Part 2:
The United States` anti-communist strategy in Asia played a very favorable
role in the growth of Singapore and the rest of the East Asia economies in
providing security guarantees, foreign and development aid and open access
to American markets.
Having converted some of the British military facilities to commercial and
industrial purposes and retained laid-off workers for new jobs, Singapore
later became a supply center for American forces and provided ship repairs
during the increasing American involvement in Indo-china , the beginning
of service that made Singapore the first port in the whole world.
LEE KUAN YEW, the founder of modern Singapore, is the ultimate example of a
support of building national ownership.
He believed that a trained, knowledgeable work force and a strong ,
efficient government were imperative to the successful transition from third
world to a first world country. Merit were high on the list of priorities
in Singapore. Highly concerned about its talent pool, the government even
created incentives for men to marry equally educated women.
Lee´s realization that talent is a county´s most precious asset,
especially in resource-poor countries like Singapore, further led to
numerous policies aimed at reducing brain drain and bringing foreign talent
to Singapore.
According to Lee, the confucian values of respect for order, harmony,
diligence and hard work were crucial for the country´s achievements. Lee
contended that confucian societies, unlike WESTERN SOCIETIES, believe that
the individual exists in the context of the family, friends and wider
society, and DEMOCRACY NOT ONLY CANNOT WORK THERE BUT ALSO IS NOT WELCOME,
FOR ASIANS SEE IN IT A BREAKING DOWN OF CIVIL SOCIETY WITH GUNS, DRUGS,
VIOLENT CRIME VAGRANCY AND VULGAR PUBLIC BEHAVIOR.
These highly controversial views influenced particular authoritarian types
of institutions. But one can only argue they did recognize civic engagement
as fundamental.
Lee was determined to provide foreign aid dependency and create instead a
spirit of self reliance: "assistance should provide Singapore with jobs
through industries and not make us dependent on perpetual injection of aid.
I warned our workers, the world does not owe us a living. We cannot live by
the begging BOWL."
Part 3, the last part of these series will be coming on Saturday 17 August.
We will look into some of Lee´s strategies that helped Singapore be what
it became today.
Thanks for Sharing!
SS.Jawara,
Stockholm, Sweden.
----- Original Message -----
From: "SS.Jawara" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, August 14, 2002 12:50 AM
Subject: Ex-president Jawara´s Dream:Can Gambia Be Another Singapore?(Part
1)
> Tuesday, 13th.
>
> Dear G-L,
>
>
> Part 1:" Singapore´s economic growth since
> independence until now."
>
>
> Founded as a British Trading colony in 1819, Singapore became an
independent
> state in 1965. At the time of its independence Singapore was faced with
> terrible economic and social crisis. Unemployment was high increasing.
> There was also an acute shortage of housing, inadequate health facilities
> compounded by a high population growth rate of 4.4 per cent per annum
> between 1947 and 1957.
>
>
> For the first two decades of its independence, Singapore enjoyed
continuous
> high economic growth, largely outperforming the world economy. It´s GDP
> growth rate never fell below 5 per cent and rose in some years as high as
15
> per cent. At the same time, Singapore managed to maintain an inflation
rate
> below world averages.
>
>
> Singapore´s GDP grew 15 times in one generation, from 3 billion US dollars
> in 1965 to an astronomical 46 billion US dollars in 1997. Annual per
capita
> income grew from less than 1000 US dollars at the time of independence to
> nearly 30,000 US dollars at present, the eighth highest in the world in
> 1997/98.
> The general literacy rates have increased by 20 per cent for males and 46
> per cent for females.
> The literacy rate today is over 90 per cent, one of the highest rates in
> Asia.
>
>
> Singapore´s economic growth in the last 35 years occurred in the context
> of a unique combination of political, economic and social factors. A tiny
> island without natural resources, inadequate water supply or a defense
> capable of its own, Singapore was gripped by uncertainty over it´s
survival
> at the time of independence. The three and a half years of Japanese
> occupation in 1942 to 1945 were alive in the memory of Singapore´s
> first -generation leaders, whose decision-making was largely predicated
in
> the struggle for survival. The fear of being swallowed and the cold-war
> atmosphere influenced the domestic political climate.
>
>
> Part 2, coming up on Thursday, 14th we will be looking into the major
> forces and the man behind Singapore´s success story. Until then!
>
> Thanks for sharing!
>
> SS.Jawara
> Stockholm, Sweden.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> SS.Jawara
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
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