Our Fundamental Vulnerabilities

I had a conversation recently with an old friend over Whatsapp, wherein we discussed issues pertaining to the challenges that Singapore faces.  I was surprised when he commented that the country was in general decline.  The reason for my surprise was not that I didn't know that the country was in decline, but that I didn't expect it to come from him, given, as it were, that he was knee-deep into the property market, having only recently bought a second property in what I consider a topping market.

Be that as it may, the idea of a coming crisis as a conversational topic is not particularly attractive to most Singaporean at this time, a point which I re-validated last week when a friend of mine who shares many of my views introduced me to another person.  After trying for 15 minutes to discuss the fundamental problems facing the country, I found that he was not at all interested, thinking that it was something too remote.

In fact, given that episode last week, I am quite close to giving up altogether trying to get the people I know to think about some of the challenges that I believe will come our way within the next few years.  I had also thought about closing down this blog permanently.

So while I ponder about my next steps in this area, let me list down some of the very basic vulnerabilities that we face, as an antidote to the maddeningly irrelevant issue of whether Feng Tian Wei deserves our praise or otherwise.

The list would include:

• Energy


• Food


• Dependence on foreigners in key areas of the economy


• Dependence on government to take initiative


• Loss of expertise in key technological area, which results in


• Key pieces of national infrastructure being increasingly vulnerable to systemic failure


• Excessive household debt due to overpriced COEs and property

The above is a short list, but it includes factors upon which the entire edifice of Singaporean life is built.

More on these issues in future, perhaps.