Wednesday, September 26, 2012

MTI: No foreign labour, growth will stall

This caught my eye when I opened the door to retrieve the papers this morning.

I agree with MTI completely on this. I agree with many things the government is doing within their sandbox. And many things they do here if it were copied elsewhere will do wonders for other cities. Those places need them more than we do. We should just help them, give it to them and invent our version 2.0. The problem is we aren't. We are flogging Version 1.0. Translated it means some sacred cows must be killed and any of them killed only when the evidence is overwhelming and obvious would already be too late.

That's why I say we have the best government in the world but unfortunately is not good enough for us. We do not have Steve Jobs courage to risk the music iPod with the iPhone. For Apple then to take on Nokia and the other mobile phone makers was a classic fool's idea. Nokia had all the technology to make the iPhone. They even had in house prototypes. We all know what happened when Nokia tried to protect its lucrative business. It lost the future to Apple. Closer to home, the story of SIA could end up as living the script of Nokia. SQ is an experimental vessel for the larger Singapore: the consequence of flogging an exhausted paradigm.

Prof Tan KG is right that the government had shown courage to continue with their foreign workers' policy but that is only half the courage that Singapore needs. Such small courage are even difficult to find elsewhere and no credit to this government. Elsewhere are far more impatient. They don't complain too much. They just take to the streets.

Foreign governments wish they could have us as voters but our government never hope to have theirs as citizens. What does that tell us? Stop blaming us and get on with doing your job better. Show me you have guts otherwise don't stop others who have true leadership from taking over from you.

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