Case

Remarking Singapore
 History
 Fourteenth century – small community on the island
 1819 – British East India Company
 Seventeenth Century – important trading center and port, a base at
the strategic southern tip of the Malay Peninsula,
 Classic entrepôt economy, which funneled exports and imports to
the surrounding region
 Infrastructures for entrepôt – shipping, communications, banking,
insurance, and the infrastructure
 Processing and light manufacturing developed
 Malaysia – commercial rubber plantation, tin extracting
 Enhanced a sizable British Military presence
 During world War II – Japan’s wartime southern region for three
and half years
 British return – within fours returned to prewar levels
 Rubber and tin trade boomed in Korean War (1950-1953)
 History

 The Malayan Communist Party – independence from British

 The end of British rule (1958-1964)
 Malay Union and Singapore
 The People’s Action Party (PAP), 1954
 1963 – an agreement to form the Federation of Malaysia
 1965 – Malaysia ejected Singapore
 PAP won all seats in parliament, parliamentary democracy
 Singapore newspaper and television stations – supported by
the government
 Unite the country’s diverse ethnic groups
 History

 Singapore’s political and business elite formed a rigorous

meritocracy
 Totalitarianism or paternalistic: order and planned
approach to society
 Because it is a small community, it eases informal
communication and makes it easier to have a shared
vision.
 Policy

 The Central Provident Fund (CPF) – a social security plan

(1955), 5% of salary from both the employee and
employer, to increase the country’s savings rate and
create a long-term sake of the population
 Housing Development Board (HDB) 1960 – low and
middle-income housing units
 Economic Development Board (EDB) 1961
 Public Utilities Board (1963)
 Port of Singapore Authority (1964)
 Development

 Unemployment rate 13.5% (1959)

 EDP first project – Jurong Industrial Estate (initially fail)
 To support job creation by attracting investments
 Turn from import substitution strategy to export-led
economic growth (market ???)
 Welcome western multinational firms’ investments
 Improve the investment climate
 New laws moderated labor costs 9union membership declined)
 National Wages Council set economy-wide guidelines for wages,
wage increases, and fringe benefits, which rose overtime
 Exchange rates were managed close to market rates
 Low tariffs and duties on exports and imports
 Development
 Housing investment created some jobs
 However, pull out British troops in early 1970s reduce jobs
 Unemployment rate remain 10% (1967)
 World trade and global investing were booming (1960s and
early 1970s)
 American and European firms – off-shore assembly plants
 Jurong and other industrial estates – Singapore plants made
components
 Ministry of Finance – too equity and providing cofinancing,
government-linked companies (GLCs)
 Electrical machinery, petroleum products, and construction,
ship building and repairs
 1974, Temasek Holdings
 Development

 Foreign direct investment inflows, export-oriented

manufacturing, external trade
 Very low inflation (monetary policy)
 Positive current account balance (mid 1980s)
 Stable foreign exchange rates
 Govern revenue exceeded spending, budget surplus
 World’s fourth busiest port, container freight terminal
(1972)
 Grew capital intensive industries, petroleum refining
 Development

 1991 Next Lap – long term social and economic goals

 Improving infrastructure
 Expanding educational opportunities
 Creating an advisory body of Singaporeans living abroad
 Building research institutes
 Labor market

 Population growth
 Foreign workers (1970s)
 Skilled workers and professionals (lone term employment
passes)
 Match making services (1989)
 Recessions and Reforms
 The first international oil shock (1973)
 Initiating large wage increase 1979, factories to shift to
higher-technology, higher-productivity products
 Deep recession (1985)
 Weak external demand
 Low profit
 Reduce investment in manufacturing
 Rise in unemployment
 Economic Committee (1985)
 Labor costs
 Construction boom
 Flexibility in wage setting and reduction of CPF contribution
 GDP growth up again
 Recession and Reforms

 1991 – US recession Singapore economy worse 1991,

1992
 Saving spending investment (CPF rules)
 Asian financial crisis 1997-1998
 Global liquidity and low interest rates , cross border transaction
attract foreign capital
 Short term financing was used for long-term financing
 Capital flight
 Education

 Four major languages and approximately 20 dialects

made communication difficult.
 Govern policy directed to teach four official languages
 Orderliness and cleanliness
 1990s – “thinking schools, learning nation” – transform
education system
 Foster creativity
 Independent thinking,
 Problem solving
 Changes in curricula and pedagogy
 Research centers and advanced training programs
 Development of information technology
 Education

 Six years of free education compulsory

 System was focused on flexibility, and allowing children
to pursue unique paths (either accelerated learning
programs or specialty subject areas to foster unique
skills)
 Spending on research and development
 Competition

 Labor intensive competition – Malaysia, Thailand

 Malaysia and Indonesia – low cost labor
 Competition Law and improved local competition
 Telecommunication
 Postal
 Media
 Transport
 Parts of banking
 Clusters
 Port and containers port
 Third oil trading center
 Airport and airline
 1990s – high-value added industries , electronics, information
technology, communication, petrochemicals
 Clusters
 Petrochemicals
 Transportation and logistics
 Finance
 Information technology
 Biopharmaceuticals
 Tourism
 Education service centers
 Discussion Questions

 What is the Singapore vision?

 What are the advantages and disadvantages of
Singapore?
 Which industries was chosen to specialized in Singapore?
 Which HR qualifications has been developed in
Singapore?
 How HR plans has been formulated for fulfilling HR
requirements for Singapore?
Thank you for your attention!