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INTRODUCTION
CLIMBING MOUNT EVEREST
When the Singapore team successfully climbed Mount Everest
in 1998, I cheered. I spoke to Khoo Swee Chiow and his team-mates
later.
They told me that they climbed up in stages, from Base Camp
to Camps 1, 2, 3 and 4, before they made their assault for
the summit. The climb became more difficult and dangerous
the higher they went. The air became thinner and the slope
steeper. You had to be disciplined, determined, and well prepared.
And you had to have luck on your side. There could be avalanches
and rock falls, or the weather could change suddenly. Swee
Chiow told me that the most important quality needed to climb
Mount Everest was mental strength.
The climb up Mount Everest provides a vivid image for Singapore's
own climb up the mountain of economic development.
Senior Minister brought Singapore up to Camp 2 - from labour
intensive to electronics and higher value-added industries.
In the last 10 years, we have climbed higher to Camp 3, with
wafer fabs, chemicals, and financial services. Now, we are
making our way to Camp 4, to do IT, life sciences, and other
knowledge-based activities. If we make it to Camp 4, we can
then try to scale the summit where countries like the US,
Japan and Switzerland are.
But let me warn you. As in the Mount Everest climb, the going
will get tougher from here. As we go higher up the mountain
of economic development, progress will be slower. We will
not see the same high growth rates as in the past. We will
have to work smarter and acquire more sophisticated capabilities
to overcome complex challenges. We will be tempted to relax.
Indeed, some Singaporeans have asked: "Do we need to
be Number One in everything?" We will need great mental
strength to continue pushing ourselves to excel. If we do
not do so, others now behind us will push us off the track.
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