PIONEERS SEMINAR SERIES
MR PILLAY shares his thoughts on the role luck plays in Singapore's early industrialisation efforts, why civil servants cannot be politically neutral and the Pan-El crisis.

Luck plays a part in success

  • When we look back at Singapore's early economic history and industrialisation efforts, to what extent were our successes due to foresight and planning, due to a response in circumstance or due to luck?

    I think more of the second and third factors.

    It's just as well because if you try to predetermine your winners, the higher the chance you lose it.

    But I think where we do rather well is that after there's been some movement to enable us to figure out that this is the way of the future or we think this is going to be the way of the future, we can latch on to it, generally we have been successful and we've not had to spend too much of our own money in a fruitless search for the successful formula. Full Story

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