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HY2229/SSA2204: Lecture 8
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Singapore malkaysads
ECONOMY BUILDING AS NATION-BUILDING
A. Introduction: Brief Overview of Economy and Society
1. The Needs of an Economy
economy: a system that produces, distributes, trades and consumes goods and service
physical infrastructure (roads and railway)
people (mental health entertainment, knowledge schools and education)
organisation
2. Outcomes of Developing an Economy
3. Transiting from a Colonial Economy (and Society) to a Nation
Goh Keng Swee speaking to Chinese Chamber of Commerce on 15 March 1969:
Today the economy is in a strong position. We in Singapore believe in hard work.
We believe that enterprise should be rewarded and not penalized. We believe that we
must adjust ourselves to changing situations. We believe in seizing economic
opportunities and not let them go past us. Finally, we believe in self-reliance.
These are human qualities that have helped to transform an island-swamp into a
thriving metropolis. They are the traditional virtues of Singaporeans and so long as
we retain these virtues, we can face the future with confidence.
Tharman Shanmugaratnam on how Singapore has achieved its incredible economic
miracle (Interview with Credit Suisse, 20 March 2014):
I would say Singapores story can be explained by three factors: culture, particularly
the work ethic of the Singaporeans, our response to adverse external conditions and
our government, especially policies in education and housing. The government is
activist, not hands-off. But our whole approach is to enable people, and support a
culture of aspiration, work and personal responsibility, rather than have government
taking over responsibility. Thats how we enable as many people as possible to both
contribute and share in our countrys prosperity. Thats the best way to create an
inclusive society.
B. The Colonial Economy of Singapore, 1819 to 1942
1. Entrepot Trading Centre (had been a port since 14th century)
i.
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
Physical Infrastructure
a) Harbour / port facilities under Tanjong Pagar Dock Company (publicly
owned in 1905), later Singapore Harbour Board (1913) - predecessor to Port
of Singapore Authority (PSA)
b)
c) Turnbull, 108: By 1903, Singapore was the worlds seventh largest port
in tonnage of shipping, but facilities were grossly inadequate, cramped and
congested. Services were expensive and subject to long delays.... There was
no railway to the docks, since railway schemes mooted thirty years earlier
had fallen victim to the clash of vested interests between Singapore
companies and the government. The result was that in the early years of the
twentieth century, all goods to and from the docks still had to be transported
in bullock carts.
d)
e) Railway lines: first lines laid in 1885 near tin mines in Perak; initial line
in Singapore between Kranji and Tank Road (near Fort Canning); Tanjong
Pagar Station in opened in 1932. By 1918, Singapore connected to Bangkok
by rail.
f)
g) Roads: Johor-Singapore Causeway in 1923
h)
i) Commercial / Financial services: Trade agencies, banks, insurance
companies
j)
k) Labour: migrants from East, South and Southeast Asia
l)
m) Population: Significant increases since 1819
n)
o) Societal needs: provision of basic amenities to work and live in
Singapore - water, electricity, sewage
p)
q) Chinese protectorate was created 1877 to protect them from gang
kidnapping
r) Establishment of hospitals
s)
t) Sustaining a Colonial Economy: no tax on trade and use of Singapore
port; revenue mostly from tax farms (sale of pork, toddy, opium)
u)
v) Catalysts of Change
w)
x) Economic Depressions
y)
z) Political Change: British intervention in Malaya (1874) opened up
vv)
ww)
Increased competition from neighbours, e.g. Malaysia, Indonesia
xx)
yy) Goh Keng Swee (1918-2010)
zz)
aaa)Trained economist, Ph.D. from the London School of Economics in
1956; civil servant in the Department of Social Welfare; joined PAP in 1958
and was Minister for Finance, Defence and later Education
bbb)
ccc)Quoting Albert Winsemius, in reference to the numerous factoryopenings Goh officiated in Jurong: After 10,000 years Singapore will be
like Nineveh or Babylon of the modern world. From universities all over the
world, people will be sent to the ruins of Sinapore and they will start digging
and reconstructing the type of city this was. They will discover the name
Singapore but will not recall what it was, which civilisation it belonged to,
and they will find lots of stones they cannot decipher anymore. However,
they will discover that one name is always repeated: Goh Keng Swee. And
they will say, That must have been their god. They had a god whom they
called Goh Keng Swee and all these factories are temples to honour the
presence of Goh Keng Swee.
ddd)
eee)Economic Viability of Singapore
fff)
ggg)
The United Nations Industrial Survey Mission Report (aka The
Winsemius Mission Report)
hhh)
iii) Key recommendations: an import-substitution industry, open economy
to foreign investment, attractive terms (e.g. Pioneer Industries status - relief
from income tax), relaxed immigration for foreign managers and
technicians, expansion of technical education and job training programmes
The Mission concluded, despite the political uncertainty surrounding the island-state in
1960/1, that Singapore has the basic assets for industrialization. With the resourcefulness
of her people, an active industrial promotion programme by the Government, and - this is
the main point - close co-operation between employers and labour, Singapore can
successfully carry out the expansion programme proposed in the report...
i. The State Development Plan 1961-1964
ii. ASDLKASJDALKSDJALKDJ
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Economic Development
Social Development
Public Administration
Total
$ (million)
507.95
349.98
13.19
871.02
%
58.32
40.17
1.51
100.00
bb) Social Development: Health, Education, Housing, Social Welfare all urgently needed to keep pace; Housing and Education the
biggest projected expenditure (respectively 154 million and 95
million approx.) 76 new schools / 10 15 000 new houses per year
cc) Economic Development: Land and Agricultural Development (land
purchase, reclamation and flood alleviation), Industry and
Commerce (Economic Development Board, Jurong and Kallang
Industrial Estates, and public utilities), and Transport and
Communication
dd) Economist Lee Soon Ann observed that the UN Mission Report and
the State Development Plan were two of the few (if not the only)
plans to perceive Singapore as a viable economic unit without
merger with Malaysia.
D. Financing and Sustaining a Nation
1. Ensuring sources of revenue by adapting and adjusting to changing circumstances
i.
1960s: Moving from entrepot trade dealing with staple products (e.g. rubber,
tin, oil and straits produce), to a labour-intensive industries, initially importsubstitution and later export-oriented manufactures (after separation in
1965)
a) Maintaining confidence: Goh Keng Swee and Jurong Industrial
Estate
b) Additional considerations, namely defending a nation (and the cost
of doing so).
c) National flagships: Singapore Airlines (1972), Changi Airport
(1981), continued development of the Port of Singapore (container
terminals at Jurong, Pasir Panjang, Tanjong Pagar and Sembawang,
plus some of the Southern Islands)
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
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pythonforce, social (and income) inequalities, local vs. foreign (which could be
seen as an identity crisis perhaps?)
22. Linda Low and Lee Soo Ann in Globalizing State, Disappearing Nation? (pp.
149-150): Economic progress and national unity, which in an earlier era were
mutually reinforcing, may now run counter to each other.
23. Contrast slightly pessimistic views of authors with this answer by Tharman
Shanmugaratnam, in response to a question about whether a young country has a
culture of its own:
Singapore is an accident of history, unlike most nations formed by the will of their
people to come together. It was a multicultural and multireligious society that
unexpectedly, in 1965, became an independent country. We were united not by a common
language, as nation-states often are, but by the search to make the most of what we
started with. What emerged was a social culture based on work. We told ourselves: we
want a better life: Singaporeans are always making an effort and looking for new
opportunities. This is in our DNA not a biological DNA but a social DNA, mind you,
that can vanish as quickly as it has appeared. It is something that requires constant effort
to recreate and preserve.
24. Is Furnivalls 70-year old prescription for curing the ills of a plural society still
relevant for 21st century Singapore?
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unstable for lack of a common will owing to the disruption of society by the unrestrained
working of economic forces, acting in the interest of capital, or wealth applied to
production. Nationalism can provide an effective counter to economic forces.
Government should aim therefore at fostering the re-integration of society through
Nationalism. (Furnivall, Progress and Welfare, 1941: p. 48)
10