What Singaporeans can feel first are the pressure of life brought about by rising prices.But what is deeper and more terrible is the new survival challenge that the geopolitics and geopolitical changes bring us.Inflation cannot defeat us, but the sea level is constantly rising due to the warmth of the earth, but it is likely to subdue some of our only land.The struggle of great powers has intensified and reorganized, and it may also disrupt our survival layout.
Our founding generation, most of us have experience in rural life.At that time, I lived in the Anshi House, drinking well water, cooking wood, cooking, and lighting of kerosene.Squat in a latrine and shit, do not know what to do toilet.I go to school to ride a bicycle, I do n’t know there is a bus, let alone the subway.There is no refrigerator, no TV, life is simple.
This life that depends on land, does not need to pay for water, electricity, miscellaneous fees, and buses, and it is really different from living in the city.But at that time, the dream of many people was that one day they could move away from the poor country.After the 1970s, many people finally lived in a house and enjoys the convenience of life.But there have been a certain sense of insecurity since then.The salary is low and the cost is large. In addition to paying a budding fee, you have to pay for meals. You must pay the water, electricity fee, miscellaneous fee, telephone fee, and installment payment for the purchase of a group of houses every month. It is intangible pressure.
So you can only shrink clothing, but you can save time, and you dare not have more children. Strictly follow the "two is enough" fertility policy.In the city, life is convenient. There are water, a refrigerator, and a fan (later with air -conditioning). As soon as the water is pumped, it will enter the gully.However, all convenience is cost -effective, not as free.Because imports, production, and providing these conveniences, including hydropower, gas, group houses, bus tools, roads, etc., all require costs.
With the development of urban development in the 1970s and 1980s, the villages across the island were demolished.Great dissatisfaction.Fortunately, children who have the opportunity to be educated slowly grow up, enter the workplace, and their family life can gradually improve, and gradually adapt to the new living environment.
But with the acceleration of urbanization and modernization, our lives have also changed unknowingly.The rhythm is getting faster, the pressure is getting stronger, the competition is becoming more and more fierce, the interpersonal relationship is getting more and more complicated, and the human and nature are almost completely separated from the relationship.As a result, more and more people suffer from mental and psychological diseases.
At the same time, the population fertility rate also fell lower and lower.This seems to be an unavoidable price of urbanization and modernization, or it can also be named for urban diseases.The cities all over the world are spared.In general, there are many problems at the material level and spiritual level.
Metropolis has brought a lot of convenience and improved the quality of life, but it has to pay a lot of costs.This is a reality we must face and understand.Each convenience in urbanization is costly, and as a small island country with no natural resources at all, we must also face the cost fluctuations caused by foreign factors.Therefore, world inflation is bound to lead to rising prices.This is unavailable by Singapore.
The older generation may still remember that in the 1970s, we had experienced more powerful inflation, and the inflation rate once exceeded 10%.We have also experienced the economic turmoil brought about by the oil crisis once and the problem of shortage of white rice supply.How could there be any assistance facilities at that time.Political leaders also encourage people to temporarily eat more flour to replace white rice.Today, the export of rice grains such as India affects the production of rice due to climate change, and export embargo has been implemented. However, Singapore's white rice supply and rice prices are still stable, showing that our supply chain toughness is much stronger than before.
After the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, Sino -US relations have become better, China's reform and opening up and the economy take off, and globalization has reached unprecedented level, allowing countries around the world to share the dividends of stable development.After decades, we have almost forgotten various crises before. Until 2008, the world financial crisis from Wall Street broke out, and then the relationship between China and the United States deteriorated. In addition, the three -year crown disease epidemic situation is now in a piece.In the turbulence, the prospect is worrying.To this day, many countries are still struggling and cannot be recovered from the blow of the epidemic.
What is hateful is that most of the major countries are in power, not only to overcome the problems differently, but also to fight against each other, provoke war, restore protectionism, detachable chain, economic sanctions, globalization, and destroying the multilateral trading system.The world is chaotic, people's hearts are disturbed, and the world's economic prospects are full of uncertainty.All of this is under the threat of nature in the face of climate change.It is really violating the sin, and you must not be alive.
What Singaporeans can feel first are the pressure of life brought about by rising prices.But what is deeper and more terrible is the new survival challenge that the geopolitics and geopolitical changes bring us.Inflation cannot defeat us, but the sea level is constantly rising due to the warmth of the earth, but it is likely to subdue some of our only land.The struggle of great powers has intensified and reorganized, and it may also disrupt our survival layout.
Singapore and other small countries should maintain their autonomy and neutrality. If they do not choose the side station, they can continue to maintain a good relationship with major countries, which requires great political wisdom and diplomatic capabilities.How to cope with the deliberate demarcation chain and implementing the so -called "de -risk" of the great powers, subvert the impacts brought by the original multilateral trading system and the supply chain, and ensure that the channels such as trade and food supplies that Singapore depends onPrecision operations and prudent deployment.
From this perspective, the problems brought about by the current world inflation are urgent, but in the same way, it is still relatively controllable.It is said that inflation cannot overwhelm us because the government has the ability to help low -income people offset the pressure of inflation, such as water and electricity costs, bus subsidies, etc. If the supporting facilities are not enough, and they can still increase their codes appropriately.
In general housing areas, people also have a lot of consumer choices.For example, the price of general brands has increased. We can change the brand bread of the total affordable cooperatives, including all -wheat bread, which is much cheaper than other bread.However, it must be acknowledged that this is the unique advantage of the old groups such as the big bus kiln, Bobo and other cities; some new towns can not enjoy the dampness of wet Baria, cooked food centers, coffee shops and neighboring shops due to the changes in design ideas.Provide residents with diverse benefits to competitive goods and services.Most of them can only go to the food pavilions located in the mall. The food price of these places must be higher than that of ordinary hawkers centers.Therefore, how to make the new town has more facilities that can help flat prices, maybe it is a question about the officials that should be re -thinking.
In any case, urbanization has already become a foregone conclusion, and we must not be able to go back.The city must have the living law of the city. No one can dig wells and take water, plant vegetables and pigs, raising chicken eggs. Everything depends on imports. Only a small amount can be self -sufficient.Everyone requires money. Individuals and families must have sufficient income and savings. The company must have sufficient profits, and the state must have fiscal surplus and sufficient reserves.To improve life, income can be improved, financial surplus must be, the economy must be booming, and the industry must be prosperous.These are the major topics of survival and development.
A city, you can't live without water; you can't live without electricity; you can't live without food; you can't live without money.The price of water has risen, the price of electricity has begun, and the price of food has risen. In fact, it is not only to add the pressure of life, but also repeatedly given us the alarm clock; how a city continues to survive and develop is always a big problem.We are a country, but we are actually just a city.Faced with the world's unparalleled world changes, our continuous survival and development issues have become even greater.The ship of the country must continue in the weird ocean, and it must definitely need an experienced helmsman.
The author is a former journalist, a former member of the Congress
