This article can be found at:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/cna/cgi-bin/search/search_7days.pl?status=&search=malaysia&id=260700
By: Asha Popatlal/Hasnita A. Majid, ChannelNewsAsia
Date: 26 Feb 2007 1832hrs (GMT +8)
The article states that from a survey of 14 countries' economies, most of them asian, Singapore was considered the least risky. With a stable government that continually strives to improve Singapore, this is not surprising. Tactics by the government, like cutting the corporate tax rate, has seen success in attracting businessman etc., thus boosting the economy. It states that businessmen like to come to Singapore, as it is predictable, and not like countries like Korea, which suddenly changed its tax policies. Businesses found their profits hindered by taxes.
But, is Singapore that safe from risk?
As recent happenings have shown, Singapore no matter how successful, is still a small island state, susceptible to any form of attack by its neighbours. The size of Singapore means that we will have to expand outwards, as it is too small to be self-contained. Hence, there is more reliance on external factors. Bigger businesses are "investing heavily in other Asian countries", where risks are higher.
A small country with a small population, means small army, small economy etc. This means that we can be easily bullied by our friendly neighbours. Recently, Indonesia imposed a ban on the sale of sand to Singapore. The reason was environmental. What could Singapore do about it? Nothing. Singapore was too small to be considered a threat, and could not be like the US and North Korea, where both sides were equally powerful and both did not want to yield regarding nuclear issues. Apart from this, Thailand and Malaysia have also made claims that Singapore has attempted to spy on them and caused a flood respectively. Three attacks from three friendly neighbours. Was this an attempt to deflate the ever-rising balloon of our economy?
No matter how we try to improve our defense capabilities, we will always be smaller than large neighbours like Indonesia. Our only option then would be to yield to them, and to please them with other privileges so that they might just consider not cutting off our options. We are still very vulnerable to any form of attacks, and should any one of our neighbours decide to attack us, we will be squashed like a bug underfoot, no resistance at all. Everything hangs on the thin thread of diplomacy and inter-country relations, which can break any time because of a small occurrence like a Singaporean terrorist. Or weapons of mass destruction.
In conclusion, I think we Singaporeans should do our little bit, as every little thing counts in a little country. Education can change everything, and the future generation should be educated on this topic of diplomacy and vulnerability.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/cna/cgi-bin/search/search_7days.pl?status=&search=malaysia&id=260700
By: Asha Popatlal/Hasnita A. Majid, ChannelNewsAsia
Date: 26 Feb 2007 1832hrs (GMT +8)
The article states that from a survey of 14 countries' economies, most of them asian, Singapore was considered the least risky. With a stable government that continually strives to improve Singapore, this is not surprising. Tactics by the government, like cutting the corporate tax rate, has seen success in attracting businessman etc., thus boosting the economy. It states that businessmen like to come to Singapore, as it is predictable, and not like countries like Korea, which suddenly changed its tax policies. Businesses found their profits hindered by taxes.
But, is Singapore that safe from risk?
As recent happenings have shown, Singapore no matter how successful, is still a small island state, susceptible to any form of attack by its neighbours. The size of Singapore means that we will have to expand outwards, as it is too small to be self-contained. Hence, there is more reliance on external factors. Bigger businesses are "investing heavily in other Asian countries", where risks are higher.
A small country with a small population, means small army, small economy etc. This means that we can be easily bullied by our friendly neighbours. Recently, Indonesia imposed a ban on the sale of sand to Singapore. The reason was environmental. What could Singapore do about it? Nothing. Singapore was too small to be considered a threat, and could not be like the US and North Korea, where both sides were equally powerful and both did not want to yield regarding nuclear issues. Apart from this, Thailand and Malaysia have also made claims that Singapore has attempted to spy on them and caused a flood respectively. Three attacks from three friendly neighbours. Was this an attempt to deflate the ever-rising balloon of our economy?
No matter how we try to improve our defense capabilities, we will always be smaller than large neighbours like Indonesia. Our only option then would be to yield to them, and to please them with other privileges so that they might just consider not cutting off our options. We are still very vulnerable to any form of attacks, and should any one of our neighbours decide to attack us, we will be squashed like a bug underfoot, no resistance at all. Everything hangs on the thin thread of diplomacy and inter-country relations, which can break any time because of a small occurrence like a Singaporean terrorist. Or weapons of mass destruction.
In conclusion, I think we Singaporeans should do our little bit, as every little thing counts in a little country. Education can change everything, and the future generation should be educated on this topic of diplomacy and vulnerability.
No comments:
Post a Comment