Are we ready to be the next Singapore?

You may have been to Singapore and if you haven't been there yet or haven't visited this small country for a long time, maybe you should include Singapore in your next trip not only to indulge its gastronomic side, but also as a point of consideration and interest on the cerebral side. Call me a joy killer, but I spent most of my free time there last week musing over its prosperity and the seemingly endless opportunity that sizzles within. In fact, while we were treated with unli-rides at Universal Studios (thank you Apple One Properties for sponsoring this free trip), I was immersed in the idea if we could be like Singapore someday if only to afford the Filipino children the same recreation and entertainment that affluent countries have.

I am fascinated with the fact that for a country that's so hard to point on the map (just nearly a quarter of Cebu's total land area) has managed to become one of the wealthiest nations in the world with barely enough real estate to house its own people; a country that cannot produce its own food nor the natural resources to run its industries. Yet, as Wikipedia puts it, Singapore is the world's fourth largest financial center and one of the five busiest ports in the world. I can also say that it is also among the most visited places despite the fact that it has too little to tell in terms of history (having acquired its independence some fifty years ago), and in terms of natural wonders. In other words, a young nation as Singapore was able to do so much for so little of what she has.

We used to say that we're better off than Singapore having been the most prosperous in Asia next to Japan sometime in the sixties until all of a sudden we were already at the brink of collapse decades later. So what really went wrong? Well, blame it on Marcos. It's so easy to pour all the blame on him not knowing that we were also partly to blame because we didn't kick Marcos soon enough to keep him from plundering further the country’s treasury. It took us twenty thorny years to realize and do something about it that we could no longer hold what was to become our economic ruin. You may disagree with me, but we have this common Filipino habit of fixing a problem when it's already too difficult to handle. 

I don’t believe also that we are a nation of undisciplined people. Filipinos are probably the most behaved whenever you see them in other places of the world. I think it has something to do with our attitude towards our country. We don’t care enough for own troubles. We don’t care telling our neighbour to dispose of their garbage properly. We don’t care telling a fellow pedestrian to use the pedestrian lane when crossing the street or advice a jeepney driver to pick or disembark passengers at designated stops. What makes Singapore so orderly is not really the rules or the fines to be meted out for offenders, it is really because they feel it’s just the right thing to do. It’s the collective psyche of doing the right thing makes them prosperous – something that is lacking in the Filipino consciousness. 

But all is not lost for the Philippines. We have all the reasons to be hopeful because we have the pointers to become like Singapore. And we owe it to the present administration for paving and initiating the “matuwid na daan” even if at times we do not agree with P-Noy on other issues.  It may take a long while for the matuwid na daan to change the national consciousness. But we are already seeing signs that it’s taking effect.  For example, the mood meter of our businessmen is upbeat, positive and expectant and that we are set to move forward. Of course, the government cannot do this alone. We need to practice the matuwid na daan in our homes, and in our communities. Matuwid na daan encompasses every aspect of our day to day living whether at work or to the way we relate to our friends and neighbors. A matuwid na daan when collectively adopted by civil society means less time for the government to watch our backs and to focus more on important issues; it means less work for our government to clean our own mess translating savings for the much needed public services.

To become like Singapore is a long way to go. But we are already moving in that direction. We do not need to become businessmen to reap the benefits of the growth we are going through now. Our participation is simply to support and follow the straight path the government is embarking and I believe everything will fall into place.

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