Can Singapore Survive?

Wealth does not pass beyond three generations

There is a Chinese proverb that says: 富不过三代 …. wealth does not pass beyond three generations.

Unfortunately, this financial curse is not a myth. The Japanese (“rice paddies to rice paddies in three generations”), the Scots (“the father buys, the son builds, the grandchild begs”), and the Americans (“shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations”) also have similar sayings.

Is Singapore at risk?

Singapore’s first generation of leaders created our wealth. They worked hard and made sacrifices so that their children wouldn’t have to. While their children, the second generation, may not have experienced the same hardship, they saw what it took to create the wealth and were motivated to preserve it. Financially secure, the third generation grew up without any struggle, and experienced nothing but comfort. This third generation therefore can not fully grasp what it is like to be in want. Without this perspective, the third generation will spend the wealth more freely and, in the process, squander it away.

The biggest contributor to this loss of wealth is the focus on short-term wants at the expense of long-term needs. Singapore’s third generation of…