Among Asia's proverbial 'four little tigers' of the 1980s, Hong Kong remains the odd one out, still living in non-comprehending neglect of the power of technology. The city's puny size is no excuse for this staggering oversight; Singapore is smaller geographically and in population. Yet, determined to succeed, it has pulled out all the stops to lure technologically advanced multinationals and top-notch scientists.
Legislator Regina Ip, SMP, April 18
Let me tell you about that Singapore hi-tech effort, Regina. If you look at the first chart at the bottom here, you will notice that the technology sector on the Singapore stock market underperformed the rest of the market by almost 80 per cent between 2003 and 2008.
It brings to mind a pop song that I remember from the 1960s. The opening lines go, 'Tee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-wipeout'.
But I suppose you can point to the right-hand side of that chart and say this shows evidence of recovery. It is certainly what the Singapore government's Economic Development Board bills as 'Singapore's dynamic electronics industry is poised for further development'.
Fortunately for Singaporeans, it is only the Singapore government that believes it. As the second chart shows, the local share of investment commitments in manufacturing sank to less than 10 per cent of the total in 2007. The running was all foreign. The Singapore government then realised it had to something about these embarrassing statistics. It stopped publishing them.
It's curious how Singaporean bureaucrats seem to think they are in charge of a creche of pre-schoolers who need to be told what to do every minute of the day, when it is really those bureaucrats themselves who don't know where they are or what they are doing. Ordinary Singaporeans are not so stupid as to sink their money into technology. Only their government does that. Look up the sad history of Chartered Semiconductor some day. Ouch.