we face and which we cannot avoid.
You want higher growth which will benefit our workers, that also means accepting more foreign workers to come and work in Singapore. You choke off the foreign workers, the economy is stifled, growth is not there, our workers will suffer.”
The emphasis then was to bring in more foreign workers to feed the economic growth of Singapore. Indeed, PM Lee put it very clearly, “You choke off the foreign workers, the economy is stifled, growth is not there, our workers will suffer.”Well, since then, we have recalculated. Maybe, we will get by with a few less, perhaps 80,000 workers. But I said this to highlight the trade-off which we face and which we cannot avoid.
You want higher growth which will benefit our workers, that also means accepting more foreign workers to come and work in Singapore. You choke off the foreign workers, the economy is stifled, growth is not there, our workers will suffer.”
At the Singapore Children’s Society (SCS) 60th anniversary charity gala dinner held yesterday evening (9 Nov 2012), PM Lee now said that the country’s success cannot be measured just by GDP growth.
Mr Lee said Singapore “cannot just measure our success by GDP growth, as important as it is, but also by the growth of our values — compassion, empathy, altruism, love for our fellow citizens.”
Mr Lee added he is glad that many Singaporeans feel the same.
The current message given by PM Lee seems to deviate somewhat from the one he gave at the National Day Rally two years ago.
When he was earlier advocating the opening the floodgates for foreign workers to help drive GDP growth of Singapore, he did not realise that bringing in foreign workers in such large numbers would drive down the wages of a large segment of the population, thereby increasing the wage gap in Singapore.
Already, Singapore has the largest income gap among developed countries without the corresponding safety nets to mitigate the effects of poverty. In the past decade, there is an emergence of the “new poor” and a growing ultra-underclass. More and more Singaporeans are being left out and don’t benefit from the growth in the economy.
Till today, there is no serious attempt by the Govt to tackle the problem. Even Prof Lim Chong Yah’s bold idea calling for a “shock therapy” to fix the growing income inequality which he said is approaching dangerous levels because of Singapore’s over-dependence on cheap foreign labour, was quickly dismissed by the Govt.
Mr Lee said yesterday, “The government will always do its part to help the less fortunate especially through education, through housing, through financial assistance schemes but also through upholding meritocracy and keeping paths up open.”
But he stressed that the govt is not able to do everything for the less fortunate, “The government cannot, and should not do, try to do everything. It is too impersonal. It can be bureaucratic and help then becomes a matter of social administration, not of care and compassion. And eventually, this fosters an entitlement mentality, instead of a sense of mutual obligation of and of gratitude between the helpers and the helped.”
“Ultimately, it is not the incentives which make the difference. We hope Singaporeans will participate and will support such good works because this is the sort of people we are, and because this is the kind of society which we want Singapore to be.”
Hence, Mr Lee said Singapore should also measure success “by the growth of our values — compassion, empathy, altruism, love for our fellow citizens.”
It looks like to solve Singapore’s income inequality problem brought on by the cheap FT policy of Mr Lee’s administration, we now have to count on “compassion, empathy, altruism, love for our fellow citizens” to fix it for him.
.
Join our TRE facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/TREmeritus
SHORT MESSAGE: YOU DIE IS YOUR OWN BIZ!
.
