Lee Kuan Yew: Singapore To Be Among Top First World Nations.

Singapore, which according to Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, currently sits in the lower half of the First World nations -- is ready to move into the upper half in the next 10 to 20 years.

To do that, he said, Singapore must continue to grow and transform its landscape by incorporating the best features of big cities in a tropical version and make Singapore a great place to live and to bring up children which in turn would attract investments from most advanced countries.

"You must have a lively, vibrant city. If you go to London, or you go to New York, you see it humming day and night. Well, we're starting on that route," he said in a Channel NewsAsia report.

Lee said Singapore had revamped itself to become a clean and green city. The next step would be to make it "a vibrant city with gardens and water everywhere. There will be clean running water, greenery and broadwalks for people and children to enjoy these streams and ponds -- fishing, boating or dining al fresco," The Straits Times quoted him as saying at a Lunar New Year dinner in his Tanjong Pagar Group Representation Constituency (GRC) last night.

"This will be done in your lifetime," Lee said.

Besides attracting investors, Lee, the architect of modern Singapore, said the island state must also continue to attract foreign talents, whom he described as the extra "megabytes" needed for Singapore's expansion. "It is in our interest to make them feel welcomed, and to integrate them into our community, because they are the extra megabytes in our computer.

"The Singaporeans form the hard disk whether it's five-gigabyte or whatever, you need this extra megabyte to be able to cope with all the expansion which we are now experiencing," he said.

Singapore recently projected a population growth of 6.5 million within the next 20 years from 4.5 million at the moment, of which foreign talents are expected to contribute significantly to the growth. (Bernama)

***** How interesting it is to read about the path an enlightened and optimistic country, not saddled with colonial garbage and neoracist beliefs and practices, is taking. Comparing them with us is an exercise in futility. While Singapore is aspiring to be among the upper crust of the First World, we are still steadfastly holding on to outdated philosophies and policies and contentedly slithering in the depths of mediocrity and happily shouting "Malaysia Boleh!" No wonder the Singaporeans look down on us. Can you blame them?
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