Dear Sir,

The road towards economic recovery may seem challenging and perhaps daunting to the mind. However, it may be good to know that our position is not unprecedented and it’s always useful to find examples around the world where countries have risen from similar economic constraints towards prosperity. The idea of a third pillar may not be as illusive as thought.

To spare ink and your eyes, straight away I will use Singapore as an example, which back in 1965 was no better off than one of the poorer countries in Africa and was riddled with a Mafia-type drug and criminal environment; in other words, a Third World economy.

Inside one generation, let’s say 50 years, the country has moved from a Third World status not just to First World, but to be at the top of the First World. Singapore has the highest ratio of millionaires’ net worth in the world. Something like one out of six Singaporean households has a millionaire and they also are just behind Switzerland in highest percentage of multimillionaires.

Singapore, like Bermuda, has no natural resources and back in the 1960s the population was uneducated. So, natural question is, how did they do it? Singapore’s only asset was its location and its deep harbours at the doorways of great world trading countries. Their leader, having taken control of the Government with a strong sense of anti-corruption used the location as a port for trans-shipment of container cargo and very quickly became the largest port in the world, exceeding the Netherlands.

Because it was connected to the world via the port, they were able also to venture into development and export of electronic technologies. With virtually no limitations on commodities passing through their doors, they also began to emerge as a banking centre. Naturally, with an improved economy, education became a priority and it now sits as the top Asian country and perhaps rival to any country in the world for its excellent level of education.

The big question is, can Bermuda use that example? One simple truth as a comparison is we don’t have any natural resource, either, and do we not have a drug and education problem? Yes and, lo and behold, our location has been our biggest asset from our beginnings. Our maritime relevance paid for our existence handsomely. Technology has shifted and warfare no longer needs us, hence our significance and the value of 7,000 US personnel left our shores in 1994.

We were on borrowed time ever since then, as we had sole reliance on tourism and international business, both of which are in global transition and reducing their footprints on our economy. Well, my fellows, I learnt that just like Singapore, Bermuda has the location suited for the same industry that transformed Singapore. The biggest challenge is not its viability, but public and even the Government’s perception because of the sheer size of its infrastructure. But, hold on, we cried before in the 1940s when the base lands was rammed down our throats. Yes, rammed, because we, including the Government, objected. Who is objecting now?

There can be no progress without some challenges and the true attitude must be to adapt and mitigate harmful consequences to the point where the good effects outweigh the bad. The real question may in the end be whether we can content ourselves as we slowly but surely sink, while lands and even institutions get auctioned off because we can longer afford them.

Whether we continue with low education and limited job and business opportunities or whether we seize on the opportunity to be a global player and put the infrastructure in place to do like Singapore, but with our own scope limited to what suits our environment. I just want to say the opportunity is here if you want it; our competitors are doing it.

KHALID WASI