Thursday, 10 October 2019
We are no. 1?
Of course you knew!
Our nation-building media won't let this opportunity slip...
Go read and see what they want you to remember and focus on. Wink.
I prefer to read what others think of us. Especially from the one who "lost" to us:
The US slipped to third place in a ranking of most competitive economies
OK, comparing the two, what's your spontaneous own take?
I'll put mine in the comments.
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Hi Smol,
ReplyDeleteHaha, for the man in the street the only thought will be "show me the money!". I just hope competitiveness won't become overused like productivity.
Hoho a local biz news website (no, not one of those Oppo sites) noted that S'pore still behind in innovation & skills, as well as highlighting lack of checks & balance, and poor ranking of press freedom. Don't think this writer will be getting any local journalism award soon. LOL!
Vietnam also jumped quite a lot. Malaysia & Philippines are still ok. Indo, Viet & Phil will be the growth engine of SE Asia over the next 20-30 years. Investing in them today is like investing in SG during the 60s (including political risks).
Spur,
DeleteYup, they didn't waste any time to remind us to remain competitive, we must continue to remain open to foreign workers (which I support since I'm a citizen of the world myself) ;)
Future growth of Asia is not just China, China, China.
Youths, don't just focus on FIRE or be parochial as in STI ETF only. Pickup Bahasa or another SEA language and explore!
Don't you want to experience the high risk/high growth environment your parents and older cousins went through in Singapore?
If you search hard enough, you may still get landed properties for below SGD $100K ;)
The only lament is India.
India has lots of potential and hopes, yet just like Brazil, everytime you think they can breakthrough...
Oh well, I guess just as long their best and brightest can continue to come and work for us, its all good ;)
I am glad our big neighbours like Thailand and Indonesia are doing well too!
ReplyDeleteI don't know about you, but I sleep better knowing we are surrounded by stable and well to do neighbours.
You don't get stability when we are economic basket cases - for both us and them.
Even without reading the "precision" KPIs, anecdotally, we also knew.
Remember in the 80s our construction sites were full of Thai workers? Now? Try finding a single Thai construction worker!
Also, once upon a time we had an illegal worker problem so serious that we had to go nuclear by caning the overstayers...
Who needs to work illegally overseas when your own economy is doing well?
Of course its vested interest! Back to my retail roots, when our neighbours are wealthy, they will come to Singapore to shop and dine!
And I'll get to keep my weekend sales gig ;)
LOL!
I remember in the early 80s there were South korean construction workers for our mrt stations & tunnels. And no, most of them weren't the site supervisors nor engineers. Believe at that time S Korea was still under semi-martial law. No gangnam style for sure!
DeleteSpur,
DeleteNow imagine 20 years later we can't find a single Mainland Chinese construction worker in Singapore?
I remember I had my first cultural shock in Sweden when I saw for the first time "ang moh" roadside construction workers.
They were not Eastern Europeans; they were Swedish workers. My mouth opened even wider when I found out how much they earned... Ha, ha.
We progress; others want progress too.
Just as long the FIRE community is a minority in Singapore, we can relax and sleep well.
To grow, we need the majority of youths to be hungry and willing to chase rainbows!
Its the end if the majority of youths want to retire by 35...
LOL!
Hi SMOL,
ReplyDeleteMy spontaneous response is that we are no one! lol
LP,
DeleteAh! Game of Thrones :)
Great series.
Unfortunately, they fxxxed-up the ending... The last season was a colossal let down :(
It goes to show when the producers got existing Game of Thrones source materials to "steal with pride", they can.
But without George R.R. Martin's books, its painfully obvious they were swimming naked...
Hi SMOL,
ReplyDeleteSo what if we are number 1, or number 2, or number 10?
It's like leading indicators or trailing, being number 1 or 2. Means likely the business environment is good for the country, which in return means that it's likely that the life is good enough for citizens.
But... it doesn't mean that being number 10, the citizens have a bad life.
But people still like to show off la. My kid got straight A's leh. Zai right? Also don't mean that the kid will do well in life ma.
ERSG,
DeleteWell it matters; it does not ;)
Everyone remembers the first man on the moon - not the 2nd guy.
Just like we only care or remember the gold medal winners ;)
Why do most young people readily accept SMART goals?
Because its easy mah! Anyone and everyone can do it!
But when we don't care about precision in 2 decimal places, its start to become a lot harder...
For eg, our Singapore Pledge.
That's very grey and a lot harder to achieve. That's why its "aspirational" ;)
I agree with you.
Reciting the Singapore Pledge can touch our hearts more than reciting the SMART goals for the next 5 or 10 years ahead ;)
Most of us no bother. No 2 or No 10.
ReplyDeleteCW,
DeleteThat's the reality.
Just take our community.
If you shout you got 10% dividend yield passive income yearly, but in actual dollars it "only" $12K, see who will "follow" you....
But casually reveal you got yearly passive income of 6 figures and above, all of sudden, you become the "inspiration" to anyone and everyone! LOL!
Now to poke ourselves. If we never shared we got 10 baggers ourselves, you think people will bother with your powerpoints and listen to my "talk male-chicken"?
I had to tone it down by switching from baggers to dollars - don't want to attract the anyone and everyone yalor yalor fan boys and girls.
They are good for the ego; useless when it comes to having a dialogue.
I prefer people like you all - can challenge and poke back!
:)
Proud Singaporean: I'm Singaporean. My country is number 1.
ReplyDelete3rd world country foreign talent boss: So what? Are you number one? I love Singapore.
hyom,
DeleteProud Singaporean landowner: Its all good. Just as long that shepherd is making money for me ;)
I see there may be different interpretations of my comment.
DeleteMy own interpretation.
It doesn't matter if country is number 1 or number 100. A person can come from third-world poor country but if he made it in a number 1 country, he has more bragging rights than simply being a citizen of a number 1 country.
Is the country no. 1? Not a relevant question for the individual.
What matters to the individual is his own achievements.
hyom,
DeleteIt matters; it does not ;)
孟母三迁
The environment matters too.
I am the same me, but only when I stumbled into my previous company can I flap my wings and soar...
If not, people would believe the bullshit every school is a good school ;)
天时地利人和
SMOL,
DeleteThe environment definitely matters. Fortunately, in most cases, the individual has the freedom to choose his environment. You job hop until you found your ideal environment. Same goes for the successful immigrant and 孟子's mama. Credit goes to the people who made the right move to the right environment.
Ultimately, it's still up to the individual unless he was born a slave hundreds of years ago.
hyom,
DeleteWe are on the same page.
That's why I'm not so much into "passive" ;)
First immediate reaction is
ReplyDelete1) Big deal, US size wins la
2) second after thoughts
All these ranking is a academic exercise, while it can be useful, is usefulness is just like a buy report of investment. A reference and some points of consideration.
3) third reaction,
Zhun Bo ! Hahahahaha
Sillyinvestor,
ReplyDelete1. Ang moh tua kee? You get out of here! LOL!
2. Yup. Another institution can do another survey and the rankings could be
totally different ;)
Its all subjective interpretation. I prefer blue, you prefer red. Who
are you to say red ranks higher than blue?
3. Trust but Verify!
Hi SMOL,
DeleteWhy you liddat one?
Red is definitely higher ranked than blue :P
Unintelligent Nerd,
DeleteOK, I'm sold!
Will wear red underwear and start buying "ang gong gong" attire this coming Christmas!
Deck myself out like a CNY red packet!
LOL!
Smol,
ReplyDeleteNo 1 is not my cup of tea. Too high profile and easily kanna attacked. It makes more sense to be in the middle of the pack. Not too high or low. Unnoticeable to most extent.
Ben
Ben,
DeleteYou like to stare into the asses of other zebras in front of you ;)
That's what you get for hiding in the middle of the pack.
Eat what's left over by other zebras.
And die also don't know what hit you as you probably be last to see the lions charging into the herd.
But hey! Know one will notice you whether you alive or dead anyways ;)
I don't like herds. I'm a cat.
If cannot, then I'll settle for shepherd as plan B.
LOL!