2007-01-25T01:34:00.000-08:00

1st entry for social studies
Question I chose: blog on problems the govt face and should tackle.

Currently, the government is facing problems such as intense competition from other destinations around the region in the tourism sector. Ex of such countries are Hong Kong, Thailand and Malaysia.

One the the approach of the government years back was to use Singapore as a 'launching pad' where people stop over here before moving on to their destination. This is so as Singapore lacks of natural beauty and we are unable to 'fight' with other countries in terms of natural attractions. Therefore our country tries to "tap" on other countries' natural resources by promoting ourselves as a place to stopover before going to other countries. This is also why our government ensures that Changi International Airport is always world's best. However, with the rise of neighbouring countries, becoming more developed, this plan does not seem to work anymore. We need to remain competitive to attract more tourists. Hong Kong being well-know for its night life and shopping, Bangkok for its shopping and Malaysia for its famous natural attractions(Taman Negara).

Isn't this breathtaking? We lack of such natural attrations.

We need to move on and find new ways to boost our tourism sector, which will eventually boost the economy. Singapore's tourism industry is declining and we need to tackle this problem to prevent our economy from being adversly affected/crippling.Tourism in important for generating wealth. This will lead to economic development and so it is linked to good governance.

One of the ways the government has thought of the counter this problem is the building of intergrated resorts in Singapore. This shows two principles of good governance:pragmatism & forward looking. The government knows the effects of declining tourism(forward looking) & thus came up with this solution(pragmatism).Although there is a concern that the setting up of intergrated resorts will cause social problems,(eg. undesirable activities such as gambling, money laundering,loan sharks or even organised crime.), this plan is still carried on. The reason is simple and clear. Not only will this be able to attract more tourist, it will also provide jobs for some 35000 people. This will greatly lower the unemployment rate. Of course, negative impacts is inevitable. However, there will be safeguards to limit the social impact of casino gambling. Lets take a look at the situation in other countries where casino is present.Malaysia long had a legal casino cum theme park on Genting Highlands, and it attracted many tourist per year. Not only this, there needs to be other ways to reverse this situation, to prevent tourists' rates from declining in singapore. As having intergrated resorts is not the only way. We need to be equally competive as our counterparts in order to remain attractive. Thus, something else also needs to be done.

All in all, this problem is a serious one and it should be tackled(from many areas) to improve our economy.

2007-01-23T01:23:00.000-08:00

This is my first post, i finally got my ss blog done! Pls bear with the blogskin if you don't like it. I will change it soon. ^-^

social studies blog