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SINGAPORE IS AT A CRUCIAL STAGE

  

From Worldometer (new  COVID-19 deaths yesterday):

        DAY  USA  WORLD    Brazil    India    South Africa

2020
June     9     1093     4732         1185        246       82
July    22      1205     7128         1293      1120     572
Aug    12      1504     6556        1242        835     130
Sept     9      1208      6222       1136       1168       82
Oct     21      1225      6849         571        703       85
Nov    25       2304    12025        620        518      118
Dec    30       3880    14748       1224       299      465
2021
Jan     14       4142    15512       1151        189     712
Feb      3       4005    14265       1209       107      398
Mar      2       1989     9490        1726       110      194
April     6        906    11787         4211       631       37
May     4        853     13667        3025      3786     59 
June    1        287    10637         2346      3205      95
 July    7         251      8440        1595        817      411
Aug     4         656    10120        1118        532      423 
Sept   22      2228      9326          839       279     124
Oct      6       2102      8255          543       315       59
Nov    3        1436      7830         186        458       23
Dec     1       1633      8475          266        477       28
2022
Jan     7        2025      6729         148         285     140
Feb     2        2990   12012          946        991      175
Mar     2        1778     7756          335         173       28 
Apr     1          439      4056         290          52       12
May    5          225      2404         151            ?        64
June    2         216      1413         130          10        31
July    6          316      1627         335           35       12 
Aug    4          311       2138         258          70         ?
Sep    1          272       1732         174            ?         ?
Oct     6          281       1305         119            9         ?
Nov    3          167         980           16            ?         ?
        10          148         985           42            6         ?
        19            66         567           36           21        ?
        25            88         985           71             3        ?
Dec    3          149       1029          131            3         ?
           8          194       1320         104            6       86
        14          278       1533         261             5          ?
        15          147        1295         124             4          ?

Summary:
  • Well, that predicted Fall/Winter upsurge has mostly occurred.  Mask wearing is returning.
  • New deaths two days ago:
    • #1      USA  278
    • #2      Brazil  261
    • #3      Japan  244
    • #4      Germany  230
    • #5      France  114
    • #?      China  ?
  • New deaths yesterday.
    • #1      Japan  259
    • #2      USA  147
    • #3      Germany  147
  • New cases two-days ago (new cases/million population).
    • #1      Japan  190,607 (1518)
    • #2      S. Korea  84,571 (1648)
    • #3      France  70,224 (1071)
    • #4      USA  51,911 (155)
    • #5      Brazil  47,230 (219)
    •           World 580,953 (73)
    • #17    China 2,291 (2)
    • Note that China does not report asymptomatic cases, so their number of new cases needs to be multiplied by 10 (because their asymptomatic rate has consistently been near 90%), or 22,292 (20), still not bad in comparison to the world.
      • China has not reported a death since December 3.  Hard to believe this is true.
      • Any future reporting of new cases will be questionable.
      • Then again, any new cases from anywhere, especially the USA, will be way below the real number because most tests are now taken at home, and only the ones who become really sick are reported.
      • Worse, in China and the world over, asymptomatic people are walking around infecting others, so those who have not been fully vaccinated will especially be affected.
      • The reality is that the population of China will begin to approach the per capita numbers similar to Japan, and worse, with the Chinese New Year season approaching.
      • China just announced a new booster for the elderly and other high risk groups.  These are the ones that die, so it's possible the total deaths over the next few months will not be abnormally high.
    • New cases yesterday.
      • #1    Japan  153,602 (1223)
      • #2    S. Korea  66,953 (1304)
      •         World 514,682 (64)
      • #6    USA  28,877 (86)
Going on to my final posting from Singapore, I have been here at least a dozen times.  It was a success story when I first came a third of a century ago, and remains today a remarkable miracle. 

The whole city/state/country of Singapore is 281 square miles large, with a population of 5.5 million.  Oahu is 597 square miles, or more than twice as big in area, with a population of 1 million.  The Gross National Product of Singapore is $412 billion.  That of the entire state of Hawaii is $80 billion.

I've many times written about Singapore, and to my surprise, when I visited Mauritius a dozen years ago, I learned that Lee Kuan Yew came to this country  to learn and copy the model that became Singapore.  Armed with a plan, Lee's vision resulted in what Singapore is today. 
There too have been natural advantages.
  • No calamitous natural disasters.  Mind you, they face floods, heatwaves, hailstorms and a few mosquito-borne diseases.
  • 95 inches of rain/year.
  • But no earthquakes, tropical cyclones (too near the equator) and tsunamis (luckily shielded by Indonesia, which only occurs on the other side of that country).
  • Has never been in war. 
    • Sure Japan conquered in 1942, but Singapore did not become a country until 1965.
    • All males serve for two years, and women can volunteer.
    • In alliance with U.S. and allies, but gets along with China.
  • But it has no natural resources.
Other bits of info:
  • The island was originally inhabited by fishermen and pirates.
    • Rajendra Chola I ruled about 1100 AD, naming the place Singapura (Lion City), which was later corrupted to Singapore.
    • In 1819 Sir Stamford Raffles of the English East India company came and deftly arranged to place the site into the British umbrella for a monetary payment, becoming a colony in 1867.
    • Japan landed in 1941, and the British took back ownership after WWII.
    • They excluded Singapore from a proposed Malayan Union because they thought that the predominantly Chinese population would be a problem.
    • As a separate colony from 1946, constitutional progress was made, and Singapore became self-governing in 1959, but joined the Federation of Malaysia in 1963.
    • Seceded from Malaysia in 1965 at the invitation of the Malaysian government.
    • Became a founding member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1967.
    • In 1990 Goh Chok Tong succeeded Lee Kuan Yew as Prime Minister.
    • Being groomed for the future was Yew's son, Lee Hsien Loong, who transitioned into the leadership slot in 2004, and still runs the country.
    • Lee Kuan Yew remained important as "minister mentor."  He passed away in 2015 at the age of 91.
  • Four official languages:  English, Mandarin Chinese, Tamil and Malay,  Surprisingly, Malay is the national language.  Probably so because they were once linked with Malaysia.
  • 33% Buddhists, 19% Christian, 14% Muslim and 19% none.
  • 74% Chinese, 14% Malay, 9% Indian.
  • Is a unitary parliamentary democracy with an elected president.  However, the People's Action Party has always had the majority and essentially rules the country.
  • In 1980 the National University of Singapore was founded by merging the University of Singapore and Nanyang University.
Earlier this year journalist Jeevan Vasagar wrote Lion City:  Singapore and the Invention of Modern Asia. He is Environmental Editor at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and a former Singapore and Malaysia correspondent for the Financial Times.  He was interviewed by Sebastian Strangio of The Diplomat:
  • Singapore gained independence in 1965, and has from the beginning maintained tight political control and laissez faire economics.
  • Their founding premier, Lee Kuan Yew, has been hailed for his brutally pragmatic outlook and strategic foresight.
  • Other sites in the region were more strategically positioned to dominate, as for example Mumbai and Hong Kong.  However, Singapore prevailed because:
    • High functioning bureaucracy.
    • No corruption.
    • Kept vested interests in check.
    • Maintained a "father knows best" paternalism.
    • Orchestrated special relationships with both USA and China.
But here is why Singapore is at a crucial state.  The People's Action Party is about to pick a successor to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong who is 70.  At this time, it looks like Lawrence Wong, 49, will become the next leader.  He made Time's next 100 list this year.
I'll end with 10 fun facts about Singapore.  You can read the other seven, so here are three: 
  • Singapore is not just one island.  There are 64 islands.
  • Home to the first night zoo,
  • It's a city of man-made waterfalls.
I moved from the Marriott Tang Plaza to the Crowne Plaza at Changi Airport.  We can just walk to check in tomorrow...at 4:30AM!  So we made an exploratory trip.  Need to catch the Sky Train from Terminal 3 to Terminal 1.  We thus visited one of those waterfalls at Jewel.
It was time for dinner so we just went one floor below the above photo.

Tonkatsu and curry at Gochi-so Shakudo.  Excellent.

I might send another posting tomorrow from the ANA lounge at Narita Airport.  Otherwise, I will arrive in Honolulu Sunday morning, just about the time the France vs Argentina World Cup game concludes.

- 

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