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I was reading the speech of SGV founder Washington
SyCip before the University of the East last Jan. 23, 2008.
An accountant, SyCip made an
accounting of the Philippines, its past, its present, its future. If
you are Filipino, what he says won’t make you happy. It will make
you sad.
Fifty years ago, recalls Mr.
Wash, most of Asia and the western world thought the Philippines,
the only Christian and democratic nation in the region, “would
forge ahead of our neighbors, with only Japan ahead of us. We were
the most promising nation in East Asia.” Instead, he concludes,
“we have miserably failed as compared to our neighbors.”
Despite a talented and
intelligent population, “we see widening gaps between the rich and
the poor, declining standards of education, a fairly constant
poverty rate, and outward migration of the young to what they see as
countries that have more opportunities for them,” Wash notes
wryly.
He wonders if the culprit is an
overdose of democracy, Western style. He asks: “When poor citizens
sell their votes, do we not have a democracy of the upper class who
have the money to buy the votes?” He also blames high population
growth, an advocacy of the Catholic Church.
Wash notes that “economic
freedom with effective enforcement of laws and long-term planning
for needed infrastructure has been the success story of East Asia.
Political freedom gradually increased as income levels rose.”
Thus, the four tiger economies of Asia (Taiwan, South Korea, Hong
Kong and Singapore) all had authoritarian governments that were able
to eliminate hunger and increased spending on education.
Once ahead of its neighbors, the
Philippines is now way behind Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong,
Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. “Vietnam, certainly not a
Western democracy, may pass us this year,” Wash predicts.
He laments the neglect of
education which he likens to committing national suicide. He links
education and population growth and health among the poor.
The population has increased to
90 million. New jobs are falling behind population growth. More
jobseekers go abroad. Yet, “our unemployed and underemployed
continue to increase. A slowdown in the population growth is
urgently needed,” Wash asserts. He asks the Church to do its
share.
Wash also discusses China and
India. Both account for 37 percent of the world population.
China’s population is more urban than that of India, 43 percent
vs. 29 percent. China has183 cities with a population of one million
or more. India has 35. India has a developed service sector with a
large English-speaking population. It has many brilliant leaders who
have headed many multinational companies. Top universities have
Indian professors.
China’s economic growth has
been in manufacturing companies initially established by ethnic
Chinese from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. India’s exports
of generics is ten times larger than China’s. But China is the
biggest producer of raw material for drugs. Indians in Southeast
Asia were mostly traders and in small lending activity. Its
successful overseas businesses were more focused on Europe and
Africa. Ethnic Chinese in Southeast Asia were in trading and
manufacturing and were more successful in joint ventures with the
native population. Both countries have trained more engineers than
lawyers. In Silicon Valley, 30 to 40 percent of new companies were
started by Chinese or Indians.
China is the world’s workshop
and India is the world’s back office. “They both have more
growth potential,” says Wash.
By 2020, China will dominate the
travel industry. More than 130 million Chinese are expected to visit
China and over 100 million Chinese are expected to travel abroad.
Rapid economic development in
both China and China is raising their populations out of poverty,
generating enormous consumer demand, and rapidly increasing per
capita incomes, thus deeply affecting the global economy.
“The future is exciting for all
us who live in Asia,” assures Wash. “We have seen how Asia has
recovered after the financial problems of 1997. It is now for the US
and Europe to recognize their present economic slowdown, effect
changes, so that they can participate even more in Asia’s
long-term growth. The major financial institutions of the Western
world had to go to China and the Middle East for assistance to solve
their problems caused by sub-prime mortgages. This is a sign of the
times that you and your children will be seeing more and more in the
years to come,” SyCip told the UE faculty and alumni.
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