Gift from China

US President Obama visited China last week, primarily to find out what exactly & how exactly China is doing things that make it such a success story, surpassing all the so-called "expert economic planners" of the US &
Europe. His team found these 5 basic lessons behind China 's success -  it applies equally to our country :

LESSON No 1  -  BE AMBITIOUS

The Chinese believe in Setting Goals, Making Plans, Focusing on Moving Ahead.

Moving Ahead  - there is always the sense of foward motion.

As an example, a huge 6-lane highway in Shanghai took only 2 years from planning to being ready for traffic.
In the US, 2 years will only get you the environment and local authority permit if you are lucky. In Malaysia in 2 years, they will still be calculating how to inflate the costs, and to whose abang-adik company to award the project.

LESSON No 2 -  EDUCATION MATTERS

The Chinese are obsessed with ensuring kids get the right education  - English, Maths & Science.
They made sure that their education system  reached even the most remote rural areas. Today the literacy rate in China is over 90%, surpassing even the USA's 86%. According to American educationists, the Chinese kids are way ahead of the kids in the USA .
Meanwhile in Malaysia, our politicians are determined to regress our education system into the stone age.

LESSON No 3  -  LOOK AFTER THE ELDERLY

The Chinese do not send their elderly to nursing care centres but personally look after & care for their parents.
In the US, nursing care of the elderly is now costing each resident USD 85,000 annually, & this is rising.
The Chinese also believe that the grandparents at home make the best tutors for their children. It also provides a sense of cultural continuity - this helps bind society.

Here it's a growing trend to have children brought up by maids, of the lowest educational & moral quality so our children (the future leaders) grow up with a similar language capability & outlook.

LESSON No 4 -  SAVE MORE

In the USA, savings dropped to zero in 2005, and is only now slowly rising to 4%. In China, the savings rate for every household has exceeded 20%. The Chinese
believe that frugality & a healthy savings rate are a sure indicator of a country's financial health. High savings lead to increased investments that result in increased productivity, innovation & job growth.

In the West, & aped by our Malaysians, the status symbol is to spend more than you earn, with as many credit cards as possible. In the end, the whole country gets into debt.

LESSON No 5  -  LOOK OVER THE HORIZON

In China, everyone is forward looking - never backwards. New graduates make a vow - never will their children & grandchildren ever work in the fields again. With this kind of forward
mentality, people are always thinking & planning how, not just to succeed, but how to be the best in the world in everything they do.

In Malaysia, we are still, after 24 years, trying to get the window switches of the Proton to work properly, and our Muslim Fundamentalists want us to adopt medieval syariah laws.