谁素病人（夫）？

NewFuture

http://statestimesreview.com/201 ... e-sick-man-of-asia/


Singapore is indeed the sick man of Asia


This article is written in response to Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ ambassador-at-large Professor Tommy Koh, you may read his original post on state media Straits Times here.

It is a bitter fact, and a particular ego-bruising one for the gang of leaders who pay themselves the highest political salaries in the world: Singapore is indeed the sick man of Asia.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ ambassador-at-large Professor Tommy Koh’s piece itself is a blatant proof why so. Singaporeans today can no longer deny that the present state of affairs under the present leadership is a bar below the former administration under past Prime Ministers. However, when Singaporeans or foreigners, or independent economists commented negatively on the prospects of Singapore as in Prof Tommy Koh’s response, the present leadership is quick to mount a defensive position and hit back at the criticisms.

Such knee-jerk responses would have been given the benefit of the doubt had the response been backed with facts and constructive reasoning, but the government response fell victim to its own propaganda. Take Professor Tommy Koh’s article on Straits Times, he particularly chose the state media platform because his work would have been trashed on the first read by any self-respecting editor – not so for the 154th ranking in credibility Straits Times.

In his article, Professor Tommy Koh misled readers by framing the definition of the title “sick man of Asia”, with 4 questions he came out with.

1) What is the current state of the economy?
The former lawyer side-stepped recent economic developments and ignored the fact that Singapore is the only country to post a negative GDP growth in the latest quarterly report. Instead, Professor Tommy Koh used lopsided government statistics like Singapore’s per capita GDP when the country has an income inequality worse than all OECD nations except Chile. The civil servant said that Singapore’s per capita GDP is at S$72,711 – the highest in Asia – but this information is useless in revealing the actual state of wealth in Singapore especially when purchasing powers in Singapore is ranked lower than Kuala Lumpur according to a Mercer International wealth survey.

2) Is Singapore the worst-performing economy in Asia?

Professor Tommy Koh claimed that Taiwan is the worst-performing Asian country because their projected growth for 2016 is 1.1% (this is a factual mistake, Taiwan has raised its outlook to 1.73%). Singapore taking the second-worst spot isn’t anywhere comforting, and only acknowledge the fact that Singapore is performing below par.

3) Are the problems cyclical or structural?
As expected, Professor Tommy Koh claimed that “world trade is weak” – a often-repeated “excuse” recycled many times in Singapore history whenever the domestic economy is not doing well. Apparently, “world trade is weak” only for Singapore while the other economies are still registering positive growth and more notably, Malaysia, has attracted tens of billions of foreign direct investments from China. Neighbouring countries are doing well, so why isn’t Singapore catching up? The professor failed to see that Singapore’s structural problem lies in its manner of international diplomacy.

China-Singapore ties is at rock bottom because the Singapore Prime Minister imposed his “rule of law” view on its top trading partner. Multi-national companies and manufacturing plants are also relocating because Singapore’s infrastructures have stagnated and that neighbouring countries have caught up with development and infrastructure comparable with the island state. The economic problems of Singapore are heavily reliant on sound and warm diplomacy with major trading partners like China, US and Malaysia.

4) Pessimism or optimism?
In his response, Professor Tommy Koh actually fell victim to his government’s own propaganda. “Corruption-free”, “world class”, “easy to do business”, “smart nation” blah blah blah and nothing constructive came out. No facts, no figures. The professor is a blind man led by the blind and leading his blind followers. Singapore’s leadership is exactly in such state and the failing economy is only a by-product.

Economic performance aside, Singapore has also proven itself indeed a “sick man” when a 17-year-old teenager has to resort to asylum seeking, or when the government leaders pays itself the highest salaries in the world, or when the ruling party government can re-write the Constitution to fix elections, and there is no one in Singapore voicing out the injustice. The country remains third world when it comes to politics, culture and its “software” and “heartware”.

NewFuture

新加坡确实是亚洲的病人


这篇文章是响应外交部大使汤美美教授的，你可以阅读他在国家媒体海峡时报的这篇文章。

这是一个令人痛心的事实，是一个为自己支付世界上最高政治薪水的领导人团伙特别自负的事实：新加坡确实是亚洲的病人。

外交部驻华大使汤姆·科博士的作品本身就是一个明显的证明为什么这样。今天的新加坡人不能否认，目前领导下的目前状况比过去总理的前政府低。然而，当新加坡人或外国人，或独立经济学家对新加坡的前景作出评论，如汤米柯教授的回应，目前的领导是迅速建立一个防御位置和击退批评。

如果回应得到事实和建设性推理的支持，这种膝盖反应将被怀疑的好处，但政府的反应成为自己的宣传的受害者。以Tommy Koh教授的“海峡时报”文章为例，他特别选择了国家媒体平台，因为他的作品会被任何自我尊重的编辑第一次阅读 - 而不是在信誉“海峡时报”的第154位。

在他的文章中，汤米教授误解了读者的定义，标题“亚洲病人”的定义，有4个问题，他出来了。

1）经济的现状是什么？
前律师侧面介绍了最近的经济发展，忽视了新加坡是唯一一个在最新季度报告中公布GDP负增长的国家。相反，Tommy Koh教授使用不平等的政府统计数据，如新加坡的人均GDP，当该国的收入不平等比所有经合组织国家（智利除外）差。公务员说，新加坡的人均国内生产总值是72,711新元 - 是亚洲最高的，但这些信息对于揭示新加坡的实际财富状况是没有用的，特别是当购买力在新加坡的排名低于吉隆坡时，根据美世国际财富调查。

2）新加坡是亚洲表现最差的经济体吗？

Tommy Koh教授声称，台湾是表现最差的亚洲国家，因为2016年的预期增长为1.1％（这是一个事实错误，台湾已经将其前景提高到1.73％）。新加坡是第二差的地方，并不是在安慰，只有承认的事实，新加坡的表现低于标准。

3）问题是周期性的还是结构性的？
正如预期的那样，Tommy Koh教授声称“世界贸易薄弱” - 一个经常重复的“借口”在新加坡历史上多次回收，当国内经济表现不佳时。显然，“世界贸易薄弱”只是对新加坡，而其他经济体仍然呈现正增长，更值得注意的是，马来西亚吸引了来自中国的数百亿外国直接投资。相邻国家做得很好，为什么新加坡不赶上呢？教授没有看到新加坡的结构性问题在于其国际外交的方式。

中新关系陷入僵局，因为新加坡总理对其最高贸易伙伴强加了“法治”观点。跨国公司和制造工厂也搬迁，因为新加坡的基础设施停滞不前，邻国已经赶上了与岛国相媲美的发展和基础设施。新加坡的经济问题严重依赖于与中国，美国和马来西亚等主要贸易伙伴的良好和温暖的外交。

4）悲观或乐观主义？
在他的回应中，Tommy Koh教授实际上成为他政府自己的宣传的受害者。 “无腐败”，“世界级”，“易于做生意”，“聪明国家”blah blah blah和noth

ohia2016

小病是福