“Factors of Production, Wikipedia, 14 August 2006, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factors_of_production.

“Resilience,” Wikipedia, 29 August 2006, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resilience.

With Steve’s original post on Singaporean resilience cont…

Yes, the initiatives to develop the life sciences’ sector is aimed at making the next calculated bet on what investments will reap economic returns. But the social resilience of Singapore as a society and country is unravelling as more and more of our home-grown local talents are emigrating to Australia, Canada, US even Malaysia and China.

So how resilient are we as a society and country to the unravelling of our national identity that Singapore is our home. For many of us Singaporeans who have grown up and developed within this little red dot, the burdens shouldered by NSmen are increasingly taken for granted through superfluous facilities as such SAFRA and pathetic tax reliefs. in return for the probability of getting injured, killed and 100% certainty of being inconvenienced so that we can protect the increasing 20% population that is non-Singaporeans.

This is not Singapore my home, this is Singapore my hotel.

I’m checking out soon.

Majullah Singapura

i wrote an email on Sunday to the authors to rebut their analysis.

“I refer to your blog’s most recently published article, “Singapore’s Resilient Strategy”

And while I find it an interesting point of view, as a Singaporean who was born, bred and grew up in the country, I feel your analysis is overly simplistic.

You have failed to consider many important facts about the country’s economy, amongst many others:

a. Since the year 2000, the incomes of the bottom third of wage earners have actually fallen. The push towards a knowledge driven economy has resulted in a neglect of those who were equipped with skills to thrive in one driven by manufacturing and industries such as electronics. This ‘resilient strategy’ you speak of may be a good one, but it’s execution has fallen far short of perfect. It has failed to deliver economic welfare to a large section of the population. And as any corporate strategist should know, execution is everything, especially the execution of a change management project.

b. The country is now facing a very severe population problem. Last year, the country’s mothers gave birth to 36,000 babies, whereas it needs 50,000 to replace its population. This trend places a big question mark on the efficacy of this ‘resilient strategy’ when the country’s population is rapidly depleting itself. It also pays to take note that the same omniscient ruling party which has come up with this ‘resilient strategy’ is precisely the same party that placed penalties on families when they had their third child – it seems they are not so omniscient after all.

c. Many life science students in Singapore, having gone through their life science degrees – supposedly egged along by the government to herald the ‘age of biology’ – are finding it difficult to find a job. If the strategy you suggest is indeed as resilient as it is, then how do you account for this phenomenon?

There are many other intricacies and details about Singapore that you should consider, that would place a big question mark on your glowing analysis of Singapore’s Economy. In fact, a brief survey will demonstrate that making sweeping statements like

“No one can doubt that Singapore’s economic miracle has become permanent.” and “It’s a great lesson in resiliency.”

will place a huge question mark on the credibility of your analytical and consultancy skills.

I suggest you research Singapore’s economy further, and reconsider the conclusions in your essay once again. “