Monday, March 01, 2004
Wow, 2 straight weeks stuck in camp, and here I am, sitting back at this keyboard, as if nothing's changed. Should anything have? Well, granted, I have a lot to say on my period of self-isolation, but in the interests of getting enough sleep for the long week ahead (these weekends go by so fast), or at least, tomorrow, it'll have to wait till next weekend. In the meantime, you'll have to contend with this interesting article I found some time ago. Considering the date it was written, one wonders if much has changed since then. And hey, has it been for the better? :)
Singapore's Habits Are Found to Stall Innovation
Michael Richardson International Herald Tribune
Saturday, March 24, 2001
Crucial Role of Entrepreneurs Is Recognized
SINGAPORE By many measures, Singapore is one of the most globalized and Internet-ready countries in the world. The country has one of the highest per capita rates of personal computer and mobile phone ownership. Nearly half of the population uses the Internet. Many government services are available online. All schools, libraries and community centers - and nearly all homes - are linked to a high-speed fiber-optic cable network. This wiring of Singapore began in 1980 but has intensified in recent years as the government moved to broaden the base of the economy from traditional manufacturing to high-technology business and professional services and research, especially in life sciences, engineering, chemicals and communications.
That shift, which came in response to tougher competition for investment and exports from lower-cost countries, has become even more urgent in the global slowdown.
Yet although Singapore has achieved high standards with its information technology infrastructure, as well as in supporting policies and regulations, actual usage rates in key areas lag behind those of other Asian-Pacific countries.
For example, a recent survey of seven leading regional economies by A.C. Nielsen eRatings.com showed that while Singapore had the second-highest percentage of households with Internet access via a home PC - 48.4 percent, compared with 49.5 percent in Hong Kong - it ranked last in terms of the time Internet users spent online per month.
More worrisome for the government is that Singapore is not producing the kind of entrepreneurial capitalism the country is seeking.
The government has sponsored research and innovation centers, forged links with Silicon Valley, set up a fund worth 1 billion Singapore dollars ($565 million) to foster entrepreneurship in the technology sector, liberalized telecommunications and other key sectors of the economy to spur competition, and encouraged immigration to enlarge the country's talent pool.
But despite these efforts, a study published in January showed that Singapore ranked near the bottom in getting people to create business ventures. The study was conducted by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, a joint research venture by the London Business School and Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts. It was partly financed by the Singapore government's National Science and Technology Board.
With only 2.1 percent of adults involved in entrepreneurial activity, Singapore ranked 19th among the 21 nations in the survey. Brazil ranked first, with 16 percent involvement, followed by South Korea (14 percent) and the United States (13 percent).
The survey found that among the things hindering Singapore were "fear of failure and an associated preference for stable, corporate employment." Analysts say Singapore's paternalistic government, its conformist political culture and an education system that puts too little emphasis on independent thought and creativity had combined to stifle innovation.
"The hard truth is that Singapore has cultivated a generation of followers rather than a generation of innovators," said Patrick Lambe, head of Knowledge Platform, a consultancy that specializes in electronic learning. "That's fine for massive, concerted, centrally directed growth. But at a time of rapid change and the need for multiple and continuous innovation across an entire economy, the supply of entrepreneurs is suddenly, painfully short."
Aware of its educational shortcomings, Singapore is changing school programs and teaching in an effort to get students to think and be more creative.
"Our children must leave schools with skills beyond acquiring knowledge from textbooks and passing examinations," Singapore's prime minister, Goh Chok Tong, has said. "They will have to be more adventurous, outward-looking, open to new ideas, and quick to seize opportunities."
But Mr. Lambe said the Singaporean Education Ministry faced immense challenges in changing a system "geared toward conformity and packaged knowledge, and orienting it toward experimentation, innovation and the handling of new risk."
Sim Wong Hoo, chairman of Creative Technology Ltd., a leading international designer and manufacturer of digital entertainment products, said it was unrealistic to expect middle-aged managers brought up in the Singapore education system to become innovative if they were not creative already.
"We Singaporeans are too careful, too rule-based, and when we have no rules, we are paralyzed," said Mr. Sim, who also heads a private-sector committee that promotes technology-based entrepreneurship.
James Gomez, an Internet political activist and writer in Singapore, said pervasive government controls had made people "prefer to err on the side of caution."
Other analysts said that in a society that equates achievement with academic results and where budget surpluses, high savings rates and prudence are important, citizens have been conditioned to avoid risk.
The U.S. Embassy said in a report on Singapore's plans to develop a knowledge-based economy that the very effectiveness of the government - which has won every general election since 1959 - had reduced the propensity of Singaporeans to anticipate new challenges and fend for themselves.
Government-linked companies in Singapore - including Singapore Airlines Ltd., DBS Bank Ltd., Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. and Keppel Corp. - account for about 60 percent of gross domestic product. They have been frequently criticized for crowding out the home-grown private sector.
The U.S. Embassy's report, issued in June, noted that many of these companies were listed on the stock exchange and were generally well run, efficient and profitable. But the report added that there were "virtually no local private-sector entrepreneurs with sufficient resources, interest and expertise to take over or make substantial investments in the major" government-linked companies.
Singapore's Habits Are Found to Stall Innovation
Michael Richardson International Herald Tribune
Saturday, March 24, 2001
Crucial Role of Entrepreneurs Is Recognized
SINGAPORE By many measures, Singapore is one of the most globalized and Internet-ready countries in the world. The country has one of the highest per capita rates of personal computer and mobile phone ownership. Nearly half of the population uses the Internet. Many government services are available online. All schools, libraries and community centers - and nearly all homes - are linked to a high-speed fiber-optic cable network. This wiring of Singapore began in 1980 but has intensified in recent years as the government moved to broaden the base of the economy from traditional manufacturing to high-technology business and professional services and research, especially in life sciences, engineering, chemicals and communications.
That shift, which came in response to tougher competition for investment and exports from lower-cost countries, has become even more urgent in the global slowdown.
Yet although Singapore has achieved high standards with its information technology infrastructure, as well as in supporting policies and regulations, actual usage rates in key areas lag behind those of other Asian-Pacific countries.
For example, a recent survey of seven leading regional economies by A.C. Nielsen eRatings.com showed that while Singapore had the second-highest percentage of households with Internet access via a home PC - 48.4 percent, compared with 49.5 percent in Hong Kong - it ranked last in terms of the time Internet users spent online per month.
More worrisome for the government is that Singapore is not producing the kind of entrepreneurial capitalism the country is seeking.
The government has sponsored research and innovation centers, forged links with Silicon Valley, set up a fund worth 1 billion Singapore dollars ($565 million) to foster entrepreneurship in the technology sector, liberalized telecommunications and other key sectors of the economy to spur competition, and encouraged immigration to enlarge the country's talent pool.
But despite these efforts, a study published in January showed that Singapore ranked near the bottom in getting people to create business ventures. The study was conducted by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, a joint research venture by the London Business School and Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts. It was partly financed by the Singapore government's National Science and Technology Board.
With only 2.1 percent of adults involved in entrepreneurial activity, Singapore ranked 19th among the 21 nations in the survey. Brazil ranked first, with 16 percent involvement, followed by South Korea (14 percent) and the United States (13 percent).
The survey found that among the things hindering Singapore were "fear of failure and an associated preference for stable, corporate employment." Analysts say Singapore's paternalistic government, its conformist political culture and an education system that puts too little emphasis on independent thought and creativity had combined to stifle innovation.
"The hard truth is that Singapore has cultivated a generation of followers rather than a generation of innovators," said Patrick Lambe, head of Knowledge Platform, a consultancy that specializes in electronic learning. "That's fine for massive, concerted, centrally directed growth. But at a time of rapid change and the need for multiple and continuous innovation across an entire economy, the supply of entrepreneurs is suddenly, painfully short."
Aware of its educational shortcomings, Singapore is changing school programs and teaching in an effort to get students to think and be more creative.
"Our children must leave schools with skills beyond acquiring knowledge from textbooks and passing examinations," Singapore's prime minister, Goh Chok Tong, has said. "They will have to be more adventurous, outward-looking, open to new ideas, and quick to seize opportunities."
But Mr. Lambe said the Singaporean Education Ministry faced immense challenges in changing a system "geared toward conformity and packaged knowledge, and orienting it toward experimentation, innovation and the handling of new risk."
Sim Wong Hoo, chairman of Creative Technology Ltd., a leading international designer and manufacturer of digital entertainment products, said it was unrealistic to expect middle-aged managers brought up in the Singapore education system to become innovative if they were not creative already.
"We Singaporeans are too careful, too rule-based, and when we have no rules, we are paralyzed," said Mr. Sim, who also heads a private-sector committee that promotes technology-based entrepreneurship.
James Gomez, an Internet political activist and writer in Singapore, said pervasive government controls had made people "prefer to err on the side of caution."
Other analysts said that in a society that equates achievement with academic results and where budget surpluses, high savings rates and prudence are important, citizens have been conditioned to avoid risk.
The U.S. Embassy said in a report on Singapore's plans to develop a knowledge-based economy that the very effectiveness of the government - which has won every general election since 1959 - had reduced the propensity of Singaporeans to anticipate new challenges and fend for themselves.
Government-linked companies in Singapore - including Singapore Airlines Ltd., DBS Bank Ltd., Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. and Keppel Corp. - account for about 60 percent of gross domestic product. They have been frequently criticized for crowding out the home-grown private sector.
The U.S. Embassy's report, issued in June, noted that many of these companies were listed on the stock exchange and were generally well run, efficient and profitable. But the report added that there were "virtually no local private-sector entrepreneurs with sufficient resources, interest and expertise to take over or make substantial investments in the major" government-linked companies.
