This is a continuation from the previous post.

The second lesson from Mr Ngiam's book is something pretty well repeated in many circles but I think it's worth re-learning. It can be surmised into the following five words: there are no sacred cows.

Mr Ngiam recounted the early days when Singapore was supposed to merge with Malaysia and the economic blueprint of the day was the creation of a Common Market where domestic industries would enjoy protection from imports via tariffs and restrictions. Many countries still practise this today as this was thought of as a good way to let small local players grow without excessive global competition.

However when the merger broke down, the Common Market was gone. Dr Goh Keng Swee, our economic architect quickly realized that Singapore could not afford to remain as a closed economy. We got kicked out of Malaysia but we must continue (Read more...)