1. The economy has picked up. On New Year’s Eve, I took my family to eat at the East Coast Park. The eating places were packed. During the Countdown at Hougang Mall and Hougang Central, the crowds were huge and in good cheer. The organisers had distributed free whistles which made so much noise, I had to shield my ears occasionally. The poor MC tried to ‘instruct’ the crowd when to blow the whistles but to no avail. People were having fun and enjoying themselves. Gay Chee, Jimmy Gan and others did a wonderful job organising our first countdown.
2. PM announced that our GDP grew 7.7%. This was much more than we expected at the beginning of the year. Singapore future prospects are good. The two IRs have given an additional boost to the economy. Of course, we can never be sure about the global economy. So long as the US economy hold up, we should be OK. Anyway, we should make hay while the sun shines. I think it is the sense of hopefulness that explains the New Year’s eve celebrations all over Singapore. But we must always have a care for those who are not doing well. They need helping hands and we should be willing to offer ours. The Government will do its share but there is nothing like help freely given our of generosity and love.
3. Looking at other countries, we must be grateful for the blessings we receive. In Thailand, a number of bomb explosions created an air of tension and conspiracy. In Indonesia, another aeroplane disaster has been reported. The execution of Saddam Hussein is bound to arouse strong reactions among some quarters. Singapore is not perfect by any means but we have much to be thankful for.
4. We can’t foretell the future but we can prepare ourselves for bad things that can happen. The world is going through a historic transition. The Cold War is over. American consumption can’t be depended upon forever to be the locomotive. The US housing market is softening. This affects US consumer confidence. The decline of the US dollar bears watching. So long as the fall is gradual, the impact can be absorbed. If there are unexpected shocks and international markets suddenly turn panicky, we’ll be quickly affected. In the meantime, China’s role is growing with huge implications for the whole world. India is also becoming a factor. All this we must be alert to. It is not enough to run faster, we have to grow wings and fly. There are other worries like terrorism, religious extremism and global pandemics. On the whole, we can be cautiously optimistic.
5. I wish everyone good health and every happiness. Happy 2007!
