Can Singapore Fall: Making the future for Singapore

by Lim Siong Guan

Lim Siong Guan, Singapore's former Head of Civil Service (1999–2005) was the Institute of Policy Studies' 4th S R Nathan Fellow for the Study of Singapore. This book contains edited versions of the three IPS-Nathan Lectures he gave between September and November 2017, and highlights of his dialogue with the audience.

Lim addresses the question, "Can Singapore Fall?", by examining the state of Singapore today and proposing what Singapore and Singaporeans must do in order to prevent economic and social decline. Taking inspiration from Sir John Glubb's essay, The Fate of Empires and Search for Survival, Lim urges Singaporeans to counter decline by observing the "three legs of honour": Trust, Diversity, and Excellence. These include becoming a gracious society and building up a culture of innovation, excellence and outwardness.

Lim also reminds us that cultural change takes a generational effort to effect; for change to happen, Singaporeans must thus act with urgency and act now for the well-being of future generations.

The IPS-Nathan Lectures series was launched in 2014 as part of the S R Nathan Fellowship for the Study of Singapore. The S R Nathan Fellow delivers a series of lectures during their term to advance public understanding and discussion of issues of critical national interest.

Genres: Nonfiction

128 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2018

Reviews

[Bookandbriefcase · Rating 4 out of 5]

The question is not “Can Singapore fall?”, but “Will Singapore fall?” Where are we as a nation and like many first world countries which inevitably face decline, is that our fate, and what can we do to reverse that?
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This is a series of three lectures taught by Lim Siong Guan (advisor to GIC, currently a professor at the LKY school of public policy). His lectures are inspired by Sir John Glubb’s ‘The fate of empires’ and ‘Search for survival’, and centred around honour.
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𝟛 𝕓𝕠𝕠𝕜 𝕓𝕪𝕥𝕖𝕤 📚
📕Lecture I - the Accidental Nation: This lecture looks at the stages of the rise and fall of great nations and maps Singapore against those stages: where are we and where will we go next?
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📗Lecture II - The 4th Gen: what do we want to look like in 50 years and how do we build the national values we do desire to embody?🙆🏻‍♀️🙆🏽‍♂️🙆🏾‍♀️🙆🏼‍♂️
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📘Lecture III - The Way of Hope: we can ‘beat the decline’ if we look for new ascents. 📈 That requires honouring trust, diversity and opportunity!
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𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕀 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕕💎
The thought provoking discussions and Q&A 🤓 the chapters are easy to follow (perhaps because it’s lecture style)
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ℝ𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕕 𝕗𝕠𝕣:
People interested in creating a “Gracious Singapore” and in creating a Singapore we can be proud of when we hit 🇸🇬SG100!

[Nicky Lim · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read. The book has 3 of LSG's lectures:

1) The Accidental Nation:
This lecture opens with the Melian Dialogue with a takeaway that we "don't be weak" as the it make sense to 'submit to superiors, stand firm against equals, and be moderate to inferiors'. LSG quotes Glubb stages of the rise and fall of great nations and warns us of the loss of our honour.

He believes our defence mandate is to hold our ground and defend long enough till the UN comes.

There are no permanent friends nor enemies, only permanent interests.

It's important to bring up children that can think for themselves.

2) The Fourth Generation:

Danger if we develop a "complain and blame" culture. We want a more gracious society, and it's something cultural and we should take individual ownership to be more gracious. Being gracious is the countless little interactions with neighbours and strangers, and it starts young! Maslow's hierachy has more layers, with the pinnacle being 'transcendence' (helping others realise their potential). Our society should aim for maximal development of talents and abilities, and it is important to HONOUR one another. You should not feel weird behaving well. We need to create a whole culture where people feel awkward NOT behaving well. Urbanization has an effect of making poeple less gracious.

Meritocracy should not just be about what grades or uni you got. This is an inadequate view of meritocracy. Meritocracy relates to character and motivation too. Dee Hock, founder of visa, once said he hires people on the basis of 1. Integrity 2. Motivation 3. Capacity 4. Understanding 5. knowledge 6. experience.

Goverments can take charge and create the conditions in its design of physical space. The government is to do things the individual citizens cannot do.

We need to put emphasis on the effort, not on the results. Especially in this area of sports, innovation and creativity, etc.

3) The Way of Hope

Gazelle and the lion. Gazelle must be alert and have stamina in the chase too. We need to recognize effort if we want innovation. It's odd and sad that the biggest challenge in the start-up industry is 'my mother'. Culture is very, very important. It predicts the future of companies success.

Liking is actually thinking about yourself. loving is really thinking about the other person. The fundamental idea behind a gracious society is thinking about others. it is about 'other-centredness'.

If you have time to complain about no jobs, you have time to set up your own business.

Companies "goes wherever the talent is".

SG economy is a testbed, but not the end goal. Market is too small to realise their full potential.

AIM TO BE THE BEST YOU CAN BE, REACH YOUR POTENTIAL, HONOUR THAT.

[Neil H · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are a few fundamentals about this book which I will sum up in my own words. A belief in growth aside from the fundamentals of affluence and self assertions. A more rounded approach leading to moral and ethics considerations of humanism practice leading one to consider own's actions not according to the demands of the circle of self vested interests but with a larger consideration towards family, community and a tolerance for diversity and openness of discussion and consensus of action. For a cultural evolution (as opposed to revolution), from a intimate perspective, a leader or steering committee must decide that the cultural dynamics in a given setting has focused too much on self serving interests and would do well to develop holistic considerations of caring and sensitivities. Whether these initiatives of social and socialist affirmation will start in a school, community or office environment requires deep consideration but actions must start. The economics of self sufficiency and monies from innovation can start from looking at the demands of a society where the new creations come from and for the well beings of the people. Looking at the ageing, physically and or mentally challenged peoples are not necessarily about welfare provision and come also be economically viable. Ultimately how we survive as a nation depends on our our willingness to suspension of self interest and willingness to assign quick blame.

[Aravind Raamkumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the global economy, developed countries are at the top for some obvious reasons. One of the key reason is that they often identify how to retain their position on a sustainable basis. The observations made by Mr. Lim in this lecture series is an example of this rationale. The title can be misleading as indicated by Mr. Lim in the first lecture as the key points are more oriented towards how Singapore can avoid a downfall. These lectures draw inspiration from two earlier works- 1) The Fate of Empires and Search for Survival and 2) The Hidden Wealth of Nations. Mr. Lim combines consolidated public perceptions on key national topics along with his own experiences to provide the way forward for Singapore as a nation. The importance of creating a gracious society is underlined. Overall, an illuminating read not only for Singaporeans but anyone who is interested in nation development.

[Yuhann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three short lectures, a quick read. A bit vague about how we should promote honour, excellence, innovation in Singapore and to make Singapore a “Gracious Society”. Few insights given, a bit empty and vague.

[3thn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I especially liked the visualizations and analogies of nations’ trajectories. Short, sweet and to the point.

[Kenneth Yong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought provoking series of lectures that all Singaporeans should read if they want to figure out their role in society

[Judea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I could give this more stars

[Harry Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short read. 3 lectures to prepare myself for the coming election.

Carl Jacobi thought us to "Invert, always invert". So we should think about how Singapore can fall. And move away from that.

And 3 words to remember. Don't be weak.

[Chen Ann Siew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed the talk by LSG when he came by the Board in December. Pioneering age is usually sparked by scarcity, or a sense of danger. Not sure how Singapore can re-create the pioneering age when most Singaporeans are living comfortably today. Lively debates should also be encouraged as we find new paths. Not sure if the current political climate allows for that. Also brings to mind, is there a need for a new consensus among Singaporeans, and if so, what. Inspiring series of lectures.

[Zernier · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an amazing series of lectures, detailing and building upon how Singapore can sustain itself and of course, whether singapore is doomed to fail or not. Mr Lim introduces extremely relevant examples and made many observations that substantiate his claims. Not only that, the overall construction of his fundamentals and beliefs is very well-put, no heaps of knowledge and exposition being dumped, just simplistic and cohesive elaboration and reasoning that piques interest and invites lots of thought.

This is a must-read for Singaporeans, to whom you wish to learn more about where Singapore stands currently, where your place in Singapore is, what your role in Singapore is, and how we can all synergistically strive for a better nation.