Time for Lee Kuan Yew to learn from Deng Xiaoping's Legacy

Singapore has been touted around the world as an economic miracle. Lee Kuan Yew, the CEO and Chief Marketing Officer of the country, has been held up high as a model statesman of the island state and Asian Economic Tiger. The PAP government likes to boast about how Chinese officials come to Singapore to learn from the ruling party about how to run a nation. Lee Kuan Yew was not afraid to boast about Chinese officials wanting to run their country the way Singapore does [link].

Yet, Lee knew that China would soon rise to the world stage and surpass what little Singapore could ever accomplish. Instead of China learning from Singapore, Singapore would be learning from China. The elder Lee once said to Deng Xiaoping [link],

‘Whatever we can do, you will do better. We are the descendants of the landless peasants of South China, you have the literati, you have the top brains, you have the poets, the artists.’

Indeed, the time has come for Singapore's political elite to take a page out of China's economic leadership.

The Chinese Communist party has released its latest five year economic blueprint for the country. The latest five year plan marks a significant shift in the emphasis of objectives, away from the rate of gdp growth, to the quality of growth, as well as the welfare of the people. Social objectives are now to displace economic objectives as a priority in policy.

The mandarin article appended to this blog post describes how one of the top priorities of the new five year plan is to improve the living standards of its people and their quality of life. Priority is shifting away from pure gdp growth numbers to lifting personal incomes and delivering 'all-rounded' peace and prosperity for the country's citizens.

The PAP needs to listen well and listen hard, and emulate the Chinese change in policy objectives. For too long, the PAP has had a single-minded focus on growing raw gdp, without focusing on the quality of life for its people. Despite the sharp jump in gdp this year, a large swath of Singapore society is not benefiting from this growth. Instead, many Singaporeans' incomes remain stagnant. Meanwhile, the cost of living has grown, due to skyrocketing housing prices and general inflation across the board. The net impact of this is that the quality of life for many Singaporeans has fallen.

Meanwhile, the country continues to lure the uber rich to its shores, exacerbating an income inequality that already is the highest in the developed world. [see Lucky Tan]. The influx of cheap foreign labour into the country depresses wages for many and is causing anger and social unrest amongst the people. Singapore's social fabric is beginning to slowly unravel, and if measures are not taken to address these issues soon, the country is headed for some serious problems.

Lee Kuan Yew once declared that the "Chinese want better lives". He should heed his own advice to the Chinese and deliver this to his own people. Singaporeans want better lives - and the current generation of the PAP's 'scholar elite' has not delivered this. Indeed, many Singaporeans are now effectively worse off compared to their situation ten years ago.

Although Deng Xiaoping passed away more than a decade ago, the legacy he has left will change the world in the 21st century. Lee Kuan Yew would do well to take a page out of the quiet Chinese wisdom, before he breathes his final breath.

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中国未来5年发展基调 保经济平稳增长与保民生并重

中共十七届五中全会昨日闭幕，为未来5年中国的发展定下了基调。「十二五」规划明确提出保经济平稳增长与保民生并重，指出，国富亦要民强，要提高居民收入在国民收入分配中的比重，健全覆盖城乡居民的社会保障体系，明确扩大内需为中国经济发展长期战略，以及经济结构调整要有重大突破。专家认为这表明中国政府在未来5年的规划中将淡化经济目标，转而强调社会目标，强调增长和分享的平衡。

值得注意的是，此前的多次会议主要提出 「经济增长方式」的转变，而是次会议提出要加快「经济发展方式转变」。专家表示，从「增长方式的转变」到「发展方式的转变」，不仅仅是字面的改变。

国家信息中心一位不愿透露姓名的专家认为，「十二五」规划本来就是个民生规划，这是跟过去历次规划不同的地方，也是中国战略规划的历史转型，过去更加重视发展，更加重视速度，现在是更加注重民生，更加注重质量。

中国社会科学院宏观经济研究室主任张晓晶表示，从全会公报来看，经济目标确实被淡化，而社会目标被提到重要位置。改革开放三十年来，中国经济发展势头良好，年均国内生产总值(GDP)增长率接近10%，但过分强调效率、过分重视 GDP 增长也带来许多负面问题，主要表现为增长和分享的不平衡。张晓晶表示「十二五」规划作为对过去传统发展方式的一种反思，就是要用更多的社会性目标来约束和考核各级政府。

有专家分析，「十二五」规划淡化经济目标，强调社会目标，其中一个原因可能来自实现全面小康的压力。

中国财政部财科所教授孙钢也表示，中国每次制订的五年规划方向策略都很明确，但更重要的是要有能落到实处，具备可操作性的政策跟进，以确保政策目标的实现，尤其是改革涉及到利益格局的重新划分，难度会更大。

分析指出，鉴于目前世界各国尚没有完全走出金融危机的阴影，外部需求将持续不振。在经济发展方面，全会提出，要坚持扩大内需战略，建立扩大消费需求的长效机制，加快形成消费、投资、出口协调拉动经济增长新局面。而通过收入分配改革等一系列举措来实现居民增收是扩大内需的一个重要前提。民生与发展，是「十二五」规划中两大关键点，二者互促互荣，才能有助于实现全面小康的目标。

北京大学经济学院平新乔表示，中国一直强调扩大内需，最迫切的应该是弥补社会保障的不足，除加大财政投入外，还应从制度上完善，这才是真正的扩大内需。他建议未来数十年中国应明确建立福利社会的思路，才能更加完善社会保障体系。