Over the last few decades, the world has witnessed the rapid economic successes of the East Asian countries of South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. It has been the topic of discussion for many social sciences with which they give both praises and skepticism1; they commend Singapore in their ability to advance into one of the most technologically driven economies in the world despite being such a poor nation upon independence; many economists are unsure as to how Singapore is going to maintain the growth they have experienced over the last 50 years. The theory of growth that Singapore adopted is one which relies on hard work of the population and where both the market and state have equally strong roles in the government; a mixed economy that advocates free-market policies and practices government intervention. The modern city-state in Southeast Asia, located off the tip of the Malay Peninsula5 with a total land area of only 700 square kilometers2, is home to almost 5 and a half million Singaporeans today.6 It should be kept in mind that Singapore did not start their growth and development journey with the bare minimum, but rather had a unique upbringing. Singapore has been lucky in their growth and development, contrary to the economies of some other developing nations, Singapore did not have the burden of a large subsistence agricultural sector nor did it have any natural resource endowments, a corrupt government, or largely negative colonial impacts that hindered
Singapore’s economic factors is developing at a fast pace as a vibrantly free market economy. Singapore’s per capita income is the highest in ASEAN and are also encouraging new entrepreneurs and franchises to set up their bases here.
In How Asia Works- Success and Failure in the World’s Most Dynamic Region, Joe Studwell explores the East Asian developmental successes of Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and China by challenging the prominent theory of developmental economics. He uses the same theory to examine the lagging behind of Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines. Studwell evaluates the performance of these economies by a recipe he has concocted in which he explains as, “an historical review of east Asian economic development shows that the recipe for success has been as simple as one, two, three: household farming, export-oriented manufacturing, and closely controlled finance that supports these two sectors (Studwell 267).” The first stage requires land reforms
Earth is bigger than what most people think; it consists of 7 continents, 7 seas, and 196 different countries. Taking that into consideration, our earth currently is supporting over 7 billion people worldwide. That is 7 billion people who are different and individuals who share different thoughts, ideas, backgrounds, and cultures. Cultures are very unique as they are different from country to country. Some adopt cultures that society accepts as the norm, while others adopt different types of cultures; cultures that not many people, especially those outside of the country, can see eye to eye and would sometimes find them rather ‘extreme’. When comparing Asian cultures and American cultures side by side, we can easily identify the many differences between the two. For one, Asian cultures are less open, more traditional and conservative in comparison to Americans. While Americans promote liberty, independence, and values individualism; Asian countries, on the other hand, are more fixated in keeping with the custom. Knowing this, it is not surprising to see Asian countries have a more rigid and structured form of society compared to the Western counterparts. The values, business structures and even priorities are different between the two and can easily be distinguished. Singapore is a good example of the contrasting differences and representation of the Asian cultures.
“I believe that the only plausible explanation for the different rates of growth is socialism in Britain, free enterprise and free markets in Hong Kong. Has anybody got a better explanation? I’d be grateful for any suggestions.” Milton Friedman asks us this in his 1998 essay: The Hong Kong Experiment. Milton Friedman was part and founder of a school of economic thinkers called the Chicago School. This group believed strongly in the power of Capitalism, and although there are many definitions for this form of economic policy, Friedman and this paper us the following definition: “the organization of the bulk of economic activity through private enterprise operating in a free market”. Friedman in the aforementioned essay attempts to show us the benefits which a capitalist nation has over a socialist one. He uses, specifically, the case studies of the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, and Israel. Through these examples he postulates that it was Hong Kong’s capitalist policies which allowed it to succeed economically. There is no debating that Hong Kong is something of an economic miracle. The island began as small rock covered with a few fishing villages, and ended up being a world economic power. Friedman, however, makes the error of oversimplifying the situation of Hong Kong in the thesis of his essay. Hong Kong, by its very nature, does not exist in isolation. It is greatly affected by world politics, long history, and its own geography. We must understand Hong Kong’s success as a
It found later that Singapore always had the manpower and money, but needed the extra push of education and capital to make better use of said manpower. In 1994, Alwyn Young published a book called, “The Tyranny of Numbers”. This book focuses on the productivity growth and factor accumulation of newly industrialized countries in East Asia. In the end though, he undermines the future effect these countries will have on the upcoming globalized economy and politics.
It is also easy for many other companies to set up headquarter in Singapore as their starting point in Asia to make it possible to reach to its market point. In addition, Singapore is unique in different lifestyles and culture. It is also known for its capability of attracting sizable foreign investment, pro-business environment and entrepreneurs. Singapore focuses more on a knowledge based economy which can be seen in its education sysem. Furthermore, Singapore is located in the heart of Asia and it plays an important role in international
My research will be based on Political, Economic, and Social Organization of Singapore—an industrialist city-state. Even though Singapore 's history dates from the 11th century, the island was little known to the West until the 19th century. Singapore is one of the World 's largest ports, because the city of Singapore has become a major port, with trade exceeding that of Malaya 's, Malacca and Penang combined. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 and the advent of steamships launched an era of prosperity for Singapore as transit trade expanded throughout Southeast Asia (Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, 2010). Singapore is a very
When the war ended, Singapore reverted to British control, with increasing levels of self-government being granted, culminating in Singapore 's merger with the Federation of Malaya to form Malaysia in 1963. However, social unrest and disputes between Singapore 's ruling People 's Action Party and Malaysia 's Alliance Party resulted in Singapore 's separation from Malaysia. Singapore became an independent republic on 9 August 1965. Facing severe unemployment and a housing crisis, Singapore embarked on a modernization program beginning in the late 1960s through the 1970s that focused on establishing a manufacturing industry, developing large public housing estates and investing heavily on public education. Since independence, Singapore 's economy has grown by an average of nine percent each year. By the 1990s, the country had become one of the world 's most prosperous nations, with a highly developed free market economy, strong international trading links, and the highest per capita gross domestic product in Asia outside of Japan.
Singapore has a highly developed market which has historically revolved around extensive exports trade, in other words an export driven economy hugely dependant on export of goods to other countries.
With foreign manufacturing industry entering Singapore market the manufacturing sector and its share in GDP grew from 16.6% in 1965 to nearly 30 % in 1980 and in 1993 manufacturing contributed to about 28 % of the total GDP and accounted for nearly 28% of employment. Singapore’s GDP raise to 13 times between 1960 and 1999. The nation has shown greatly decrease of figure of poverty. (United Nations 2000)
But that’s not true. In fact, around 3/4th of Singapore’s resources are imported. This has definitely benefited Singapore’s economy but has stirred up some conflicts too; like the Singapore-Malaysia water conflict. Malaysia was a trusted supplier of water to Singapore. But Malaysia started sending threats to Singapore to pressure Singapore. In 2003, around 45% of Singapore’s water was imported from Malaysia. But now Singapore has implemented solutions such as setting up 5 new water tanks and a water barrage to collect
Singapore is a high income economy of GDP $307.9 and $55,150 per capita income as of 2014. According to the World Bank reports Singapore
However, the development of Singapore’s society cannot be predicated on pure economics alone. Even though globalization has enabled Singapore to fare well in economic development, however, termed the perils of success, globalization has brought about undesirable
Singapore is an island that lies just off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula between the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. Its strategic location on major sea lanes has provided the country with an economic importance in Southeast Asia. Singapore is often considered as a base for global enterprises looking to expand into Asia and Asian enterprises looking for global connectivity. Located at the heart of Asia, Singapore is sitting at the centre of business opportunities. Having the four key attributes - Trust, Knowledge, Connected and Life, Singapore is being positioned as an ideal city to Work, Live and Play. Singapore was ranked first in Mercer’s Quality of Living Survey 2009.
The Republic of Singapore celebrated its 42 years of independence in year 2007. Situated at the southern tip of Malaysia, Singapore currently holds a population of 4.68 million as of June 2007. At 704.0km2, it is ranked 4th in the world for its population density. During the past four decades, the economy as measured by real Gross Domestic Product (GDP), multiplied by over 20 times (Ghesquiere, 2007, p.11). As a small and extremely open economy, Singapore long term survival is very much dependent on the ability to maintain its viable position and remain afloat in the sea of global competition (Mun Heng et al, 1998, p.14).