Singapore A Case History in Nation Building

Abstract

This then is the human situation in many countries of many millions of population; rural families eking out an existence that seems not far removed from that of the cave dwellers; urban inhabitants whose work is so often trivial, parasitic. Such people, and their governments are caught in a familiar vicious circle. They lack the nation- al resources to provide jobs with adequate wages and prospects for the future, houses that offer space and dignity in personal living, educational facilities for children both in the appreciation of knowledge and the development of technical skills, health services that can bring children into the world potentially fit for a full and vigorous life. Without these economic and social achievements, a country cannot hope to improve its levels of living. The conditions outlined in the above quotation exist in the developing countries of the world, which are primarily located in four major geographical regions: Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. These developing nations share an urgent need to focus and concentrate their attention and energy upon the crucial problem of ameliorating the destitute social and economic conditions in which their people now live. The well-being of over two thousand million people now living in these countries--70 per cent of the human race--depends upon the improvement of social and economic conditions within their countries. At the present time, these people live in disheartening conditions: diet is minimal, average life-expectancy is low, the population growth is high, and the majority of the adult population is illiterate. Their governments have not been able to attain the social and economic achievements which would offer them more significant prospects of employment, housing, education, and health services. The levels of living in these developing countries remain extremely low, with little prospect for significant improvements in the near future.