Lee wrote in his book: “There was no reason why the Philippines should not have been one of the more successful of the ASEAN countries. In the 1950s and 1960s, it was the most developed, because America had been generous in rehabilitating the country after the war. Something was missing, a gel to hold society together. The people at the top, the elite mestizos, had the same detached attitude to the native peasants as the mestizos in their haciendas in Latin America had toward their peons. They were two different societies: Those at the top lived a life of extreme luxury and comfort while the peasants scraped a living, and in the Philippines it was a hard living.They had no land but worked on sugar and coconut plantations. They had many children because the church discouraged birth control. The result was increasing poverty.” Full story
Related:
‘New’ Acting Minister Chan Chun Sing wants to examine why Singaporeans are not having babies - The Temasek Times
Our income gap reflects the power distribution in our society - Diary of A Singaporean Mind
Worsening income inequality in Singapore - The Online Citizen
