Because of the Singaporean (Asian) Inferiority Complex

There is perhaps still a prevalent white superiority complex in the world: more prominent in developing nations, less perhaps in Singapore, but arguably still very much in existent in a developed country like ours – even if Singaporeans/Chinese/Japanese/Asians have proven themselves to be comparable if not better than the West in certain technological areas which are usually considered to be the benchmark of superiority. Why then, do we still retain a certain feeling of being inferior to the West? Resident contributor, whysgentrepreneurssuck speaks about (our) the tendency to look up to the West, perhaps much more than we should.

Ask any Singaporean entrepreneur how good they think their company is compared to their peers – chances are, you’re probably not going to hear a lot of backslapping.

In fact, apart from the founders of successful Asian companies such as Tata, Samsung, Huawei and *cough* Temasek Holdings *cough*, as well as pockets of entrepreneurs from China (the Wenzhou folks) and India (that bunch of fierce nationalists), few Asian entrepreneurs, and by that extension, Singaporean entrepreneurs would put themselves on the same pedestal as their Western counterparts. Asian companies are caught in the vicious cycle of playing catch-up.

If you’re not convinced, ask yourself or your entrepreneur friends who they benchmark against in their field. If you’re in the system integration space, you’re likely to compare yourself against EDS, IBM and Datacraft. If you’re into consumer mobile phones, it’s gonna be Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Samsung. Asian societies have shaken off the bonds of colonialism and western subservience post-WW2, but Asian/Singaporean businesses appears to be comfortable living in the shadows of their western counterparts till this very day.

I gotta make my usual disclaimer by stating that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with measuring against the best. The problem only starts rearing its ugly head when such comparisons instill an inferiority complex among the minds of our Singaporean businessmen. Let’s face it – we’re largely a nation of quitters. What do quitters do when faced with stiff global competition? They take the easy way out and lower the price of their products and services! Our Singaporean businessmen and their Asian brethren fall into the trap of commodity pricing and excess capacity.

It’s a lot easier for a brand associated with luxury and price premiums to lower its price, than for a commodity-priced product to move up the value chain. Just look at Pierre Cardin. When I was a small boy, Pierre Cardin was the Louis Vutton of the day. Sometime in between, their management decided to lower their prices and expand their product offerings, opting for higher volume to drive growth. However, the converse does not hold true. Creative Technologies began the MP3 player war in pole position and chose to bet on selling technology and features. Since it lost its position to Apple and its iPod-totting lifestyle, Creative has been fighting an uphill battle for every decimal point of its market share since. Once people buy your product at a low price, it’s a lot harder to move them up the utility curve again.

To all you Singaporean entrepreneurs out there, drop that loser mentality of yours right this very moment! You’re never going to go very far whining about the lack of aid *plays Oliver Twist’s “Please Sir, I want some more.”* from government and complaining about how tough it is to earn a living. Stop walking in the footsteps of other giants, and dare to dream of your own pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Believe in your vision and stride forth with confidence – even if you’ve failed, you know you’ve tried. You’ll feel a lot better than an entrepreneur who’s been at it doing the same old shit for donkey years.

Or is it donkey ears? Hmm I think they taste better deep-fried – kinda like that pigs’ ears snack you get in the Mama store at the HDB void decks of yore.

After all, entrepreneurship is a game of high risks and high returns – cowards and risk-averse peeps need not apply.

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