RELEVANCE OF SINGAPORE STORY TO LESOTHO Y’know! I am always enchanted by the Singapore socio-economic success story AND clearly understand why Botswana National Productivity Centre is so passionate about using Singapore as a case study and reference point for Botswana’s socio-economic development; Human Resource Development:- One of the reasons why Singapore is a model of success to third world countries is simply that it went from being a third world to becoming a first world country in a matter of decades DESPITE its scanty natural resources and geographical size (same challenges as Lesotho), and emphasis on Human Resource Development. I strongly believe that the quality of a nation’s manpower resources is the single most important factor determining its national competitiveness. It is the people’s innovativeness, entrepreneurship, team work, and their work ethic that gives them that sharp keen edge in competitiveness. I am so used to Basotho’s pride about their nation’s high literacy ratings THEN I ask myself ‘what do we mean exactly by that?’…we have more people in this country who can read and write_So what? How is that helping our economy??? What we need is a nation not only of people who can read and write BUT also people with relevant technical skills required to boost the economy. My expert view therefore, is that we (as a country/government) need to reform our educational system to keep pace with contemporary challenges. I have always argued that High School Education_science students should be engaging in projects like dismantling and reconstructing a motor vehicle…fixing electrical home appliances should be nothing more than a hobby. We should be having moot-courts…kids interested in taking legal profession already showcasing their skills and passion. Public Housing: I have touched on this subject and will revisit it. Y’know, each time I go past places like Maseru West, Florida and Ha Hohlo…I see this vast piece of land that can be used effectively to provide housing for the majority of our middle and lower income groups (i.e. public officers)_to buy OR rent. The urban areas herein listed were once suburbs for the well-off HOWEVER relegated by time to shanty urban areas. In 1960, Singapore setup a Housing and Development Board (HBD) to handle effectively the land and housing challenges…emphasis was on constructing storey buildings_this is a small country same as Lesotho. My argument here is; by building several storeys on the stated piece of land, that will enable the country/government to accommodate more people on the same piece of land as opposed to the current setup. Close to home in Botswana they are following in Singapore’s footsteps…Chee banna_hantle naha ee ea kae??? By-the-way, Singapore is one of the countries with the list corruption incidents: NOW! You make the calculations…Highly skilled manpower + advanced infrastructure + Minimal Corruption = Fast Economic Growth. THE PERTINENT QUESTION TO FOLLOW MIGHT THEN BE: WHY IS OUR GOVERNMENT/POLITICIANS OBLIVIOUS TO THIS???????
Posted on: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 13:00:57 +0000
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