TR EMERITUS

By Hurr Riyahi In 1960, both the South Korean and Singapore economies were emerging out of the post  WWII turbulent 1950s. Singaporeans had an average income of US$450 about four times ahead of that of South Korea (US$110). In 2009, the average income of Singaporeans (US$34,760) remain higher than that of South Korea (US$21,530). However the gap has narrowed much closer and within a matter of time average incomes of South Koreans will exceed that of Singaporeans. That is because of the development path that South Korean economy took instead of the one charted for Singapore by PAP. In 1960, the gap between South Korean economy and Singapore economy was around US$320 billion. Today that gap has more than doubled to about US$750 billion. (Source: World Bank)  Singaporeans, who love to repeat the economic success story that PAP teach them, should spend a moment to look at the success story of South Koreans who were behind them but are now far ahead in the race. There are many similarities between the economic stories of Singapore and South Korea. Both economies embarked on a massive economic program between 1960s-1980s. They were both fondly referred to as the Asian Tigers along with a few other economies due to the rapid rate their economies were growing. Both Singapore and South Korea were together during late 1980s onwards were referred to as newly industrialized countries (NICs) to indicate they have evolved from being developing countries. However the start of the story for South Korea was more dismal than Singapore due to the devastation of WWII and subsequent Korean War. The Miracle on the Han River as described of South Korean economic success was constantly at risk due to the hostility of North Korea. Both South Korean and Singapore had the same long term economic vision initially. They both tried to grow by attracting foreign direct investments in labour intensive manufacturing induries by luring MNCs with cheap and efficient labour.  However as one can see from the chart earlier, a significant gap started to wedge between Singaporean economy and South Korean economy starting from the 1980s which only grew bigger at a fast rate also subsequently. South Korea managed its long term economic vision from the 1980s far better than how PAP did with Singapore economy. The South Korea story is not without mistakes. However what is important is that today South Korea is part of OECD which is recognised as the grouping for developed economies. Singapore is still not part of OECD and most economists who use OECD membership as an indicator still refuse to accept Singapore as a developed economy and instead refer to it as a newly industrialized economy. South Korea is also the current chair of the G-20 major economies and it will be the first country in Asia to host the G-20 summit in Seoul on November 2010. Singapore is also not a member of G-20. There is no single person or single economic strategy of South Korea that can explain its ability to start behind Singapore in 1960 and leap far ahead to where it is today. However one main fundamental difference between Singapore and South Korea is that the former is an autocracy while the latter is full democracy. There are numerous factors that promoted South Korea’s big leap forward and in each one can find that it will not have been possible if not for its full democracy. Singaporeans should go and read history of South Korea’s economy and see how their economic strategies were developed, private sector enterprise was promoted, labour markets were structured etc. As mentioned earlier South Korea did make tons of mistakes and it did pay heavily in the last fifty years but what one must look at is how it came out of it and where it is today. The reason why it was able to bounce back stronger and move forward better again will not have been possible if not for its full democracy. It was not one man’s decisions. It also was not one party’s decisions. It also wasn’t the decisions of civil servants. Singaporeans love mocking South Korea’s democracy and often symbolize it with labour strikes and riots. What they fail to realize is that the South Korea democracy is far beyond what their news channel show them and it has been a key factor behind South Korea leapfrogging Singapore’s economic success.  Read More →

By Debra Chong from The Malaysian Insider Saying that only political change can bring economic reforms to Malaysia, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah last night blamed the Najib administration for crippling the national economy by putting politics ahead of policy reforms. In his sharpest barb yet directed at  Datuk Seri Najib Razak, the Umno veteran urged the prime minister to end race-based affirmative programmes in the New Economic Policy (NEP) drawn up 40 years ago which he said was a cover for “corruption, crony capitalism and money politics”. “To make that leap we need a government capable of promoting radical reform. That is not going to happen without political change,” the Kelantan prince and former finance minister said when launching the second edition of  “No Cowardly Past” by lawyer James Puthucheary here last night. Puthucheary, who was once a politician and economist, died 10 years ago. The Gua Musang MP mocked Najib for delaying announcing his proposed New Economic Model (NEM) and suggested that the new policy may only be a rehash of the “old” NEP, drawing chuckles from the audience. The chuckles stopped when the 73-year-old reminded his audience how deeply race-based policies had scored themselves in the minds of the powerful few, noting that the NEP was dragged back to life by Umno Youth six years ago because “it was and remains the most low-cost way to portray oneself as a Malay champion.” “The NEP is over. I ask the government to have the courage to face up to this,” he added. He called on the Najib administration to restore independence in public institutions and to overhaul the education system and repeal “repressive laws” such as the Printing Presses Act, the Universities and Colleges Act, the Internal Security Act and the Official Secrets Act. “Confidence in the rule of law is a basic condition of economic growth,” said the politician popularly known as Ku Li. Tengku Razaleigh added that “radical reform” and not “piecemeal measures” was needed to move the economy forward but strongly suggested that it may not be possible under the present leadership. Asked to clarify his meaning, Ku Li explained that Najib needs to move fast and translate his proposed policies into action to plug the swift drain of talent out of the country. Najib is now in Hong Kong to promote Malaysia to fund managers and investors at the Credit Suisse’s 13th Asian Investment Conference which starts today. The Prime Minister is due to receive a report on the NEM which he announced when taking office last April. The report and policies will be fully announced in June when Najib tables the 10th Malaysia Plan as the government wants public feedback to shape the NEM. Malay right-wing groups have said the NEM must be guided by the NEP which was officially abandoned in 1990 and subsumed into the National Development Policy which ran from 1991 to 2000. Tengku Razaleigh, who was unsuccessful in challenging Najib for the Umno presidency last year, remains a harsh critic of the ruling Barisan Nasional government policies particularly its refusal to give 5 per cent oil royalty to his home state Kelantan. However, he has pledged loyalty to Umno despite calls to quit his Gua Musang seat and his division leadership. The opposition Pakatan Rakyat has privately urged him to join them but he has declined the offer. - The Malaysian Insider  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent In a sign that the next election will probably be called sometime this year, the PAP-controlled Elections Department told Straits Times yesterday that "some 25,000 public servants have been trained in preparation for the next general election." Since October 2008, the Elections Department had sent out letters to civil servants informing them to attend the training sessions which involves workshops, E-learnings and simulated exercises on the electoral processes. During a parliamentary session last month Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng said the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee had not convened yet and it takes two to four months for it to complete its electoral boundaries report. He was responding to a question by NCMP Sylvia Lim on when the electoral boundaries would be revealed. The PAP has the knack of announcing the electoral boundaries only in the last minute on the eve of the polls to thwart the plans of the opposition parties. Single wards and even GRCs can "vanish" into thin air suddenly without warning and get "absorbed" into neighboring wards. For example, Singapore People Party's Chairman Sin Kek Tong garnered a respectable 47.1 percent of the votes at the single seat of Braddell Hill during the 1991 general elections. He had been actively working the ground there for six years till it was announced a month before the 2007 general election that Braddell Hill had been "absorbed" into Marine Parade GRC. The same case happened to Eunos GRC which was only narrowly won by the PAP in the 1988 and 1991 elections. It was literally "wiped off" from the electoral map in subsequent elections. Though it is not known when the next election will be, some predicted that it may be held either in the June or December school holidays. With public unhappiness against the PAP's disastrous liberal immigration and pro-foreigner policies at an all time high, it is likely to lose more seats in the next election including GRCs. The PAP has been trying hard to include as many new citizens on the electoral register, having updated it twice in the last 12 months alone. According to figures from the Home Affairs Ministries, there are about 60,000 new citizens in the last three years who will form an increasingly influential voting bloc. Not surprisingly, the PAP has gone out of the way to court the new citizens including splurging a massive $10-million dollar Community Integration Fund to make them feel welcomed in Singapore. The next general election is the last time for native Singaporeans to make themselves heard after which they will be completely drowned out by the immigrants whom the PAP is actively importing to replace them in order to perpetuate its political hegemony forever.   EDITORS’ NOTE: Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so and help us exceed the number of fans on the official YPAP Facebook page.        Read More →