NEIGHBOURS ENVY CITIZENS PRIDE – SINGAPORE (Vol 11) - DOWN MEMORY LANE
I was thinking of Singapore history when visiting Singapore in 1986 on my return from Japan. Indian economy was
not open then for foreign goods like now. I had a big laundry list for purchase
in Japan for my family and close relatives. We found that it was so expensive
to buy those goods in Japan. So, to do the shopping we rerouted the return ticket
via Singapore for 3 days of which one day reserved exclusive for shopping.
We chose a hotel for stay so close to Serangoon street so that we can make many shopping trips in that reserved one day! As we came to the hotel and switched on the TV, I could listen to Tamil News.😊 Where else other than Singapore Tamilians enjoy this privilege and that too with only 5% of population?
Originating from the present-day state of Tamil Nadu in South India as well as northern Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon), many Tamils came to Singapore during the 19th century as laborers and traders. Singapore is home now to about 700,000 Tamilians and has emerged as the most preferred destination among migrants from Tamil Nadu.
The major purchase was National VCR for home. Like Iphone
and Android now the fight then was between Panasonic (VHS system) and
Sony (Betamax system) for VCR. Sony had their own Betamax like
Apple and all other manufacturers followed VHS system. The other purchases were
Ray Ban Sunglasses, Toys, Wilkinson razor blade and Gillette cream which
was a rare commodity then.
After coming back to Chennai, we bought Onida TV. The
title of this blog was inspired from the popular Ad for Onida which made me buy
then. 😎We had only Doordarshan then and so I used to record movies and Chitrahaar
from TV and our home became a good weekend spot for seeing
the classics in VCR.
Condition of Singapore
After Independence in 60s: After independence in 1960s Singapore had literally
no natural resources. The Economic and political situation was
turbulent. In 1960 Singapore’s population was less than 2 million. There were so
many poor people in Singapore that it had the most slum area in the world. When
Lee Kuan Yew took the responsibility of Singapore and it was one of the most
corrupt countries. In 1960 Singapore’s Per capita income (PCI) / per head
income was only 427 SGD (Singaporean dollar) per year!
· Some of the biggest sectors domestically — shipbuilding, electronics, banking, and private banking — got their start because Lee Kuan Yew and the government specially directed state funds into those areas.
· He
made strong financial and economic policy which ensured a corruption-free
environment. He also gave emphasis on technological sector development as a
result international companies made Singapore as their regional hub.
· Lee motivated free
trade, which helped Singapore to get lots of international investment.
·
He understood the
politics of this very diverse place, and put together the laws, including the
labor laws, that created a stable, peaceful place that multinationals were
looking for
· Lee also made Housing Development Board – which transformed Singapore into a mega city that helped its citizens to move out of small slums into carefully planned housing properties and upgrade living conditions for its citizens.
· Lee himself believed Singapore's growth was tied to the shared values of its different ethnic and religious groups. Singapore has English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil as their official languages. It shows how multi culture people live in Singapore with harmony.
· Lee established Economic Development Board – slowly built up local
Singaporean industries and businesses and motivated international companies to
invest in Singaporean economy. These local and international companies provided
job opportunities for locals and helped them to slowly move out of poverty.
· The Land Acquisition Act developed in 1966 helped build cost-effective skyscraper flats for its population. They sold those flats for 99-year lease deals. So, Govt. have control over the housing category.
· One party formula helped them to make administration corruption-free. PAP dominance makes it easier to implement solutions without any interference, vote, debate etc
In a word, it was Lee Kuan Yew’s foresight and wisdom.
Singapore is one of the richest countries of the world. Singapore has been called the 20th century's most successful development story. According to the IMF PPP GDP per capita of Singapore is about $87,000. Singapore is 52% richer than the US and 105% richer than the UK.
Singapore is a freemarket success story. Economist Milton Friedman described Singapore as an example of how to do development right. I don't think any other economy even the other Asian tigers, have that a good a statistical record of rapid growth, full employment, with very good social indicators — life expectancy, education, housing, etc. Low taxes, few capital restrictions and liberal immigration policies have made it one of the most cosmopolitan places on Earth.
Singapore today is a mature economy that, like Japan, has seen its growth slow. It has to compete with other low-wage countries that sometimes emulated its economic policies. Singapore GDP now is 447.3 billion USD and now their Per capita income (PCI) is 76,863 SGD ( 2017 income year ). which is more than Germany, France or even from Japan.
Singapore is on number 7 for the anticorruption country. Singapore’s population now still is only 5.6 million . Now Singapore is trying to shift investment from a production-driven economy to an innovation-driven economy.
Singapore’s large share of revenue comes from tourism sectors. It got 19.11 million visitors in 2019.
In 1980-90
Singapore switched to electronics and shipping sector development but later in
the 2000s they focused on new technological divisions like biotech. To get a
stable revenue, Singapore turned the Public utilities, transportation,
healthcare and telecommunications sector into private while kept control with
holding most of the share by the government-owned companies.
Also government controls media by owning All newspapers, TV channels and radio. Singapore is famous for its Non-Aligned Movement. It means Singapore supports no specific group. So, they can establish relationships with any country they like.
Singapore is one of the countries that have racial and religious harmony. Singapore has a multi-culture, multilingual, multinational people. In Singapore, there are a vast number of Chinese, Indian, Malay, European people among Singaporeans.
What a memorable experience this 3 day experience at Singapore 35 years back had been after a 3 month experience in Japan .The finale was colorful and even now would love to take an assignment in this great country! 😊
Well written. Can relate to my experience as a tourist and also as a resident there
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