A4 - Sunday, May 6, 1984 - North Shore News Strictly personal , by Bob Hunter Lessons from little Singapore T ASTOUNDS ME that our thousand-times blessed province is in an economic slump equivalent to barren Newfoundland’s. How can this be? It’s sure- lv a feeble excuse to say that the Americans don't want us to hew wood as much as nor- mal. Are we some kind of barbarian state, incapable of a more imaginative response to the 20th Century than hauling out the chain saw? One of the countries in the world with roughly the same population as B.C. is Singapore, whose claim to ee **The country’s only resources are goldfish, “orchids and the Singapore Gin Sling.’’ ee fame lies in the pursuit of peaceful profit. It’s fair, | think, to note that the folks in Singapore are doing a helluva lot better than us. You could fit something like 1,000 Singapores into B.C. The ‘country’s only natural resources are goldfish, orchids and the Singapore Gin Sling. Yet the people living in what they like to call The Perfect Invest- ment Country have total employment and wealth to spare, The national sport is gourmet eating What are they doing right that we're not doing? Politically, they have a set- up very similar to Our provin cial power structure —- a single legislative chamber The ruling party faces a loyal opposition of one member, but when you get down to tl, if you've gota parhamentary majornty, what difference does the size of the oppos: tion make? Over the last decade, Singapore rated as the second most efficient country un the world in terms of economic performance It had sustain ed double digit growth, inflation, a comfortable cx ternal sector and a strong currency It was outdone on ly by Tatwan © anada scored the Jotuh position low A large partol Singapore s Success can be atterbuted to Sutting at the dead ASHE Waters low ation centre of as anideal distribution base and wassect up as a British colony ro the fest place peecisely for this reason Poor Vane ours is basheally on the egpe of the universe, the last stope oon yout way to the Berio Sea But pust to make sare that Coreimners can sec the wisdom of locating there Stargaprore offers nearly Complete tases emptions for pends up te bo years Some #00 mayor globus COPpOrAMIONS are gtantod long term doanms at how fised phterest cates Stnve todependenee oan 1YGHS Sthgapore tay allowed "6 Foretpr Parks ter setup _a supercivilizatton. shop, making the tiny city- state into the world’s third- largest centre for off-shore U.S. dollars. As a port, it is second only to Rotterdam. The skyline of Singapore 1s dominated by a 52-storey building that looks like a pocket calculator. From us top floor one looks out over a free trade zone par excellence. The feeling | had when |! was there a couple of years ago was that | had arrived in The ar- chitecture was pure gung-ho future: hexagonal towers with glass skins and raked facades, angled walls and capped roofs. More to the point, the operative phrase | ran into was ‘‘getting our show together.”’ If someone was to ask what the operative phrase was in the vast physical treasure chest called British Columbia, wherein dwell as many people as busy Singapore, | would have to suggest it was probably something like, ‘‘Let’s take out show apart."’ It's interesting In Singapore, they have four oft - ficsal languages, not counting the hundred different Chinese dialect) Yet they work as ateam. Here, in a de facto umlingual province with an awesome resource base, we can barely keep it Lonsdale VOM Pocstesedade Noa RO A together enough to put on a world's fair, and we can only keep four out of five of our people working. Either we're lazy, in- competent or too well-fed. Some combination thereof? |! dunno. | just have to shake my head FIGURE. > PROBLEM * Research scientists have created a new exerciser for use while you rest relax, read or watch TV without effort or fatigue, the Figuremaker System at 660 Clyde provides weight and inch loss with cellulite reduction of waist, hips, buttocks, abdomen, and thighs Call 922 6161 10am.7pm for a free trial and special prices on salon treatments, home rental, and purchase HONDA DATSUN MAZDA C ‘‘COMPLETE JAPANESE AUTO SERVICE CENTER’”’ ‘‘Quality Service Assured”’ Wyo... owe a Japanese auto lel Our factory traned technicians keep toe good cond.tion {ho lamoutl the yeat CALL IKE FOR APPOINTMENT WE ALSO SERVICE DOMESTIC CARS 1.B. AUTO 1189 - t6th St N Van (one be south of Marine/off Pemberton: ge >+4A0» how available Community Dollarton VEO Polaron blu oN VIO RKTT NV itlape VE Ny bdpre cane KS KS | Park Koyal South Mall DOO KS TY] Vdrive root bla dd