6/20/2022

Singapore needs a new growth narrative to Cloud Nine

 The last two decades have been a time of open leg policy to boost the GDP with more heads to increase consumption. Yes, it is all but a consumption economy, blowing the balloon with hot air. Everyone knows that this cannot go on and on and the strain on the balloon is showing. With no real gain in productivity and technology, the only certainty is for the balloon to go bang.

Relying just on consumption of everything is so elementary and so fragile. The current inflation crisis is waking up all the drunkards just like the Fukushima nuclear disaster that stopped the snake oil sellers to throw in the towel on a nuclear powered Singapore.  We are totally dependent on food, energy, water and all the basic needs from external sources and supplies. The bigger the population the bigger the stress if the supplies are cut. We are stretching every inch of our land and water/sea to produce food and energy. 

The present crisis is still in its infancy and still manageable. If it is prolonged, another 6 months or a couple of years, our reserves would not hold up and the pressure would become unbearable for the paycheck to paycheck families.

Singapore needs more than just a consumption and rentier economy to go forward, to stay in the first world, with enough real growth to be sustainable, to be able to feed the millionaires and their million dollar salaries. The West have priced themselves out of the competition. Singapore is closely behind with the high compensation packages and it needs a new miracle to keep the balloon inflated. Applying low productivity and low technology formula for growth just cannot match the demands for a high income employee economy.

Maybe Singapore should revive its meritocracy policy, called it meritocracy 2.0. This time Singapore really need to employ the really talented to drive the economy. Put the best and most talented men and women in the right places to boot start the economy into top gear. No more joking. 

For a start, the top jobs in banking and IT industries must be filled by the best from India, as they are the best in banking, finance and IT. If the Indians can convinced the Americans and the West to let them be CEOs of their top corporations, they must be really good. We can bring them in to head all our GLCs and we will have world beaters. Similarly the legal industry, including the judges, should also be Indians as Indians are the best in laws and legal matters. The civil services should also be staffed by the Indians, they are the best civil servants trained and brought up by the British colonial system in the finest British tradition. Many archetype Indians have risen in the past to be top civil servants. This is proven, with good track records, and many living examples are still around. Indians made the best civil servants. And don't forget the foreign ministry. Indians made very good diplomats. They are naturally talented in diplomacy. And our neighbours are more comfortable dealing with Indian ministers.

Indians are also natural politicians. More Indians should be made ministers and prime ministers to raise the standard of our political leadership. They are really good in politics. Then not only Singapore can punch above its weight. Singapore can also punch China and the USA.

Indians are also very good soldiers and policemen. They were very well regarded and complimented by the British lords for fighting for the British Empire in Europe, Africa and also in China. They are also the best policemen in keeping peace in the British colonies. 

Education is a very important ministry. Who are the best teachers and professors? I think Indians are the best, highly educated, talented and eloquent. More Indian professors and teachers should be recruited to teach and educate our young, to be the best they could be, like the Indian professionals and super talents now in our midst. The Indians graduates are the most sought after talents in the West and also in Singapore. It is only logical to have them to teach our in our schools and universities, to raise the level of education of our students, graduates and post graduates.

Indians are also very good doctors. And you know where to get them. 

Indians also have very good command of the languages and they should run the media industry, to be editors, journalists, reporters and media presenters. We need the best to be in this field.

Singapore must seriously put the best talents in the right positions, based on meritocracy. Only then can Singapore move away from a consumption driven economy. And talents are not determined by a piece of paper. If a talented person with no degrees, or with a fake degree from the degree mills, can convince or con our super talents that he is a talent, then he should be hired for the top jobs. It is not easy to make our super talents think highly of another person. And having no degree super talents to run big organisations is nothing new. Many billionaire CEOs did not have degrees but have hundreds of PhDs working for them. This fundamental shift to look for real talents, not necessarily with straight As or from the best universities, would be a dramatic and innovative change in our policy on meritocracy.

Singapore needs to think differently to go to cloud nine, to remain in the first world. And meritocracy is the only way to go. Singapore must import all the world's best talents to be exceptional and to be able to pay everyone million dollar salaries. Those with only a piece of paper to show but with no talents to prove should make way for the true talents. Meritocracy is about real talents, survival skills in the real world, not straight As.

'Put the right people in the right places for an enterprise to flourish and not just Generals!'  Lim Tean 

Now you are thinking.

Thoughts of a mediocre mind

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

RB I thought this is already the situation here progressing slowly but surely. I don't know what the writer was smoking when writing but he needed to be sodomized for have this view to be corrected in the interest of sinkies

Anonymous said...

Come to think of it, CECA is the best thing for Singapore. It allows all the best Indian talents to be here, helps Singapore to progress and provides many jobs for no talent Singaporeans. Singapore would be very backward without the IT talents from India.

And because they are paid as foreign talents, many could buy up properties here, to keep property prices up and up.

If not of CECA, Singapore would be having recession now.

The architects of CECA are so brilliant and far sighted.

Anonymous said...

Singapore's new growth is not growth, just keep building more condos for foreigners. Locals who are rich, are just also buying those condos and collecting rent, all unproductive assets not real growth, just like printing money from thin air.

Those who are poor, food deliveries, clearing tables (about to be redundant jobs now) pushing trollies have been the new growth sectors being promoted years ago already. If you are not aware, it could be just recycled jobs people shun long ago, but repackaged into great sounding professional ones, like Bus Captains (Bus Drivers), Landscape Artists (Gardeners), Healthcare Personnel (Toilet Cleaners).



Virgo49 said...

Right you are Anon

Now BTO also they going to sell at 800K for just a 4roomed unit of less than 1000 sqft.
Also SERs blocks also kena plucked wholesale that they must top up for their new units.
As much as few hundreds K. Ordered to quit and now NOT even have replacement units have to still have to cough out monies for new units.
Sinkies all think that they are smart than start giving opinions to kill each other.
Instead of protestings they gave foolish opinions to kill each other.
Sinkkeland depended too much on past alreday dead economy of old.
What's tourism? Air and Sea logistics and all servile industries.
No New manufacturing of new techo products that are price givers and still Whats hawkers, doormen and cab drivers to serve others.
See how long these can tahan when another time the Americunts released the new versions of more potent viruses.
Also land build build just for housings for internal economy to slaughter the locals and open legged for the foreigners.
The locals must have meaniful and well paying jobs to service their flats.
If kena pandemic unemployed chiak sai.
Land must be also allocated for farming and livestocks breeding for self food Substantity.
Still depended on the mercy of imports.
Matland would NOT forever supply you all their cheap foodstuffs due to our exchange.
Come a time when they are at par and Sinkies still as cab drivers, hawkers and labourers all would die cock dropping.

Anonymous said...

Are auxiliary police foreigners? Was buying lunch at AMK coffeeshop earlier and saw a group of half a dozen strolled pass . . .

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

This article threw everyone off balance and did not know how to respond. It is hard to swallow, painful, some felt angry, some stunned.

The objective is to force everyone to think through the consequences of some policies and how they would impact Singapore and Singaporeans into the future. Bad policies by nincompoohs can have very adverse consequences to the well being of Singapore and the original citizens. Bad policies are a betrayal to the pioneering generations and their offsprings.

If a person cannot feel aggrieved by bad policies and did nothing, then he deserves to suffer the consequences of bad policies. Don't blame others. don't even blame the nincompoohs.

Anonymous said...

We are going back to basics, like hawking, growing vegetables, rearing chickens and pigs. On rooftops I think!

Virgo49 said...

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/hdb-sers-ang-mo-kio-ave-3-residents-5-years-mop-resale-2758286
Sinkies are Sinkies really!
Instead of protestings that it's unfair to them to top up hundred over K for their replacement flats, they just boh piang lamented how to get the loans!
Ordered to quit and now worse than VERs- at least able to vote whether wanted to Voluntary Enbloc and Restle or NOT they the HDB daylight robberies forced them to quit and have to cough out more monies to buy even smaller flats when all had mostly paid up their olds.
This be the first test case to slaughter all Sinkies.
Now more hope pls go away dont SERs my estate.
Sinkies are forever boh piang. Cheng Hu ee cho.
That's why now they trying to clamp down social medias postings that critised them.

Anonymous said...

Got money to donate ambulances and fire engines to the Ukrainians, then raise GST for Singaporeans as Treasury needs money, citing noble reason need to spend on the elderly . . . . . .