Spam 2...the next thousand pages....

[Nate]

what am i doing there? i dont drink! *gets drunk by accident because i swallowed alot of wine while trying to open the lid*

[Lazarus]

Now you are under the table, stewed to the gills.
And then Nate's parents walked in... 8O

[Nate]

im sorry! *bangs my head on the table*

[DarthDapor]

Maybe he's inside that bomb over there...

[USoldier_Gal]

never sucked my finger for some reason ......
But i know nates secret ! mUhahah !
I Give him a big spanky if he tells

[IceMedic]

Is it a good secret?

[fingolfin]

The world series is over.

[DarthDapor]

8O WOW!!!!!!!!!!!! 8O I never knew Nate could keep such a big secret!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 8O

[USoldier_Gal]

I bet elvis is hiding a secret in his hair ....................

[Nate]

my secret is great

[fingolfin]

I know that many of you are anxious about our economic situation.

It is not just adult Singaporeans. Our young also seem to be worried. In May this year, The Straits Times reported on a dialogue session with junior college, polytechnic and university students. More than three-quarters of the students expressed pessimism about Singapore's future.

They were concerned how Singapore would fare against giant economies like China and Russia, and whether one day, Indonesia and Malaysia would overtake us. They wondered how many Singaporeans would run off to other countries to enjoy cheaper cars and bigger houses.

I too, worry about these things.

However, unlike the students, I am not pessimistic. The benign global climate of the early 90s may have turned less hospitable. But the future is what we make of it.

Our elders faced an even more dire situation in 1965 when we separated from Malaysia. Ask your parents about life in Singapore then. It was worrying and tough, and I say it from personal experience. I lived in a house without electricity or modern sanitation, until my family moved into a 3-room HDB flat. But our elders fought their way up, and built the life we now have.

Today, it is the turn of our young to be tested. This baptism of fire will temper your generation. From your performance in National Service and the workplace, and the way you take to sports, I am confident that you have what it takes to secure your place under the sun.

Remember, we now have more human resources. We have a better educated people, all working in the English language, with higher professional, management and organisational expertise, and technological skills. We also have more material assets, world-class infrastructure, and stronger foreign reserves. This means you have more to lose. But it also means you have more to fight with, and win.

If you do not doubt yourselves, you will prove those worried students wrong. You will overcome the challenges that come your way.

Growing Economic Competition

A key challenge will be to meet the growing economic competition. With globalisation, more players have entered the economic arena.

For instance, China has already joined the WTO. Russia will join soon.

Many former Soviet allies in Central and Eastern Europe have also joined the WTO. They have many skilled workers and engineers. Their wages are low, about a third of Singapore's. They are able to produce and sell their products at a fraction of our cost. In time, the quality of their products will also rival ours.

So you see, the highway to the market is getting congested. In the 90s, there were few cars on this highway. Singapore could speed along in our modest 1600cc car. Now, there are many vehicles on the highway - trucks, cars, vans, motorcycles, Volvos, Mercedes Benz, Toyotas, Hyundais. Even if you drive a Ferrari, you cannot zoom around anymore. Everyone is fighting for space. They should have introduced ERP!

The Regional Challenge

Nearer home, our neighbours are building up their airports and seaports, our traditional speciality. Malaysia, for example, has announced that it wants to be a transportation hub.

A foreign diplomat who knows the Malaysian leaders advised me that Malaysia was intent on poaching such business from Singapore. A Johor businessman told our High Commission in KL that Malaysia would build up Johor to compete head-on with Singapore. Money, he said, was no object.

PSA lost shipping line Maersk to Malaysia's Port of Tanjung Pelepas two years ago, because Pelepas made Maersk an offer it could not refuse. This year, PSA lost Evergreen. Evergreen was offered non-port incentives, in addition to very low container handling rates.

Lim Swee Say saw a silver lining in the loss of these two shipping lines to Pelepas. He said that grassroots leaders finally understood the meaning of competition.

We welcome competition.

And we will compete. We will create new strategies. We cannot be locked in old thinking, and continue frozen in the model of yester-year. However successful this old model was, in the changed world, it will not bring us to greater heights.

PSA understands this. It is not taking the loss of the two shipping lines lying down. It is fighting back. And it has the resources, skills and experience to develop new ways to anchor and attract shipping lines to Singapore. It will do whatever is needed to maintain its position as the premier transhipment hub of our region.

PSA will succeed. It has already achieved some results. Korean shipping line Hanjin has opted to stay in Singapore, although Pelepas made a determined bid for it. In the first half of this year, PSA's throughput grew by 9 percent, as compared to a decline of 9 percent last year. For a port the size of PSA, and one facing keen competition, this is a good performance.

Moreover, PSA's investments in the existing 37 berths are sunk costs. And the Government has set aside land for 20 additional berths at Pasir Panjang, for whoever can best run the berths, be it PSA, Jurong Port, other port operators or shipping lines. We are open to all options that will enhance the competitiveness of shipping lines hubbing in Singapore.

There is further good news: PSA is among several ports working with the US on its Container Security Initiative (CSI). Containers from CSI ports will enjoy quick, "green lane" clearance through US customs. Given America’s grave concern over the smuggling of terrorists and weapons in containers, the CSI will enhance the competitiveness of our transhipment port.

We have always been able to meet the competition from Hong Kong, Kaoshiung and other big and well-managed ports in the region. We will work smarter, and stay in the game.

Rising Dragon

Our bigger challenge is from the rising dragon.

It is not just Singapore which has to adjust to China's entry into the global marketplace. Hong Kong is even more worried. The Washington Post reported in June that five years after the return of Hong Kong to China, the main source of distress in Hong Kong was "not communism, but rather, too much capitalist competition (from China)".

In the 60s and 70s, thousands of Chinese crossed the border in search of a better life in Hong Kong. These days, Hong Kong's businessmen are headed in the opposite direction in search of profits. Even feng shui experts in Hong Kong are rearranging their furniture to improve their luck. They, too, have to ward off competition from China!

China's transformation has indeed been spectacular. Singapore moved from Third World to First in 30 years. The whole of China cannot make it in 30 years. It is a huge country with a large rural base.

But Beijing, Shanghai and the big coastal cities can become First World in 30 years. They have already changed beyond recognition. It is not just the miles and miles of highway, the tall office buildings and the modern factories, but also the people's mindset. I first went to China in 1971. When we left tips on the table, the waiters ran after us to return the tips. Today, every Chinese wants to get rich. They are eager to learn, and they learn fast.

Tan Kin Lian of NTUC Income went to Shanghai recently to sell them insurance know-how. He got a shock. Instead of buying from him, the Chinese offered him computer software for managing his insurance business! The product was good, and he bought it.

So how should we respond to the China challenge?

My response is: see China as an opportunity, not a threat. If we view China as a threat, we will be immobilised by fear. But if we see it as an opportunity, we will come up with creative ideas to ride on China's growth.

We have built up a good relationship with China. In the early years, we shared our developmental experience with China. Even today, hundreds of Chinese officials visit Singapore every year, on study or training visits. In turn, we hope to benefit from China's growth - not only Chinese Singaporeans, but also Malay, Indian and other Singaporeans.

For example, China's growing middle class, expected to reach 400 million by 2010, will travel widely. We now receive half a million Chinese tourists every year. We will make it easier for Chinese nationals to visit Singapore.

Also, China has stepped up its "Venturing Out Policy". The stock of China's outward investments is now more than US$27 billion, up from almost nothing just 25 years ago. We should try to get a fair share of these investments.

Some Chinese companies are using Singapore to reach out to our region. One company uses Singapore to re-export its sewing machines to India. Another uses Singapore to sell washing machines, air-conditioners and motorcycles to ASEAN. Singapore businessmen should position themselves to partner such Chinese companies as they go overseas.

But to be able to take full advantage of these opportunities, Singaporeans should be proficient in Chinese. Already, some 25 million people outside China are learning Chinese, motivated by the enormous economic opportunities.

Our bilingual policy has given us an advantage which we should not lose. If we neglect the Chinese language, while others are picking it up, very soon, we will have no edge over them in doing business with China. I have therefore asked Teo Chee Hean to re-examine how we can improve the teaching of Chinese, and develop a core group of bilingual Chinese elite who understand China's culture, history and contemporary developments. This will help Singaporeans when they do business with China.

Indeed, a Chinese tour guide expects more Singaporeans to work and live in China in future. One evening, he took a Singapore tour group to see the Suzhou Industrial Park. My brother-in-law was in the group. The tour guide told the Singapore tourists,

"This Park was built by your government. Look around you. Who knows? One day, your children and grandchildren may settle here!"

Whether they do or not, more of our students, especially scholarship holders, should be sent to study in the top universities in China. This will allow them to network with future Chinese leaders, officials and businessmen.

That is why Vice President Hu Jintao and I agreed on an exchange programme for bright university students. The first group of 50 Singapore students will visit China in June next year. The first group of 50 PRC students from top Chinese universities will come to Singapore two months later. This exchange programme could include dialogues with Ministers and senior civil servants, and visits to government agencies and industries.

If we are proficient in English and Chinese, if we understand China as well as we understand the West, we will be in a strong position to benefit from China’s growth.

[DarthDapor]

-_^ What does this hov to do with Nate's secret again?

[ChickenSoup]

fin, to be honest, i hardly even skimmed through that...

[DarthDapor]

*hides behind Chicken Soup*
Uhhh Yeah! What he said!

[myunearnedfavor]

im lost in this jumble of spammy spam spam!