Sunday, April 4, 2004
During breakfast, at my motel in Seoul, I met two German musicians who had performed at a music festival in southern South Korea. We talked about jazz and I answered a few of their questions regarding the music scene in Tokyo before running back up to my room to finish packing.
I paid my bill at the motel and left to catch my bus to the airport. At the bus stop I met the German musicians again, they were also on their way to the airport. The bus arrived; we boarded it and shared stories of the curiosities that we had discovered in South Korea.
My flight departed Seoul at 1:05 p.m. About six hours into the flight I looked out the window and saw a glorious, deep blue ocean and bright white clouds that faded into the distant, dark grey of a brewing tropical storm. The plane then began to make its descent.
As we approached Singapore I became excited by the welcoming view of the lush tropical forests and palm trees of Malaysia! I felt that I had finally escaped the cityscapes of Tokyo, and its distant cousin Seoul, for paradise. My journey had now begun.
Singapore Changi Airport was modern and clean, which was to be expected considering that the airport is typically ranked as one of the best in the world. The ultra-modern feel immediately reminded me of Tokyo. On a sci-fi timeline, I would place Tokyo in the future, perhaps giving a glimpse of what life would be like in New York City in the year 2030 AD. Traveling from Japan to South Korea was like going from the future into the present year of 2004, and then flying to Singapore and arriving at their airport was like traveling forward in time again to 2020 AD.
I followed the airport signs to the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system. I bought my ticket, stepped into the nearly empty train, and sat down placing my backpack between my legs. The train was clean and devoid of advertisements. As I waited for the train to depart from the airport terminal I saw a sign that read:
No Smoking – Fine $1,000
No Eating or Drinking – Fine $1,500
No Flammable Liquids/Gas – Fine $5,000
I immediately understood that Singapore was strict. Prior reading informed me that any person caught distributing or in possession of any illegal drug or substance received a mandatory death sentence. In fact, Singapore had the second highest per-capita execution rate in the world from 1994 to 1999 after Turkmenistan.1
Gum, and obviously chewing it, is illegal here unless you can get a prescription from a doctor permitting consumption for therapeutic purposes. As you can expect of such draconian laws and penalties Singapore is an extremely safe country to live and travel in.
After reading the penalty warning I turned and saw a female middle school student eating a burger from Burger King and drinking a cold drink from Starbucks on the train. Odd, I thought. She must not know or care about being fined $1,500 for eating and drinking on the MRT.
After checking into The InnCrowd Hostel Singapore I took a stroll down Dunlop Street–and the surrounding areas–to quickly discover that my hostel was located in the heart of Little India. I saw Indian men by the hundreds talking, shopping, buying fresh produce in the open markets, and eating spicy meals from street vendors in all directions. But where were the women? Did these men not have female counterparts? I kept searching, but failed to see a single Indian woman. The scene reminded me very much of Morocco where the streets and cafés were the sole domain of men. I also saw Indian men holding hands or each other's arms, which again reminded me of Morocco where it was not uncommon to see men displaying their friendship by holding hands in public.
As I passed through the crowds I was relieved that no one tried to sell me some trinket or offer their unneeded services as a tour guide.
The experience of strolling through Little India at night was visually exotic, vibrant, and stunning. I am a U.S. citizen raised by South American parents whose ancestral roots trace back to Europe. I have friends from Israel and have experienced a bit of Islamic culture in Morocco. I have lived in Japan and know a bit about Asia, but India I do not know a thing about. My curiosity to learn more about India began to grow, but when I came across a Hindu temple my interest exploded. I had never seen a Hindu temple. I didn't understand the rituals I was seeing or what one was required to do within it.
The exterior of the temple above the main entrance was shaped like a tall trapezoid with four levels (each with a smaller and smaller temple entrance at the center) lined with hundreds of small statues of Indian gods and humans painted in pastel colors in what appeared to be different stages of a story–or series of stories. Scores of sandals and a few shoes littered the three walkways leading up to the temple's main entrance. I only saw men entering and exiting the temple and ringing one of the several bells that hung just beyond the entrance. I could see men inside carrying the statue of an Indian god and rocking it from side to side to the rhythm of the music that was being performed by a small group of musicians. The music would speed up at times and the men would quicken the rocking motion accordingly. At the center of the temple was a pillar. I saw several men bowing and then lying on the floor faced down before it.
After filming the temple and taking a few pictures I continued my walk through the colorful streets of Little India. I eventually sat down at an outdoor Indian restaurant for some chicken tikka masala and garlic naan bread. But I was not impressed by the food when compared to a hole in the wall Pakistani curry shop in Ikebukuro, Tokyo that I frequented after teaching English a few days a week at Berlitz Japan.
Later that night I crossed Serangoon Road and read the following from a historical marker:
"Serangoon Road – built in 1905
"A humble bird used to inhabit the muddy banks of the old Serangoon River. The Malay villagers called it Rangongi; the Europeans knew it as the Marabou Stork. From this feathered creature, the river and, later, Serangoon Road, got their names.
"Serangoon Road is now one of the many main arterial roads that slice through Singapore, but when it was first built it stood as the only road that cut across the island. Early Indian immigrants gravitated here. Mostly milkmen and cattle traders, they were drawn by the natural pastures, fed by the waters of Rochler Canal.
"Lime was also found here, giving rise to a brick-manufacturing industry. The Indians who worked here in the numerous brick kilns that used to line Serangoon Road called the area "Village of Lime." Over time, a thriving Indian community developed, which engaged in an array of different occupations, including gold-trading, astrology, tattoo artistry, tailoring and money-lending. Places of worship, like the Sri Veeramakaliamman and Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temples, and the Angullia and Abdul Gafoor Mosques were built. With the passage of time Serangon became known as Singapore's traditional Indian quarters – Little India."
Time to go.
Posted by The Legacy Cycle at 2004-04-04T18:18:00-07:00
Monday, April 5, 2004
I started my day by using the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) metro to get to Raffles Place, which was located in the financial heart of Singapore. The exit of the metro station led directly to a central square composed of an elevated grass park framed by polished stone divided into four parts by two intersecting walkways; businessmen and women taking a break sat here and there along the polished stone. There was a large electronic screen advertising a live performance DVD of Red Hot Chili Peppers.
I walked to Marina Bay to see the famed Merlion statue, which has been promoted and used by the Singapore Tourism Promotion Board as a symbol representing the city-state since the 1960s.2 I do not know the complete tale regarding the origins of the Merlion other than a story originating from the Malay Annals of a prince who arrived to an island where he saw a beast with the head of a lion and the body of a fish. The prince then named the island Singapura, which in Sanskrit meant "lion city".3
After viewing and taking pictures of the Merlion, I walked across Collyer Quay to the Marina Promenade where I bought a scoop of Häagen-Dazs ice cream. I then walked west along Raffles Avenue to the Civilian War Memorial; a monument composed of four towering white pillars.
A historical marker at the site provided the following information:
"The Civilian War Memorial is dedicated to all those who died during the Japanese Occupation of Singapore from 1942-1945. The memorial is composed of four towering pillars that stand at over seventy meters. The four pillars are symbolic of the four races (Chinese, Indians, Malays, and "other" races) that suffered during the occupation."
The remains of unknown war victims were buried beneath the monument.
"Among the civilians who lost their lives were numerous Chinese targeted under the Sook Ching (literally "to purge" or "to eliminate") operations.
"On February 18, 1942, large numbers of Chinese were driven from their homes and assembled at designated mass screening centers. Many were unjustly accused of involvement in anti-Japanese activities, or arbitrarily condemned."
Unofficial figures place the number of those killed by the Japanese between 25,000 and 50,000, while Japan has officially reported a death toll of only 6,000.4
I then walked to the City Hall building–architecturally defined by a Corinthian colonnade–and located in front of the Padang, a famed recreational field used for sporting and civic events, to see the site where former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew established the first Cabinet of Singapore as a self-governing state within the Commonwealth on June 5, 1959.5 Four years later on September 16, 1963 Singapore was merged into the Federation of Malaya thus ending nearly a century and a half of British rule, but the union did not last as the city-state withdrew to become an independent nation on August 9, 1965.
The City Hall building was also the site where the British accepted the surrender of the Japanese on September 12, 1945.
The building was completed in 1929 and was used as the official office of the Municipal Council. During the period of self-governance and independence it became the home of the Prime Minister's Office, but since the late 1980s the Supreme Court, the Singapore Academy of Law, the Public Service Commission, and the Industrial Arbitration Court have occupied it.6
At the southern end of the Padang stood the upscale Singapore Cricket Club, which was known as "the jewel of the Padang" during the colonial period. The club was established in 1852 and was exclusive to British businessmen until 1861 when British women were finally admitted.7 During the Battle of Singapore in February 1942 the Club was turned into a temporary hospital, but after the British surrendered on February 15 it was transformed into a bar and restaurant to serve only Japanese officers. After World War II, all ethnic groups were allowed to gain membership to the club.
Located behind the cricket club was the Asian Civilizations Museum. I decided to escape the humidity and bought a ticket to enjoy the museum's air conditioning while learning more about Singapore's history and its geographic importance within the realm of international trade.
The following are the notes I took from the exhibits of the museum.
China-India-West Asia Trade
"There has always been a constant flow of boat traffic between the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean for the past 2,000 years. It was through the Straits of Malacca that ships bound for either China or India would pass and as a result the tip of the Malay Peninsula was loaded with various stopping ports for ships that sought shelter from the monsoon rains and storms, or to trade with locals and other passing merchants.
"Over time the Straits of Malacca became an incredibly important route for acquiring exotic commodities valued by the cosmopolitan elite of China, Arabia, and as far as the Mediterranean. Because of this, islands like Singapore became a meeting and settling point for scores of Chinese, Arabs, and Indians merchants and Malay traders.
"Control of the trade routes led to the rise and fall of several successive maritime empires all the way up to the 16th century.
"Malay became the lingua franca for all these sea-faring merchants sailing and trading through these routes.
"Originally Singapore was called 'Temasek' which means 'Sea Town' in Old Javanese. In the 14th century Singapore fell under the control of a Malay kingdom and was then referred to as Singapura ("Lion City" in Sanskrit).
"In 1511 the Portuguese conquered Singapore thus ending the maritime empires. And when they burned the Singapore settlement down in 1613 it fell into maritime obscurity until the famed British statesmen Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles arrived in 1819 who then developed the island into a major seaport for the British Empire.
"In the years after 1819 Chinese, Arabs, Indians, and Malays settled, traded, and worked together on the island. It was during this time that the demand for opium grew among all classes and races for it offered 'sweet relief' from the tiring workdays on the seaports.
"It was estimated that a third of the Chinese 'adult' population was addicted to opium by the mid 19th century. Thus making the addictive drug a lucrative commodity for the British government, as Chinese workers would spend up to two-thirds of their wages to acquire it.
"The drug was officially abolished in 1910."
I found the history of the Chinese Secret Societies in Singapore particularly interesting. The largest gangs were the Ghee Hin Kongsi and the Ghee Hoch. They were also known as "the triads". These gangs preyed on newly arrived Chinese migrant workers to Singapore by offering them "friendship, protection, and an identity".8 Although these secret societies were outlawed in 1889 their presence was still felt, especially in the "brothels, gambling, houses, opium dens (which they effectively ran) ... and in the warehouses, from which they collected 'protection money' ".9
Members of the different gangs identified themselves through a membership token.10
After the museum, I took a quiet boat ride along the Singapore River. Although it was only three kilometers in length it experienced heavy traffic in the 19th and early 20th century during the colonial trade period.
Today the Singapore River was lined with a multitude of pubs and restaurants–painted in pastel colors of beige, yellow, blue, and purple–catering mostly to the expatriate community that worked within the towering corporate buildings of the nearby financial district.
Next was Chinatown, which I found to be unimpressive as it was littered with tourist shops selling cheap trinkets. There were traditional Chinese shops selling ginseng roots, tealeaves, and medicinal herbs, but other than seeing a Chinatown set within a neighborhood defined by its colonial architecture I did not find it to be visually unique or appealing.
I forgot to mention that in the early afternoon I went to Raffles Hotel–a five-star colonial-style hotel that was established by two Armenian brothers in 1887. Many famed politicians, artists, musicians, actors, and writers have stayed at the hotel.
The island is ideal for the rich. It is modern, safe, expensive, loaded with exotic restaurants and high-end boutique shops. It seemed to be a playground for couples who were well off and seeking a bit of paradise paired with convenience and luxury shopping. It would be a dream to be able to treat my parents to an all-expenses paid trip to the island city-state.
A must do in Singapore for couples seeking a distinct, exciting, charming, and romantic experience was the Night Safari; the world's first nocturnal zoo.11 The park was located in the north of the island in the Upper Seletar Reservoir. It is open every day from 7:30 p.m. to midnight. The park can be explored through four walking trails or by tram. There were 2,500 animals "spanning more than 130 species" of which 37 percent were endangered.12 I saw the endangered Indian rhino (only 2,000 left), the Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica) of which there were only 250 remaining in the Gir Forest National Park of India. I also saw the clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa): "It is the only living saber-toothed cat. It has the longest canines in proportion to skull size. It is endangered due to poaching and habitat destruction."13
One section of the Leopard Trail that I followed led into an enclosed habitat where I came face to face with enormous Malayan flying foxes–the largest bats in the world! To be honest I was scared as a few of these fruit bats were hanging directly above me while others were right in front of me. These bats were probably half a meter long from head to toe with a wingspan of nearly two meters! One bat flew so close to me that I could feel a gust of wind caused by its flapping wings. If I had been in its flight path I would have screamed.
I highly recommend the Night Safari, and definitely go see the bats.
Posted by The Legacy Cycle at 2004-04-05T19:29:00-07:00
Tuesday, April 6, 2004
On Waterloo Street there was a Chinese Buddhist temple called Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple. It was built in 1884 and dedicated to Guanyin, the goddess of mercy and a bodhisattva of compassion.14
Urban legend has it that about 60 years ago a thief broke into the temple and stole the temple's moneybox. But when he arrived home and opened the box he found oil instead of cash and coins. Fearing that the goddess of the temple had somehow tricked him he returned the box to the temple and soon became its caretaker. The story of the thief's foiled attempt to steal from the temple spread quickly among the Chinese practicing Buddhists of the island resulting in the temple gaining greater fame. The temple is also highly regarded because of the belief by its devotees that no prayer goes unanswered.
Outside the temple I saw vendors selling lotus flowers from their carts in front of the main temple gate. Devotees of the temple can buy–although they don't have to–one or more lotus flowers to be offered to the goddess of the temple.
I entered into a small courtyard from the main gate and observed the crowd of worshipers who were standing around a large, ornate brass cauldron on three legs that was filled with ash and burning joss sticks (bundles of joss sticks and stainless-steel portable propane gas torches to light the sticks were located near the cauldron). These devotees first kept their back to the temple while holding–before their foreheads–the burning joss sticks that sent faint lines of scented grey smoke into the air, and prayed to the Four Heavenly Kings. They then turned and faced the temple, prayed to the goddess of mercy, and placed their joss sticks into the ash of the cauldron before entering the temple.
I proceeded into the main hall of the temple and once my eyes adjusted to the darkness I was relieved to see that I did not have to take off my shoes. I then saw, at the other end of the hall, the shrine that housed the altar where stood two large golden statues: one statue representing Guanyin and elevated behind it the Sakyamuni Buddha statue. To each side of the Guanyin statue was a smaller statue: one representing "Bodhidharma (the founder of Zen Buddhism)" and the other representing "Hua Tuo, the Chinese patron saint of medicine and healing".15
There were offerings of flowers and plates of fruit arranged in rows at the foot of the shrine, and before these offerings a large, red square carpet that covered an open area where barefoot devotees prayed.
Suddenly, a middle-aged Chinese man approached me and offered to clarify what I was observing in regards to the fortune telling ritual (Kau Cim) these devotees were practicing. I accepted and bowed my head to him.
He explained that before a worshipper could step on the carpet he or she had to first go to a desk that was to the far right of the main hall and retrieve two items: a long, cylindrical bronze tube that was filled with 99 sticks that were each inscribed with a number, and two red painted crescent shaped wooden pieces (jiaobei blocks) that when fitted together looked like a red pepper. A devotee could then go to the red carpet after he had removed his shoes with these divination tools and ask the goddess a question or confess a problem. To receive an answer–or potential solution–the devotee had to shake the bronze tube at a 45-degree angle until one of the sticks fell out. The devotee then had to drop the red jiaobei blocks on the ground; these blocks had a curved side and a flat side–the curved side was read as "negative" and the flat side was read as "positive" thus the two blocks could provide the following combinations: positive and positive, negative and negative, or positive and negative or vice versa. If the two blocks provided a reading of negative and positive or vice versa then the Kau Cim stick that had fallen out of the tube was verified. If a devotee did not get a reading of negative and positive then he had to place the stick back into the tube, shake the tube again until another stick fell out, and try to verify it with the jiaobei blocks. With a verified stick the devotee had to then collect it, read its inscribed number, and bring all the divination items back to the desk informing the temple caretaker of the number. The caretaker would then pull a pink piece of paper from one of many shelf compartments that had stacks of paper for each number.
The paper would provide the devotee with a few lines of Chinese poetry, stories, and other information to be interpreted in the context of the original question, but if the devotee wanted a more detailed answer or explanation he could check his number in a red reference book.
Next to the Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple there was a Hindu temple called the Sri Krishnan Temple. It was established in 1870 and was the only "South Indian Hindu temple in Singapore dedicated exclusively to Sri Krishna and his consort Rukmini."16
In the late afternoon, I took the MRT subway and a bus to Changi Village in the hopes of catching a ferry to a small rural island called Pulau Ubin (population: 38 as of 201217), but when I arrived a group of ferrymen explained that they needed at least 12 people to fill the boat to make it financially feasible to travel to the island. There was only one other guy besides me so it was a no go unless I wanted to pay for the other 10 non-existent passengers, but I ain't rich so, no. Instead, I walked to a nearby beach, sat on a bench, and watched cargo ships and tugboats pass by with a distant first view of Malaysia on the other side of the Johor Strait.
Now I'm back at the hostel. I'm going to grab dinner in Little India and then call it a night because I have to wake up early to catch my bus to Kuala Lumpur.
Posted by The Legacy Cycle at 2004-04-06T04:54:00-07:00
Afterthoughts on Singapore (2019)
It is impressive to consider that Singapore, a small city-state that you can walk across in less than a day, and which has few natural resources, has been able to achieve a level of economic growth that places it as the top-ranking economy in Southeast Asia with a GDP per capita income of $57,714.30 (2017).18 Now keep in mind that in 1965 (the year of its independence from the Federation of Malaya) Singapore's GDP per capita income was $561.30;19 that is a 10,182.25% increase (essentially a hundredfold increase) in per capita income over a 52 year period! Also, keep in mind that the U.S. had a per capita income of $3,827.53 in 1965, which was almost seven times greater than that of Singapore. But Singapore surpassed the U.S. per capita income in 2011! How was that possible? How does a tiny little island beat the U.S. per capita income in 46 years? How?
Did Singapore simply raise their minimum wage over time to $57,000? Obviously not. Instead, they invested heavily into the most important resource their country possessed ... their people, their human capital. And how does a nation invest in their people? Through education and health, essentially through economic policies that are referred to as interventionist supply-side. Government investments in education and health improve the quality and increase the productivity of their labor force, and thus, over time, these highly skilled and effective workers command a higher wage. Of course, these investments take time to make an impact on the macro economy–usually a generation. But the long run impacts of these investments are unmistakable and incredibly impressive, and Singapore is a great example of that.
Take a look at their education system today. According to the "influential Pisa rankings, run by the OECD", which is "based on tests taken by 15-year-olds in more than 70 countries" Singapore was "first place in all Pisa test subjects, ahead of school systems across Asia, Europe, Australasia and North and South America."20 The United States ranked "an unimpressive 38th out of 71 countries in math and 24th in science."21 The U.S.–the most powerful economy in the world–is falling behind. Former U.S. Secretary of Education John King Jr. stated: "We're losing ground – a troubling prospect when, in today's knowledge-based economy, the best jobs can go anywhere in the world."22
Pay attention politicians and members of society. Education is one of the most important keys to unlock incredible economic growth and increase per capita incomes, but simply pouring tax dollars into a public education system is not enough. Just as important is addressing the quality and effectiveness of that education system. According to "Prof Sing Kong Lee, vice-president of Nanyang Technological University, which houses Singapore's National Institute of Education," the "key factor" that has enabled Singapore to overtake "the wealthiest countries in Europe, North America and Asia to become the number one in education" has been "the standard of teaching."23 He explained that "Singapore invested heavily in a quality teaching force – to raise up the prestige and status of teaching and to attract the best graduates."24
"The country recruits its teachers from the top 5% of graduates in a system that is highly centralized.
"All teachers are trained at the National Institute of Education, and Prof Lee said this single route ensured quality control and that all new teachers could "confidently go through to the classroom".
"This had to be a consistent, long-term approach, sustained over decades, said Prof Lee."25
This centralized system of training effective teachers and educating students in Singapore has definitely paid off; Singaporean taxpayers are thus getting a lot of bang for their buck. But a centralized system in the U.S. may be difficult to achieve when each of the 50 states set their own educational standards and funding system. Within the current fragmented U.S. education system "the US spent an average of $16,268 a year to educate a pupil from primary through tertiary education, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) annual report of education indicators," which is "well above the global average of $10,759."26 But U.S. students continue to fall behind.
"According to the Washington thinktank the National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE), the average student in Singapore is 3.5 years ahead of her US counterpart in maths, 1.5 years ahead in reading and 2.5 in science. Children in countries as diverse as Canada, China, Estonia, Germany, Finland, Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore consistently outrank their US counterparts on the basics of education."27
It is apparent then that within the current system U.S. taxpayers are not getting a lot of bang for their buck, which may mean–in the long-run–that the U.S. may lose its competitive edge in the global market leading to falling per capita incomes. Marc Tucker, president of the NCEE, reiterates that the issues for the U.S. is "systemic ... and getting worse."28
"The solution is clear ... "We have to have more highly educated teachers and we need to pay them more ..."
"But it doesn't seem like Washington is listening. "To some extent it is plain hubris. We were so dominant for so long that it's hard for us to accept that there are now so many countries pulling ahead of us," said Tucker."29
We can see that the U.S. has much to learn from the education systems of the following nations that have all outranked the U.S.: Canada, Singapore, Finland, Germany, and South Korea to name a few.30
Although Singapore has made great strides in its economic development it is far behind many other developed nations in terms of its human development, by which we mean the ability of a nation to enlarge social justice and protect human rights. Reporters Without Borders has described Singapore as having an intolerant government that practices self-censorship over "all forms of journalist content."31 In fact, it was ranked 151 out of 180 nations in the Worldwide Press Freedom Index.32 And according to the Freedom in the World 2015 report Singapore scored a 4 out of 7 in the categories of freedom, civil liberties, and political rights (where 1 is the best, and 7 the worst).33 An Amnesty International Report 2009 stated that "Singapore failed to provide basic protection for foreign domestic workers, such as a standard number of working hours and rest days, minimum wage and access to employment benefits. The Employment of Foreign Workers Act continued to exclude domestic workers."34
It is concerning to consider that perhaps Milton Friedman's central thesis, as described in his book Capitalism and Freedom, that a free market is a prerequisite for political freedom is not necessarily true in Asia. Yes, it seems true when we look back over time at European and American nations that rising affluence leads to a populace that demands greater political and civil liberties, but this is the result of a shared history in which Enlightenment ideals are valued by those societies. This is not the case for Asia. John Locke (Two Treatises of Government published in 1689; his work inspired the founding fathers of the United States to include the natural rights of "life, liberty and property" [Thomas Jefferson changed property to "pursuit of happiness"] in the United States Declaration of Independence), Thomas Hobbes (Leviathan published in 1651), Jean-Jacques Rousseau (The Social Contract published in 1762), Adam Smith (An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations published in 1776), and other Enlightenment thinkers were all born in Europe, thus it is foolish to think that Western political and economic values and ideals are shared by nations in Asia. I bring this up because Western political and economic power and influence in the global arena is on the decline while Africa and Asia are on the rise.
"By the end of this century, the UN expects there to have been almost no change in the Americas and Europe but 3 billion more people in Africa and 1 billion more in Asia ... More than 80 percent of the world's population will live in Africa and Asia.
"If the UN forecasts for population growth are correct, and if incomes in Asia and Africa keep growing as now, then the center of gravity of the world market will shift over the next 20 years from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. Today, the people living in rich countries around the North Atlantic, who represent 11 percent of the world population, make up 60 percent of the Level 4 consumer market. [Level 4 includes those making at least $32 per day; Level 3, at least $8 per day; Level 2, at least $2 a day; and Level 1, less than $2 a day35] Already by 2027, if incomes keep growing worldwide as they are doing now, then that figure will have shrunk to 50 percent. By 2040, 60 percent of Level 4 consumers will live outside the West. Yes, I think the Western domination of the world economy will soon be over."36
How will political, civil, and economic values change as Asian and African nations begin to dominate the world arena? Will greater economic development bring greater human development in Asia and Africa? Or will centralized planning and one-party rule become the norm? Beware of any encroachment and erosion of your civil liberties (especially from within your own country); protect freedom of the press and speech, freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and the right to life, liberty, property, privacy, and the right to a fair trial and equal treatment under the law, to name a few.