We need a new direction

        The story of Singapore's success the last 50 odd years is undoubted. From a Third World small port to (once) the world's busiet port, now we have the best airport in the world, 2 integrated resorts hosting world class casinos and per capita GDP of US$ 75,000 within the top 10 worldwide. Not bad at all for a country with no natural resources led only by an exceptional leader for 30 odd years and with one party rule, the PAP with token opposition.  

       Where once our Singapore efficiency and meritocracy, clean environment, rule of law and emphasis on productivity has been touted as a model for many emerging new countries, we have somewhat lost that massive lead in terms of the above to the neighbouring countries and China has not only followed the Singapore style of management, but built up its own core competencies with much more financial backing and adaptation that China is now leading the way in helping many other countries develop their cities, ports, airports and train systems.

      Singapore on the other hand has been slowly losing its competitive advantages and now we are really in need of finding new ways to make us relevant. In these disruptive times, being orderly, or having a nice airport, Sentosa island, Night Safari or lovely zoo just doesn't make our country an attractive place to visit (perhaps just once). There are far more (and cheaper) exotic places with much more beautiful beaches, resorts, varied zoos, beautiful scenery, many new foods to try etc.

     When we once were a shopping paradise, Singapore has been overtaken by many bigger shopping metropolises in the region, from Shanghai, Bangkok, Shenzhen and Hong Kong to name but a few. Our service standards are pretty poor by comparison to many Western First World countries while prices of our goods from branded names are practically the same - with the exception of Hong Kong which does not have GST compared to our 7%.

    So we are no longer a shopper's paradise.

    Tourism - well you visit once, and thats about it. Spend 4 days here, visit Sentosa, Zoo, Night Safari, Bird Park, Singapore River and take a dip (yes its that small) on the 57th floor of the Marina Bay Resorts and you can say you have done it all in Singapore. 

    Compare us to Thailand, visit Bangkok for 1 week, see the temples, Victory Monument, the floating market, the snake show, the Chatuchak market, Ma Bun Krung cheap fake market, Chinatown, the Patpong red light area, the tons of nighspots and cheap and good thai massages etc and that is ONLY Bangkok.

     You need another week in Pattaya, possibly 4 days in Phuket, and 1 week in Chiangmai and 1 week in Hua HIn. You get my point that any visitor will come several times to fully visit all of the country.

    Clean and Green City - yes, we have this distinction and still are the best in the region. 

   Airport : Changi International has consistently won the title "World's Best Airport" from Skytrax for 6 consecutive years ; with Terminal 4 winning my vote for being super efficient, fast and futuristic (lots of computer games, on line boarding pass, immigration), it wins my vote HANDS DOWN ; but its only a gateway into / away from our country.

    Singapore Airlines : Another 1st in the world ; no small feat for a small country but we are world's best.   

    Integrated Resorts - Well, unless you like to gamble, there are 2 but Macau is the leader by far in this field, and now many others have followed suit, Jeju island and numerous small ones along the border between Thailand and Vietnam. So Genting up north, to Star Casino in Perth and Crown Casino is Melbourne, the gambler is spoilt for choice.

   Banking Industry - Yes, we are still up and coming in the wake of Brexit but, its not been the same for banks since the last Financial Crisis, meaning there is alot more uncertainty in the world with rising debt levels and massive untamed debt in US, Japan , UK and possibly China causing the rise of alternative forms of currency such as cryptocurrency and blockchains but that requires far less infrastructure such as banks and all the supporting services.

  Manufacturing - this is almost gone. We have a miniscule amount of manufacturing in Singapore with only token semiconductor companies and several biomedical and pharmaceutical companies and that is about it. 30 years ago we had disk drive industry employing possibly 200,000 people or more (supporting industry), that industry is gone with the wind and so have the jobs. Many other lower end manufacturing have all gone away and / or  died. 

     

Moving upscale has been very very tough and there are only small R and D operations employing perhaps a few hundred staff  at best.

     Oil and Gas - another dead in the water industry. Look at the price of oil per barrel nowadays, probably 30% of its top price. So, the industry looks to be in sunset mode.

     Port - well there is the One Belt and Road from China, which effectively will mean that there is an overland route from the Factory of the World to the West. No need to come via sea and Singapore.

     So where does the future leave for us ??  We as a country and especially our leaders, need a new, clear direction to move forward.