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Source:
www.gov.sg |
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SPEECH BY MR LEE KUAN
YEW,MINISTER MENTOR |
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AT THE TANJONG PAGAR CHINESE
NEW YEAR DINNER, 23 FEBRUARY 2007, 8.45 PM AT TANGLIN-CAIRNHILL
COMMUNITY CENTRE |
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This Chinese New Year marks a new stage in
our development. In the next few years we will transform our economy. |
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Over the last five years, we have been
growing two extra wings for our economy. |
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Beyond the original five Asean
countries, we have deepened our economic ties with the US and
Japan with free trade agreements (FTA); and eastwards we have
added stronger economic ties with China and Vietnam, and westwards
with India (with FTA) and the Gulf states. |
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Our GLCs, many small and medium
enterprises, and many hundreds of Singapore¡¯s architects,
engineers, accountants, lawyers and executives are now doing
business in these countries. |
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Barring accidents, the next five years
will be good for growth. |
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After reaching a certain stage of
development, when they have succeeded at home, businesses have to
go abroad. Many Swiss businesses are operating worldwide, banks
like UBS and companies like Nestle. |
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After the war the US started a huge
wave of overseas enterprises, now called multi-national companies.
American MNCs are operating all over the world. |
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The strength of the US dollar and the
US economy, and US military capabilities, have made for a stable
international order under Pax Americana. European and Japanese
MNCs have followed the US and gone international abroad. |
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Now Indian companies have become MNCs
buying over steel corporations in Europe, and running industries
worldwide. |
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Singaporean companies have built or
bought properties worldwide, including hotel chains, service
apartments. |
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Singapore businesses are expanding
abroad. Our architect firms employ thousands of Singapore and
foreign architects and engineers in India, China and the Gulf. As
our overseas activities expand, our earnings from overseas will
grow bigger. |
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Developed nations like America, Europe
and Japan have millions of their people residing and working
abroad. |
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Not all Singaporeans overseas register
with our embassies. Our guesstimates are: 140,000 Singaporeans overseas.
Including Singapore PRs it is over 230,000, 17,000 (US), 19,000 (China),
36,000 (Australia) and 38,000 (UK.)[1] |
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Now with internet and 3G cell phones they
have access to Singapore TV; CNA is available in many cities in Asia and
soon around the world. |
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We must maintain our links with Singaporeans
who have ventured abroad and are increasing their earnings and those of
Singaporean companies. |
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Our economy grew 7.9% last year. Growth was
broad-based and job creation was strong. The forecast for 2007 is 4.5 to
6.5%. Our unemployment is at an unusually low level. |
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The world has recognised that Singapore is
being revamped. We have been changing our work style and our life-style
and made our social and cultural life more vibrant. |
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We have rock concerts with Taiwanese and
other singers, jazz bands, and Western symphony orchestras, ballet,
plays at the Esplanade, art exhibitions and many museums. |
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Our night life has been transformed - al
fresco dining by the riverside at Clarke Quay and Boat Quay, at the
Fullerton, etc. |
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The Singapore of the 1980s is the past. By
2010 we will have two integrated resorts. With conventions and world
class entertainment, our tourists may increase from 9.7 million in 2006
to 17 million by 2015. |
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With more jobs for Singaporeans, employers
must make a special effort to employ our older workers, giving them
lighter work with corresponding salary adjustments. |
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Workers who are retrenched and, so long as
they remain fit and healthy with retraining or re-configuration of jobs,
can be re-employed and working beyond 62. |
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Singapore¡¯s landscape will change. We will
have an iconic city centre, a Marina with a promenade that will allow
pedestrians and electric golf buggies unimpeded access round the whole
Marina, with al fresco dining, restaurants, shops and
electrically-driven pleasure boats for tourists to cruise along the
Singapore and Kallang Rivers. |
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New elegant buildings are being built around
the Marina will make Singapore an iconic city. The Marina will be like
the St Mark¡¯s Piazza in Venice. |
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We must keep the water clean, so we must
trap the debris and litter in our rivers, canals and drains. Our
engineers are working on many systems to ensure the water that flows
into the Marina is not polluted. |
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Our drains and canals will be turned into
ponds and streams. There will be clean running water, greenery and
boardwalks for people and children to enjoy these streams and ponds -
fishing, boating or dining al fresco. |
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Hotels, condos and HDB homes that front
these canals or drains will look out on greenery and water. Singaporeans
will have to keep their streams and ponds clean for everybody to enjoy
sailing, boating, wind surfing and fishing. |
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These plans have been worked out by the PUB,
URA and NParks. The PA is planning sports centres for kayaks and canoes
and wind surfing equipment for rental. |
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The next stage after clean and green
Singapore, is a vibrant city with clean water and gardens everywhere.
This will be done in your lifetime. |
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We have studied other cities. Paris with its
beautiful human scale 19th century buildings is a most elegant city in
the world. Its streets are furnished with attractive furniture,
newspaper kiosks and toilets. There is much life on the sidewalks of the
boulevards, people sitting around tables of cafes and restaurants
enjoying their coffee or ice cream. |
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London is the most international city,
bustling with people from all over the world, hundreds of thousands of
Europeans, French, Germans, Spaniards, Americans, Arabs, Asians work
there, many serving the international financial centre. When I was there
at the end of World War 2, in London, then, as the heart of the British
empire, the only non-British were people from their colonies and
dominions. |
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New York is the business centre of the
world. It has the UN headquarters; a great city for culture and the arts
with great museums, theatres, plays, opera, and rock bands. |
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Singapore must incorporate their best
features in a tropical version. |
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But without economic growth and an increase
in incomes, a country will face increasing social and other problems and
decline. |
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To grow, Singapore has no choice but to
attract investments. So we have to keep our corporate income tax and
personal income tax low. |
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And we must make Singapore a great place to
live in and bring up children. This is the way to attract investments
from the most advanced countries. |
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And we are building numerous ties with the
wider region, China, India, the Gulf and beyond. This is the future. |
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We have been making Singapore into a place
where people lead better lives with the prospect of an even brighter
future for their children. |
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In the first phase we moved from Third World
to the lower half of the First World. Now we can move into the upper
half of the First World. We can do this in the next 10-20 years. |
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I wish you all a happy and prosperous year
of the pig. |
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[1] (These are preliminary
estimates. They probably include students.) |
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Source:
www.gov.sg Media Release 23 Feb 2007 |
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FrontPage Edition: Mon 26 February 2007
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