Hsien Loong – Spore to learn from China

China has been learning from Singapore for the last few decades and has surpassed the master to go on to become the world’s second largest economy with modern cities cropping up all over, each one bigger than Singapore. It is time the master learns from the disciple that learnt his lesson well.
 
But there is one thing that China had failed to learn, would not learn and would learn only to its detriment, that is the Instant Tree strategy or Money can buy anything to solve problems. Singapore has excelled in the application of this strategy to solve all its problems. It was even suggested to bring the World Cup home by using money to buy a team of world class footballers. Anything that can be solved by money, can be bought by money, is not a problem.
 
We bought the best talents from all over the world to fill up the vacancies in top jobs that we could not fill. We brought in academics from the best universities in the US to fill up a university and more universities. We fill up all the vacancies with people from across the world. It is like planting trees, instant trees. Any barren stretch of land, parcel of land, can be turned into a garden or tropical jungle within a matter of days by filling up with instant trees of choice. It is a matter of time when we buy a PM from overseas if we can’t find anyone better here.
 
Just cannot imagine China adopting this policy of Instant Trees with money. If China would to do it, China could have bought up all the super talents in the whole world with its war chest. But China would have a problem with its more than 1 billion people and would not be able to turn them into billionaires and top scientists and engineers. Their citizens will have to return to farming, be poor peasants once again,
 
Conversely, can we learn this Instant Tree strategy from China? We may have all the money, but not everything can be bought or should be bought. China knew about this great strategy of ours but refused to adapt it. China could have solved its corruption problem if it applies this theory of money can buy anything, including civil servants and political leaders that would not be corrupt. There will be no corrupt leaders and civil servants in China, as clean as us, corruption free. But China would not be as rich and prosperous as it is today if it simply learns and copies everything we do. It would not have enough money to pay their officials and leaders to be not corrupt. It will be a China with foreigners running all the businesses, as CEOs, and Chinese as workers everywhere.
 
Would Singapore learn from China, to use its indigenous citizens and not be dependent on foreigners? Probably not. There are just no local talents except in politics.

Kopi Level - Green