In this article, I will give South Africans a taste of what it is like to live in a country where everything just works. I find Singapore even more amazing after I concluded my recent trip to Malaysia. Singapore was once part of Malaysia, but since Singapore’s separation in 1965, Malaysia has not enjoyed the same growth and prosperity despite its greater land area and bigger population.
Singapore is a crowning jewel in the history of the human civilization because no nation has ever had such a rapid ascension to wealth as Singapore has had and continues to have. Not even warring nations that invaded and conquered other nations and took their land and resources saw this great leap in mean living standards. There are some real mechanism in place that helped Singapore do it, and I’ll briefly touch on some of these mechanisms in this article. Before I do so, I want to share the joy of reading the news and seeing real action and real progress being made because of a government that listens to its people.
In South Africa, the main complaint from almost everyone’s mouth is the government. The ANC has been called out-of-touch with the electorate, and the ANC is blamed for the poor service delivery, poor education system, rampant crime statistics, and other grievances. Furthermore, the ANC can be seen to tap into its revolutionary rhetoric when they are taken to task for their failures and had some accountability demanded of them.
Well enough of that, I will give South Africans just a hint of life under a government that puts its people’s needs first.
When service delivery ceases, heads roll
Nearing the end of 2011 the MRT (Mass Rapid Transport) rail system saw more than a few service delivery failures, train breakdowns, and other issues. Because of the hideous prices of cars in Singapore (mandated to grow at just 1.5% per year), most people, including myself, use the trains and busses. The service disruptions reached a peak and the CEO of the MRT was inquired as to why the trains are breaking down at such a radical rate.
The then CEO, Madam Saw, had to explain the situation to the public and the ministry of transport. She was particularly adamant that she would not resign over the service disruptions and insisted she felt it best to stay and rectify them in time. A long story short, a few weeks later Madam Saw resigned and a new CEO was appointed to take over MRT operations and ensure everything went back to order.
Since then the services have gone back to normal, and the two most used railways will get additional trains to cope with demand.
Case closed, problem solved.
I do not even want to hint at what the South Africa version of this would have looked like…
A government that listens and takes action
The anti-foreigner sentiment (as it is called here in Singapore) reached its peak in 2011 prior to local elections here in Singapore. The PAP (People’s Action Party), which has ruled since Singapore’s separation from Malaysia, had the shock of their life at the polls. Locals made it clear; the government must first serve the people of Singapore. Now this needs a bit of background. Singapore has an uncommonly high level of expats living and working here. This influx of foreign talent has put strain on the younger local populous. There is a mixture of both highly skilled professionals and cheapskate workers in the market. The highly skilled ones take all the power positions, while the cheapskates lower the salary of jobs that graduates would normally start at. In short, Singaporeans got tired of the cheapskates that lower their value in the marketplace, and flood start-up positions in companies the island over.
Again, a long story short, the government saw the sentiment of the people at the polls and rapidly moved to make some changes to meet the needs of the people. They increased the bottom-scale salary requirements for foreigners, making it more expensive for local companies to get foreign workers, and secondly they put a stamp fee of 10% on all freehold property that is bought by foreigners. This stamp fee would discourage foreigners buying prime real estate, thus ensuring locals got a slice of the pie too.
Personally, I have just started looking at property, and I must admit this 10% hike (to be paid in cash) has made me reconsider buying property off the freehold market. But I can appreciate what the government is doing, even if it makes things a tad harder for me in the here and now. Property prices here are ever escalating because the demand outstrips supply, and foreigners with mega cash simply buy up prime real estate to keep as an investment.
These implementations have already had some effect. Fewer foreigners are streaming in, fewer PR (permanent resident) applications are approved, the pay scale for Singaporeans goes up, and the locals have a better chance to get in on the lucrative real estate market here in Singapore.
This endeavor is a WIP no doubt, but there is some good progress from it in just a 6-month span.
Mr. President, we think you earn too much
Just in the last few weeks, a bill has been passed to substantially reduce the salaries drawn by MPs and even the president of Singapore. Going into the intricate details of why this happened is beyond the scope of this article. I simply had the shocking revelation of seeing something that was just being discussed a few weeks ago, become reality. I distinctly recall having though that there is no way this will ever be taken seriously and actually get implemented, but here it is a done deal and already everyone is moving forward, even those who took a serious loss in their monthly income because of this bill being passed.
On and off the topic
If there is one thing that white South Africans fear the most it is a South Africa that has a demographically mirrored economy and landscape. In Singapore, before you get your partly subsidized HDB apartment from the government, you must first pass the race barrier. The distribution of HDB apartments is done in accordance with the race quota and must represent the demographics of the country. In South Africa, nice clean neighbourhoods with good schools are still mostly for the whites. You can cry all you want, but South Africa really does not represent the racial demographic at all. And South Africa will never be rid of the Malema’s and those demanding reparation from you until this issue is addressed. Of course, the ANC can start changing this by helping out the people on the ground with effective and proven programs and initiatives (you know, the ones that every other prosperous nation uses?)
The more you tell people that you will simply provide, the more they depend on you. The education system in South Africa MUST be improved and brought up to international standards. A higher pass rate today means nothing if those who passed cannot even get a job tomorrow because they lack basic literacy. BEE should thus be deconstructed because it demands less from blacks than from whites and thus subjects them to the same discrimination as apartheid did, robbing them of a personal skills and the ability to help themselves prosper. You cannot escape the past by re-enacting it. The ANC should also stop their revolutionary pose to every form of criticism levered against them. Has the ANC not learned ANYTHING from the evils of apartheid?
Pull up your socks South Africa
It is just so natural to look at Singapore and ask, why can South Africa not do the same? Singapore has no mineral wealth; we are dependent on buying energy and materials from other countries to ensure we have enough supply. Scarcity of land is a real problem here, to the extent that Singapore buys sand from other countries to use to extend Singapore’s surface area. Yet it prospers, yet it flourishes through global economic storms, yet it remains safe, clean, and peacefully diverse.
The differences include securing foreign investment and skills, developing skills in its citizens via QUALITY education, adapting an unrelenting work ethic, and getting past their petty differences to try to rise to new heights, together!
To rub it in a bit more, a little over five-million people in Singapore, on a little island with hardly any space, can ensure a higher GDP output than 50-million people can in South Africa, which has ample space, mineral wealth, and sufficient infrastructure to deliver much greater output! Yet some snobs in South Africa give themselves a pat on the back and claim that South Africans have a reputation as hard working people in the rest of the world, or even worse they claim they are the only reason the lights are still on in South Africa! You people really need to get rid of that air of superiority you so defiantly cling to.
The soul of a nation
If there is but one thing I wish South Africans of all races would develop, it is pride in their nation. The proudly South African campaign has failed to incubate the seed of national pride. The pride I talk about can only grow when people come together despite their differences and work towards a better life for everyone. When you feel a sense of unity with your neighbour, instead of being preoccupied with their skin colour, that is the soil in national pride and prosperity grows.
One of the ways in which Singapore brought different groups together is with food, yes food! The food courts are a melting pot of cultures and races and everyone gets to experience a bit about another culture. They sit together and try each other’s cuisine, and in so doing learn a bit more about each other. Once you have a few laughs with someone, you realise you are not very different from each other. The seed is then planted.
In South Africa, the different groups all huddle together at lunchtime. Each group has their own particular spot where they congregate, and people never really sit down and have a few beers with someone they ordinarily would not mix with, due to cultural and racial differences.
Wasted potential
It pains me to know that South Africa has so much potential, yet people waste it by complaining, people waste it by taking and causing offence. It is time that South Africans grow the fuck up, and get over their differences and work together to ensure everyone prospers. If the government will not do it, then it becomes the obligation of the people to do it. So, before you complain, moan, beleaguer other groups in South Africa rather apply that energy in a constructive manner. Who knows, maybe in 30 years South Africa will see the same leap to prosperity in South Africa as can be seen in Singapore.
Conclusion
I would like to assure the everyday South African on the street, you are not that far behind a country like Singapore. You have wealth in the land (space, arable soil, mineral deposits, etc.) that other countries fight wars over to have. You have a 50 million strong population that can all chip in and make things better at EVERY level of society. You are not just another story of a failed African state; you are simply a story that has yet to be written. And it can be such a good story if everyone worked together.
Sadly, most people will not enjoy the perspective that many expats have when they leave South Africa and look at it from the outside. Why do you think China is pushing so hard to make inroads into Africa as a whole? Africa is the next big market boom for companies and consumer products. South Africa is the most developed and stable of all African countries and could easily be in the driving seat of Africa’s upliftment. If Africans and South Africans will not see and acknowledge this potential—and more importantly, make use of it—then other nations will.
I sincerely hope this gets the average South African thinking…
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