China must continue to learn from Singapore

The China miracle has lasted for 30 years with double digit growth since Deng Xiaoping visited Singapore in 1978. In the last few years China's growth rate has declined to a 'frightening 6.9%'. This is alarming, according to all the doomsayers and western anal-lysts. China must start to rethink what they had done right in the past and what they had done wrong and leading to this decline. This is why I am saying that China must continue to learn from Singapore. When it was learning from Singapore, it became a bigger Singapore miracle. When it stops to learn from Singapore it is starting to show signs of decline.

The first thing that China did then was to borrow some of the top brains from Singapore like Goh Keng Swee, to help them draft out an economic blue print. China today needs more top brains from Singapore to help them in the next phase of development that Singapore had gone through after the miracles of 1970s and 1980s. Though Singapore is short of talents in many fields, the top talents are in political leadership and govt policy making. In this area Singapore has a lot of talents. China can tap on these super super talents, and they are in luck with the recent retirement of some of the best talents in the govt, big names like Lim Hng Khiang, Yaacob Ibrahim of cleaning the Singapore River fame, and the one in a billion Lim Swee Say. Then there is Khaw Boon Wan who is likely to retire soon. China can invite these super super talents to help them out in their next phase of development, maybe another decade of double digit growth.

Among the policies that Singapore has embarked, China may want to learn from the easy one first, like importing more cheap foreign talents to have drive their economy. China committed one serious mistake in stopping at one when Singapore stops at two. So China's population decline is worse than Singapore's and would be short of talents. There are many talents in South Asia and Southeast Asia that Singapore depends on. China can follow this easy path to max their economic growth like Singapore did. No need much thinking, no need to reinvent the wheel. Just take the blue print from Singapore. And china would become a multi racial country, a really international country like Singapore and the USA with plenty of bananas to chew.

This importing of foreign talents is very good for China especially in industries and fields that China is weak in. Finance and banking talents and IT talents from India are a must if Chinese banks want to earn billions overnight. Singapore banks could not earn this kind of money until they brought in Indian banking and finance talents. Likewise, Singapore would not be able to launch all the IT products and become a smart city without the IT talents from India. India talents have another strong advantage, they can speak English which Singaporeans and Chinese can't. So they would make good PRs and CEOs of China's international companies.

The next area is academic. Singapore's universities are now tops in the world, better than Beijing, Tsinghua, Fudan, Jiaotong and other top Chinese universities. China can learn from Singapore to put their top universities as the equals of Cambridge and Harvard and be as highly ranked as NUS and NTU. It only needs a bit of tweeting to have more foreign academics and students and the results will show. Just bring in the foreign academics, provide them jobs and good pay, discard some of the local academics, and the ranking for Chinese universities would swell, to the very top. China has more money and paying/buying foreigners is not a problem.

Another great policy that is cut out for China is asset enhancement. China has recently built a lot of public housing for its people. Using the same asset enhancement formula, China can also double the assets of its people in double quick time, and the Chinese people will be rich over night and be very grateful to the Chinese govt. Every Chinese would also become millionaires, asset rich. One caveat, China's lease term is only 70 years and the properties will become zero value faster.

The growing affluence of Chinese citizens have led to many traffic problems with more cars on the roads. Singapore have solved all traffic problems with COEs, ERPs and all kinds of fees and electronic parking system. The traffic situation in Singapore is excellent compares to other big cities. And Singapore is also starting to encourage its citizens to ride bicycles. China can learn from these policies and encourage its newly rich citizens to go back to riding bicycles for a greener and clean environment, like 40 or 50 years ago. Riding bicycles is progress, owning cars is bad.

And another thing, China must not keep the pay of its political leaders so low. It affects their dignity especially when they met up with Singapore leaders that are being paid in the millions. China should seriously consider raising their leaders salary to millions so that they can have more dignity and not to be looked down by Singapore leaders.

This million dollar salary thing is not just about dignity. It is also to prevent corruption. If China were to pay their political leaders millions, then the corruption problem will go away. No more corruption in China, just like no corruption in Singapore. Xi will no longer have to spend time catching corrupt leaders. Wang Qishan would not have to fret about not catching the tigers. Everything will be fine.

There are really many many things that China can still learn from Singapore like how to manage MRT problems in big cities. China may not have such problems now, but it will when the train system gets old. So it is best to send a team to Singapore to learn how to tackle train breakdowns and delays before the problems surfaced. Singapore has plenty of experience in this area.

China also copied Singapore's CPF system but not full scale, make the Chinese workers contribute more to their CPF. They should as this is a cheap source of funds to help fund big govt projects or redirect into China's Sovereign Funds to invest overseas. It can also be assigned as China's national reserves, and if needed, the money can be used to buy insurance to benefit the people. No need to worry about paying back. This can be delayed by all sorts of schemes.

Just one more point, though there are many more that China can learn from Singapore, is the opening up of China's financial system and stock market. Just learn from Singapore and China would have a very vibrant stock market connected to the whole wide world, and can trade in everything, best in derivatives using computer tradings, super high tech and super efficient. Just a word of caution, China must make sure their main boards are filled with blue chips and not super penny stocks that are worth 1c or less. That would make China's stock market a joke.

I could go on, would continue some other time when China's economy starts to decline further. 6.9% is really bad.A 2/3% growth rate is just about right, the same as the USA and Singapore, mature economies. Then China can declare that it is first world, and the western anal-lysts would said China has arrived, and its economy is safe from a meltdown.

Malaysians choose the devil over the deep blue sea

92 year old Mahathir won. My prediction that the Chinese votes would swing to Najib did not come true. The economic and business biased Chinese voters did not go for economic interest unlike their forefathers, decided that political power is more important. The years of abuses by UMNO and the deep seeded and entrenched powers of extremists in UMNO would have to pay for their sins and be gotten rid off. The years of distrust and unhappiness over UMNO leaders is probably the main reason why they took the chance with Mahathir, the extremist they knew, and hopefully to live with him for a brief moment before Anwar assumed the post of PM. Any change is better than to continue with the same pact of extremists in UMNO. In Anwar’s case this is classic phoenix rising from the ashes, being beaten and locked up in prison for good only to reemerge as the PM of the day, at least this is the game plan. Many visitors are taking Q numbers to visit Anwar, the de facto PM working behind bars. They would probably have to refurnish his prison cell to look more respectable as the office of a PM.
 
Many BN minority leaders were bundled out of Parliament with the MCA and MIC losing their key leaders to DAP. MCA is history after decades of being hapless poodle of UMNO, totally incapacitated and ineffective in protecting minority Chinese interest. DAP is emerging as the force to be reckoned with not just in Penang but the whole of West Malaysia. With its 28 seats, DAP is going to be the deciding factor in the fate of Mahathir and Pakatan Coalition. The Chinese voters have thrown their weight behind DAP. DAP would not be bullied and pushed around by the new coalition govt.
 
In Malaysian politics, it is politics and anything can happen. Najib’s day may not be over yet given the possibility that DAP could defect en bloc to Najib’s camp should Mahathir play his anti Chinese card again. DAP has enough seats to make the difference and be the check on the ultra ultras and extreme extremists in Mahathir’s camp.
 
Putting this scenario aside, knowing that behind the scene dealings are taking place now, what would this lesson be for Singapore? Would our school boys and school girls learn anything and put aside their egos and differences and do a Mahathir in the next GE here? Though we may not have someone with the drawing power and experience of Mahathir, the political scene is ripe for a change with all the unpopular and unpleasant policies still in play and being assumed as the new normal that the daft Singaporeans have no choice but to live by.
 
Malaysia boleh, would the Singaporeans be shouting Singapore oso can do?
 
Hsien Loong’s relation with Mahathir would not be as cosy as with Najib. No more durian lunches together. But not to worry, Singapore has a trump card in the Indian Malay President. She can invite the Indian Malay PM to the Istana for curry fish head in banana leaf and rebuild a new rapport with Mahathir to compensate for the lack of chemistry between the latter and Hsien Loong. Everything will be fine.

Is National Service and the defence of Singapore still relevant?

Ah Peng Kia:

May 4, 2018 at 8:28 am  (Quote)

Gone are the days when we feel pride for our country and are prepared to defend our nation so our families can enjoy liberty. What liberty is there today? You cannot even voice your disagreement without this government trying to character assassinate you (Thum PJ), bankrupt you (Roy Ngerng) or criminalising you (Amos).
What nation is there to defend when the government opens the doors to foreigners to take good jobs, and then tell you you are lazy, unskilled, or incapable?
What country do we have where our hard earned retirement savings are not ours, and can be locked up for longer and longer periods, and worse, get sucked away by all kinds of schemes and rocket high social housing prices?
And the writer is correct, why do MPs and Ministers get to be paid millions to “serve” the nation while our young sons are given peanuts for allowance to be subject to abuse by immature officers, are expected to risk their lives with “realistic training”, and even have their welfare or dignity robbed by this inept conscription system?

The above comment is in response to an article by Benny Chen in a post in the TRE titled National Service has lost its meaning. Benny ended his article with this remark, ''Our local boys are exposed to life threatening risks, low pay and poor compensation while foreigners have it all? Since the country no longer values local is very much pro foreigners, NS should either be paid market rate or be scrapped. We don’t want to risk our lives to protect ministers, elites, foreigners, PRs and new citizens for nothing!!!

Do you agree?''

I was thinking something alone the same line, that with the country being invaded by foreigners brought in by the govt, by now more than 60% of the locals are foreigners or new citizens, what is there to defend? An army is first and foremost to protect the country from being taken over by foreigners, to protect the citizens and their way of life, their jobs, their safety and security.

With more than 60% of the locals being foreigners, the foreigners have successfully taken over the country. They are everywhere, taking over the good jobs from the citizens, even given free scholarships while the citizens have to beg their parents to pay for their education by using their life savings in the CPF or selling their homes. Some have to take loans or do part time jobs to support themselves.

And the safety and security of the citizens are violated and put to risk with so many strangers and foreigners living in their midst in the heartland, with unknown background and character and soundness of mind.

What is there to defend when the country is already taken over, or given to the foreigners? What is NS and citizenship when the word 'citizen' is taboo, not to be mentioned, like a 4 letter word. The new word of pride is 'local', given more rights and privileges than citizens, no need to do NS.

The army and NS is totally irrelevant when a country is no longer a country, when there is no citizen but only locals, a term that includes foreigners that are easily converted to citizens and PRs.

What do you think? I share all the points raised by Benny Chen and the commentators of his post in the TRE. Singaporeans have lost their country without firing a bullet. What is there to defend, ''to protect ministers, elites, foreigners, PRs and new citizens for nothing!!!''

Jerry Day pleading to the Americans to wake up to the crimes committed by the evil Empire

Americans and people of the world, please spare 5 minutes to see this video produced by Jerry Day at freedomtaker.com. The link -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1G0ji7lkSo

It is not too late to see the ugly truth now.

Redbean

Space station politics and retribution

The Americans have been putting all the road blocks to stop China from participating in the International Space Station programme since its completion in 2011. On the excuse of preventing the transfer of technology, the Americans have enacted many laws to inhibit and curb cooperation or communication with China in all national and commercial organisations and in space technology. China was forcefully locked out of the ISS programme to the clappings of the Americans and its anti China allies.

China then decided to go on its own to develop its own space programme and space stations. To date China has operated two space stations, Tiangong1 and Tiangong2.  Tiangong3 will be launched either this year or next. In the meantime the Americans have lost confidence in their space shuttle programme after the explosion of the last launch in 2003 killing all 7 astronauts. Another 7 were killed in another explosion in 1986. Since then they have no faith in developing a working model to send their astronauts to space on the space shuttle or their own rockets. The space shuttle programme has been decommissioned in 2011 and the Americans have to rely on Russian rockets, for safety reasons, to send their men to the ISS.

What is significant in the space station programme is that by 2028 the ISS would be shut down, ending its useful life. It was supposed to be closed down in 2024 but its shelf life extended to 2028. By then the only space station in the sky would be Tiangong3, Made in China. China would be the owner and in control of the only space station in the sky. The Americans are desperate and have made overtures to send their men to the Chinese Space Station.

Here is the retribution. China is saying a big NO to the Americans. To hell with all your anti China transfer of technology scam. China would cooperate and allow every other country to send their astronauts to China's space station but NOT the Americans. It is not a matter of how much the Americans are willing to pay. It is politics, the politics of retribution.

You block me, I block you. That's what meanness meant and what meanness would get. The Americans would be the only man left behind just like when they made China the man left behind in the ISS. What goes around would come around.

The bigger retribution would be for China to pass more laws to protect its technology from being transferred to the Americans. China has been leapfrogging the Americans in many fields and it is a matter of time when the Americans would have to do the catch up and it would be China's turn to keep the American's at arm's length.

Just an example, the Americans are trying to build their own high speed train. The process of erecting a section of the train track took 120 days and hundreds of men on site, to fabricate, put up wooden frames, tie the steel bars and to pour concrete on the set up. It then took several weeks for the concrete to form and dry. For the same job China took just 1.2 hours and less than 20 men, with their own heavy crane designed specially for the job of laying the prefab concrete track. Everything else is done off site.

Things would get stranger when the American astronauts got caught in an ageing ISS and begging China for help. China may want to but could not as the parts were not designed to fit, China was locked out from their scheme of things and have developed their own system, and the ISS could not dock to the Chinese space stations to migrate the crew over.

PS. The Chinese GPS system is now so accurate that the Russians have abandoned the American and European system. The USA is also begging to work with the Chinese system. The EU cheated the Chinese investment in their system and this time will not be allowed to work with the more advanced Chinese system.