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How to make Nepal the next Singapore? Part - II
In the first part, we talked about banning spitting to take the first step to become like Singapore one day. We also talked about transparency, integrity and meritocracy. Today, we will dive into what we can do like them to be like them someday.
Singapore is a multi-racial society. We are more of a multi-ethnic one, but still divided by our castes, religion, and gender. Singapore had its share of racial riots in the 60s but with strict laws and enforcement of those laws, it has managed to prevent such incidents till now.
We too need strict laws to prevent communal conflicts we seem to be suddenly witnessing in the past few decades and to also protect the minorities in this country who may not practice the same faith or share the same beliefs or sexual orientation or views of the majority. We need to be inclusive and not be stuck with the right-wing or left-wing BS.
I think the first problem they tackled was social housing or more affordable homes for the common citizens who were used to living in swamps and under tin roofs without indoor plumbing and what not. Even today, most of the Singaporeans live in HDB buildings, built by the government. Nepal can learn a thing or two from this as well.
Our Nepal Airlines is on the verge of bankruptcy, and it's high time we privatized the national carrier and sell half of it to Singapore Airlines. They have their own budget airlines as well but they could help make our national carrier more professional, efficient and vibrant. We could be flying 30 planes to 30 different Asian destinations and someday in Europe and then our dream of having 10 million foreign tourists visiting our country will materialize.
Singapore has four national languages. We can't be having hundreds but I think it is time we add English as our official language along with Nepali and follow the English calendar while our Bikram Sambat is used for cultural purposes only. Nearly 99% of Singaporeans speak English, well, more of a Singlish but it's not like China or even Bangkok where communication is quite difficult as a tourist. I think we have more to gain if all of our Gen Alpha will be fluent English speakers.
In 35 years, we could have had a new generation of English and even Mandarin and French speakers in this country, but our government schools have not been able to do much to prepare the students for the global stage although it has managed to produce most of the bureaucracy in the country.
Singapore has zero tolerance for corruption. Now and then, a minister or a businessman will be caught for bribery and will be punished. In our land, our politicians talk about ending corruption while they are fully engaged in massive corruption. It's like a drug addict who claims to fight against drugs but himself is suffering from severe addiction. We should have sent our corrupt politicians and civil servants to rehab a long time ago but it never happened because of our politicized judiciary and anti-corruption watchdog body going after minnows while the sharks are untouchable.
I think our politicians need to be pragmatic. No more usual guff about how we live between the two trillion-dollar economies and how we can benefit from them! In the past 35 years, we have not been able to even export a billion dollars' worth of stuff, while the imports have increased exponentially to more than 13 billion dollars. And if it weren't for remittance, our economy would have been in shambles a long time ago.
We have not been able to attract more than 100 million middle-class tourists from India and China. Even if we can get 10% of their 'can spend quite a lot' tourists, then expect the country to generate at least US$10 billion in revenues. But of course, in the past 35 years, those in power have yet to build better infrastructure, be it our highways or airports or even clean drinking water or proper sanitation or an efficient irrigation system in the country. So when it can't even do that, then forget about better services for visitors when citizens themselves are stuck in a rot.
Let us no longer talk about the past now. Let us move forward and if we can follow the Singaporean model, which focuses on integrity, meritocracy and pragmatism, then we will be on the right track. We are a sovereign nation but at the same time, those in power need to balance the relationship with our neighbors. We do not need 40 school buses, 50 ambulances and 100 police vehicles from India. We do not need loans for projects that can't generate any profit from China.
We do need investments but ones that will help us generate employment and revenues so that we will have enough funds to provide affordable education, housing and healthcare for us all. Let us invite the Chinese to invest in our mountain and hilly regions. Let us invite the Indians to invest in our plains. Maybe a buffer investment zone to balance their egos!
We need our own 'white revolution'... we need our own Amul. We need our own 'green' revolution' like India. We can ask India to help us with these because they have done it many, many decades ago. We need IITs and AIIMs like institutions in all of our provinces.
If we had an honest government, it would not find it difficult to ask our folks who work abroad to invest in our hydropower or any other projects as long the government can guarantee that the funds will not be misused and will be transparent and any violators will be held accountable.
I think we need more than US$100 billlion of foreign investment for our hydropower, tourism and agricultural sectors. We do not have enough dough but the 5 million folks who are abroad do send us 10-12 billion dollars a year. If their money could be invested along with that of foreign investors, it would take only a decade or two for us to be a US$300 billion economy.
Our Generation Alpha should all be able to speak English and even Mandarin or French, be tech-savvy and have a set of skills, be it engineering or plumbing and be abe to find employment in this country while making enough to pay the bills, afford a house, a vehicle and take a vacation to Rara or Mustang or even the Bahamas once in a while.
If we start today, we will make it better for the next generation. Those in power since the 1990s have destroyed 3 generations, X Y and Z. Let us hold those in power accountable from now on so that Generation Alpha and Beta will finally live in a peaceful and prosperous Nepal.
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