Download Three Revolutionary Changes 1

Three Revolutionary Changes 1
Tommy Koh
24 February 2006
I would like to thank Mrs Fang Ai Lian for inviting me to speak to you.
I do not know why she has chosen me because I have nothing to say to you which is
relevant to your discussion of the Singapore Budget. Perhaps my role is to be your
intellectual "amuse bouche", to amuse your mind not your mouth!
I asked Ai Lian's advice on what I should speak on. She mentioned "change" as the
topic. I have, therefore, decided to speak to you about three revolutionary changes :
one each in Singapore, Asia and the world.
Revolutionary Change No. 1 : Remaking of the Singapore Economy
In the space of 40 years, Singapore's GDP per capita has gone up from US$500 to
US$26,000.
While I agree that the GDP per capita is uni-dimensional, it is,
nevertheless, a useful universal measurement of a country's wealth and productivity.
Going from a GDP per capita of US$500 to US$26,000 in 40 years, is a revolutionary
change. The question I want to ask today is whether, having arrived at this peak,
Singapore will be able to climb to a higher peak?
Let me put my question in its proper theoretical context. The Harvard Business
School guru, Michael Porter, has a theory about the different stages of a
country/economy's development. In Porter's theory, Singapore is now in a stage of
her economic development when further growth and productivity will have to come
primarily from knowledge, innovation and creativity. Porter warns that if Singapore
fails to climb this peak, it will probably stagnate and will begin to live on its
accumulated wealth as some European countries are doing.
Another American guru, Stephen Covey, who was in town recently, has put the same
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Speech delivered at Ernst & Young Budget Seminar 2006 at Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel.
point in a different way. In an interview with Vikram Khanna of The Business Times,
Covey said:
"Twenty years ago, only 20-30 per cent of value added came from
knowledge work, today it is 70-80 per cent.
The world has changed
profoundly with the globalisation of markets and technology."
If Porter and Covey are right, the future prosperity of Singapore will depend upon
whether Singapore will successfully embrace the revolutionary change of remaking
Singapore into a knowledge economy.
Importing global talent is one prong of
Singapore's strategy. This must be complemented by changes to our education
system so that it will produce thinking students instead of rote-learning ones; by
making our universities world class; by enhancing our support for research and
development; by promoting innovation and creativity as factors of production; by
changing our mindset to being willing to accept risk and failure; and by growing a
culture of tolerance for non-conformists, mavericks and other people with alternative
views.
Revolutionary Change No. 2 : Asia will Catch up with the West
For several hundred years, ever since Asia came under the dominance of Western
colonialism and imperialism, Asians have suffered from an inferiority complex
towards the West. The only country in Asia which did not have such a complex was
Japan, which emerged from the Meiji Reformation as a modern State. Japanese
confidence was given another boost when the Japanese navy defeated that of
Tsarist Russia in the Battle of Tsushima in 1905.
Japan then lost its way and
embarked on the disastrous road towards militarism and empire. As a result, Japan
was destroyed by World War II.
After World War II, Japan rebuilt its shattered economy and, by the 1960s, became a
first world economy. Japan's example was an inspiration to many Asian intellectuals.
By the 1980s, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore had broken the
shackles of poverty and backwardness. The four NIEs have joined Japan in the
league of first world economies. Today, China, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam,
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and others, have all taken off and will, in time, become first world economies.
There is a pervasive sense of optimism in Asia. Asian minds have been liberated
from their inferiority complex. They feel that the future is bright and that Asia will
catch up with the West. A good friend of mine from Luxembourg was here recently.
He remarked to me that, in Asia, unlike Europe, people seem so optimistic about the
future. I replied that yes, it is true. We are optimistic about our future, because we
have crossed a threshold. We are confident that Asia will catch up with the West. I
believe that there has been a revolutionary change in the mindset of Asians.
Third Revolutionary Change : Values in a Borderless World
One of the first prophets of globalisation is a Japanese maverick and guru called
Kenichi Ohmae.
In his seminal book, The Borderless World, Ohmae correctly
predicted that with globalisation, borders will become increasingly porous and
irrelevant. Tom Friedman, in his recent book, The World is Flat, makes the same
point. In this increasingly borderless world, what happens in one small corner of the
world, such as Denmark, could have a major impact on the rest of the world.
One question which no one has, so far, figured out is how do different civilizations,
with different values, co-exist peacefully in this new world.
caricatures of the Prophet Mohamed as an example.
Let us take the
To my European and
American friends, the issue is about the freedom of speech and the freedom of the
press. In contemporary Europe and America, these two values are so fundamental
that few countries (excepting Austria and Germany for historical reasons), are willing
to argue that freedom of speech and freedom of the press should be weighed
against other competing values and interests, such as, respect for the religious
beliefs of others, the maintenance of inter-religious and inter-racial harmony, etc.
When I was residing in America, I was shocked that two so-called modern artists
were allowed to exhibit their provocative works. One was a figure of Jesus Christ
immersed in a bowl of urine. The other was a figure of the Virgin Mary covered with
elephant dung. I do not think any country in Asia, Christian or not, would allow such
works to be exhibited. The issue is, therefore, not just between the Europeans and
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Americans and the 1.3 billion Muslims over the caricatures of the Prophet Mohamed.
There is a cultural divide between a secular West where nothing seems sacred any
more and other parts of the world, such as Asia, where respect for the faith of others
and where the imperative of maintaining harmony between different religions and
races, would be regarded as more fundamental than the freedom of speech and the
freedom of the press.
While the first two revolutionary changes are positive in their effect, the third one
poses a potential threat. If we all help to manage it well, it too can be a revolutionary
change for the better.
Thank you very much.
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