Where is the next big thing for Singapore’s economy?
BY PN BALJI
Singapore’s 13th Parliament meets on Friday amid a deep sense of gloom clouding the most important pillar of the country’s future.
The economy is facing the double whammy of a China is under severe threat of a stock market and currency blowout, and a domestic market undergoing painful restructuring problems.
To add to the gloom comes a report that just over half of companies have been hit badly by the weak economic climate here and overseas.
What makes this crisis different is that the government is squeezed for options to throw at the problem. A big bang outcome is not on the cards.
Economist Chua Hak Bin was spot on when he told Business Times: “Singapore has already reached such an affluent stage, and there’s the sense that there are a lot more constraints now – such as the ageing demographics and the inability to tap on talent as freely as before.”
Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat gave the clearest hint of three possible economic winners – very niche areas like chip design, wealth management and consumption demand.
But these are areas that are foreign to the Singapore worker. The drumbeat for such quick-fix solutions is still being heard as a position paper by the Singapore
Business Federation last week kept harping on loosening the restrictions on foreign workers and helping local firms expand overseas.
With such a dearth of ideas on how to fix the economy, Singaporeans will look to the new Parliament for a meaningful discussion. The likes of Inderjit Singh will be missed. He was tireless, passionate, consistent and controversial in pushing for the small businessman. Will there another Inderjit Singh in the chamber?
The discussion so far has ignored the small and medium enterprises. A friend who runs a restaurant told me when I congratulated him on the food there: “Looks like we won’t be around for long. The government has come up with a plan for a central kitchen for establishments in my area and wants us to be part of it.
“This way, our reliance on foreign workers can be cut. On paper, it is a good idea. But what happens when there is food poisoning? Who will be blamed.
“Then there is the issue of recipes. How can I give away my secrets.”
It looks like this small businessman is being forced into a solution that might just be too painful.
The MPs, including those from the Workers Party, have a rare opportunity to bring their minds to a problem for which the government does not have a solution.
They have to zero in on that next big thing, an out-of-the-ordinary idea that will bring Singapore back to good economic health.
And they should avoid words like foreign labour, training, technology, innovation, life-long learning, skills…
P N Balji is a veteran Singaporean journalist who is the former chief editor of TODAY newspaper, and a media consultant. The views expressed are his own.
