9/21/2015

Should Singapore emulate the USA?

‘Governing a country is not simply a matter of circulating the same amount of wealth between the rulers and the ruled. If Americans had insisted on a America only for Americans, it would not have become a superpower. Replenishment of talent is necessary, he who is not working for us is working against us.

Thankfully, the minority faces among us do not fancy the concept that they are competing against the majority. We are all competing against the rest of the world.

China only for Chinese, or India only for the Indians may be workable, but Singapore only for Singaporeans would be a joke.’  Today forum writer Ee Teck Ee

I quoted the above from the Today paper column Voices on 18 Sep.. I wonder how many of you out there subscribe to this mantra. If Singapore is not for Singaporeans, then is Singapore for everyone? We know who have been spreading this mantra and many have been sold without thinking how relevant or irrelevant it is to us. It only requires a little thinking to know that we are not USA the continental America. We are not even the size of a big American city.

The rise of an American superpower is not as simple as what the above writer puts it. The USA was an American Indian country, conquered and taken away from the American Indians, and the people of the land decimated to near extinction. Non Europeans were tolerated not because they were valued as talents and welcomed. The Africans were imported as slaves. The Asians were imported as exploited labours, not allowed to engage in any professional enterprise worthy of the word talent, except as labourers, cooks and laundrymen.

The USA was already a superpower with their own brand of European talents. The Asian and African talents came in only in the late stages of the American history, mostly post WW2. And not to forget, the USA is a continent that can accommodate hundreds of millions of human beans, like Australia. Even today, immigrants are selectively allowed into the USA. In Australia, they don’t need to have more immigrants for economic growth. They are still guarding their immigrant figures very carefully.

The density of this island is already exceeding the most densely populated American cities. Do we need to keep pouring endless human bodies into this island for the sake of economic growth? Can this be sustainable? Economic growth is not the end alls of life. There are many other considerations that are just as important or more important than economic growth. And adding population is not the only way to achieve economic growth. Even Hsien Loong has admitted that we have maxed out in terms of adding bodies into the island. Why are people still flogging this crazy mantra of importing the whole world to our shores?

We cannot compare our little island with the USA. Neither can we compare it with China or India. We have to look at our own characteristics and limitations. Every country should draw on its people for organic growth. Some foreigners can come in to compliment the needs of the island. But to allow them in indiscriminately to eventually replace the original citizens is madness. We don’t owe the foreigners a living, we don’t owe them anything. But we owe it to all Singaporeans and their children a good life. It is treachery and treason to bring in foreigners to replace them and at their expense. What is the point of National Service and a strong defence force?

It is very difficult to explain stupidity to daft Singaporeans. Like some said, Stupidity is incurable. Other countries are out there seizing every little bits of land or island as their own, for their people. We are begging to give our little island we fought for and built to what it is today, to everyone what wants to be here. There are at least 100m people out there that want to be here. And we are picking up the rubbish instead of the diamonds. We are a dumping ground for human waste.

Why turn our country into a rubbish dump?

13 comments:

Elephant said...

How true is it, if the Swiss with 8 million population would implement the Sim An's Population and talent policy, I think their Watch,Chocolate, Drugs and banking Industries will go into drain!

We just fail in producing let along copying anything for the last 50 years. When face with a TFR1.2- the only way forward is to import and growth! If not the CPF and HDB will collapse and LKY always said: Make sure what happen to Japan cannot be happening in Singapore!

What we can do is just delaying it and hopefully the productivity and our new FT will invent something!

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

Did Japan collapse since its GDP had been flat for the last 3 or 4 decades?
What did Japan do to keep up with their high quality of life without importing shit?
The Koreans and the Chinese also did not import shit into their countries.

Anonymous said...

Singaporeans are a funny lot. They buy into everything that is sold to them on national tv by people they are not even acquainted with. If the population is really facing the aging problems as the politicians would like to claim, then they should be importing babies and not middle aged adults to solve the problems which in my opinion were created by them since they have uninterrupted rule for 50 years. This is totally irresponsible. It would only accelerate the aging issues. You cannot go around blaming any other ruling party since there are none to begin with. So how did the PAP blame themselves without blaming themselves. Of course there's only one way and that is to put the blame on you...yes you the people of Singapore. Anyway, good luck.

Anonymous said...

There we go again, RB is at this topic again. RB always insinuate that Singapore must be strictly for Singaporeans. The world has changed. Borders are becoming very thin and permeable. Singapore should be for everyone who wants to come and make money. There should not be any limitations. Singaporeans should also be allowed to work in foreign land. They can go to India or China. CECA has been signed between India and Singapore. Beneficial to both countries. Come on RB, try to be more accommodating. Live and let live.

Anonymous said...

11:38
What folly are you sprouting again.

1st world Singapore go to 3rd world Mumbai to work as a PMET does not make economic sense; Downgrade for Singaporeans. How many Singaporeans want this? Of course few.

3rd world Mumbai come to 1st world Singapore to work as PMET makes a lot of economic sense; Upgrade for Indians. How many Indians would not want this? Millions.

CECA is a huge flaw from Singapore policy makers, to sign on.
PAP ministers made a huge mistake; PERIOD!

It was incompetence & shallow thinking without thinking clearly through the implications.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

Singapore is like America in one sense, that "America" per se is not a cuntry but an IDEA, and on-going EXPERIMENT, conducted on people who are already "free" by law, and observed by the rest of the world in awe, and a lot of the time with extreme criticism and even derision. (Who gives a fuck what other's think?)

Similarly, or as a parallelism, Singapore is not a "nation" (in the cultural sense) but frm the time of independence, it has been one large EXPERIMENT. However the PAP have made it clear that they will INTERFERE when necessary to achieve desired outcomes.

As LKY famously said:

“I am often accused of interfering in the private lives of citizens. Yes, if I did not, had I not done that, we wouldn't be here today. And I say without the slightest remorse, that we wouldn't be here, we would not have made economic progress, if we had not intervened on very personal matters - who your neighbour is, how you live, the noise you make, how you spit, or what language you use. We decide what is right. Never mind what the people think.”

Yup, exactly: who gives a flying fuck what others think?

The American experiment has been going for a few hundred years. The Singapore experiment only 50.

And in that time, IMO, Singapore, (and to a similar extent all the other Tigers of SE Asia and China) has ECLIPSED what was hitherto known as "economic development leading to prosperity".

So no, I don't agree. I think Singapore can TEACH the USA something about "national development". i.e. if the USA is smart, they will emulate some of our ideas. ;-)

b said...

Too be fair to sinkies, singapore should implement stringent point system for migrants like australia, nz and canada. Most third world countres degrees are considered not good enough.

Anonymous said...

What for, useless Sinkies don't deserve to be here. Replace them with talented foreigners then all prospers.

Anonymous said...

Very true. very soon there will only be a very few true blue Singaporeans left in Singapore. Some will die off, some will emigrate to pasture new, some will marry FTs and only few will be left. Why worry, whether you are a new citizen or a true blue you get the same thing anyway. No big deal.

b said...

When certain christian values decline in america, so will the power of america. Same for europe.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

Christianity, a system of belief based on the willingness of fathers to kill their sons.

Abraham willing to kill son

David -- son killed by god the father

Jesus --- killed by his dad.

Motherfucking great "christian values" bro' !

Anonymous said...

legally speaking, singapore cant survive for another 100 years
future of singapore look bleak

developing nation in the region could catch up with singapore very fast

if they had solved the basic infrastructure problem - act as heavy constraint on their potential development.( water, power, transport)

they could threaten singapore future
if they able to introduce good governance, stability in their political system
( free media, free market, rule of law, no corruption,independent judiciary)


singapore only left few more years to reach their MAX CAPACITY

SINGAPORE future development are greatly constrained by lack of space and small population

LKY only able to focus the future of singapore in the timeline of 100 years

LKY fail to focus the major problem of singapore after 200 years later.
( lack of space, small population)

LKY could have used his persuasive approach, pro British ties to convince british colonial govt to incorporate west kalimatan land into singapore territory.


the only way to resolve the core problem of singapore -
huge landmass in kalimantan (maybe west kalimantan)

singapore could try to bought those land from indonesia. - based on win win situation

kalimantan are under developed ,poorer region and there are huge risk of separation from indonesia

prosperity in the west kalimantan ( sold to singapore) would brought spillover effect to east kalimantan.

it encourage foreign investment, spurned development and bring jobs to local


singapore should never gave up the concept of having "strong military" in the region

it could prove to be very useful in certain times when there are strong crisis in the region.

Anonymous said...

There were suggestions that Sg be sold and money be distributed to every Singaporeans. In theory and if indeed honestly done, each breathing Sinkies should get at least hundred of thousands which possibly make most families millionaires. They can then choose to stay or go anywhere they want.

The future for Sinkies is truly bleak and it would not take long for doom to set in.
Isthmus of Kra is one real possibility and the rail system from Sg to Asia nd Europe is definite.
Many more airports will be sprouting in many cities in most countries and super speed rail systems are likely to outdo airports everywhere.
Whither Singapore ?

It is a blessing that the Oppositions did not win the majority in GE 2015, otherwise, they will be in deep shit.