新加坡总理黄循财大谈自己没有智能手机的青年岁月

At that time in Singapore, our public transport system, for example, was not as connected as it is now. We only had two MRT lines – East-West and North-South, what we now call the green and red lines. And you look at our MRT map, it is so interconnected now.

There was not so much to do for recreation back then. In fact, Singapore was called a “cultural desert” by critics. There is something to be said about the criticism because all I can remember about going out with friends was to Orchard Road, to watch a movie, pretty much that.

Our arts and cultural offerings were very limited. We did not have the Esplanade, Marina Bay, Gardens by the Bay, or the Sports Hub.

Much has changed in the last 30 years.

There have been ups and downs along the way. But on the whole, our lives have gotten better in Singapore. Our living environment has improved significantly – we have beautiful HDB estates, we have more green spaces and park connectors, we have a much connected and convenient public transport system. Our economy is stronger, it is more diversified and there are many more opportunities including more good-paying jobs for Singaporeans. Life in Singapore has become more vibrant – we now have more recreational options, as well as sports, arts, and music events.

Put another way, in my cohort – those of us born in the early 70s – about 55% of us went on to post-secondary education. Nowadays, almost everyone in the cohort has the chance to pursue their post-secondary education – be it at university, polytechnic or ITE. A young university graduate at that time; someone like me in the early 90s would have started out earning around $3,000 or less. Now it is about $5,000. These are how things have concretely improved over time.

No doubt there were challenges along the way. The changes that Singapore went through over the decades were sometimes disorientating and disruptive to certain segments of society. We also went through our share of challenges. We had the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997, SARS in 2004, and the global financial crisis of 2008. But each time, we rallied together, we weathered through the storms and emerged stronger.

What can we expect now – looking ahead, over the next 20-30 years? I think it is impossible to predict what will happen. No one can tell you this will certainly take place. But I have no doubt that we will face our share of challenges in the years and decades ahead. For one, Singapore will have to operate in a more difficult external environment. The previous era of globalisation and free trade is over. We are not going to go back to that again. We now see a new era of competition, especially between the major powers and between US and China. The world is becoming more dangerous and fragmented. It will be increasingly difficult for countries to come together to solve global problems.

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