The World As I See It

In view of the coming Teachers’ Day Celebration (1st September), the Anderson Junior College Alumni Association (AJCAA) would like to… in dedicating a ‘Book of Memories’, where you would include your words of thanks, compliments and dedication to the Teachers or any specific Teacher in mind. We believe our teachers would be really pleased to know how much we value them in our minds and hearts.

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Name:           LOH YI ZHENG

Batch:           CLASS 04/01

Teacher:      MR. ANG SWEE CHOON

Words of Dedication:

I owe very much of my current level of knowledge, particularly political science related, to Mr. Ang. He provided the spark to kickstart my fervent pursuance of wisdom in many areas. His demonstration of analytical power and high-level perspective in dissecting current issues and various topics greatly influenced my way of thinking. Even now, I still benefit a great deal from the discussions with him. His incisive mind, dedication to education, thought-provoking teaching style, open and encouraging manner are no doubt a valuable asset of Singapore’s education.

I would like to express my utmost gratitude to Mr. Ang. He is certainly among the most important figures in my youth development years. Thank you for bringing me to the bigger world.

An article in Asian Wall Street Journal titled "Beijing’s Plaza Accord?" yesterday by Hugo Restall sheds on me a new light on China’s currency revaluation. I was preoccupied with the current happenings, totally forget about China being a fast learner, especially of the Japanese experience. I had never related or seen this currency issue in the light of Plaza Accord signed 20 years ago by the then G5 nations.

The main idea of the editorial: Recognising that American pressure will sooner or later force a yuan appreciation, China would rather embark on a gradual appreciation of its currency now when its economy has a full head of steam, than to force its export sector to endure the kind of "yen shock" that Japanese companies faced after the infamous 1985 Plaza Accord, which when combined with deflationary pressure, loose monetary policy, inflows of foreign speculative capital, soar in asset prices, bad loans, and finally the burst of bubble economy produced the decade-long slump.

China has been drawing lessons extensively from Japan’s past - selectively emulate tried-and-tested policies while avoiding its mistakes. It can be seen from China’s efforts in industrial policies, to befriend Latin America and African countries, acquisition of energy sources, pattern of overseas investments, reliance on borrowed technology, clearing banks’ bad loans etc.

I am keen to learn what the Chinese policy makers have in mind from others’ experiences. Enlighten me please if anyone has any sources.