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My good
friend and role model Mr. Francis Kong sent me an
article via e-mail. The article is entitled “The baton
passes to Asia” by Roger Cohen (www.iht.com).
The
author wrote about the current economic situation of the
US and also mentioned the stellar growth of Asia,
particularly China and India. The article also mentioned
something very interesting. “In the 17th century, China
and India accounted for more than half the world’s
economic output. After a modest interlude, the pendulum
is swinging back to them at a speed the West has not
grasped.”
It got
me thinking about the US economic woes, never realizing
that the mighty United States of America will ever be in
such economic uncertainty—well, at least not in my
lifetime.
But this
also got me thinking. The US economy is an extremely
resilient one. I will not really be so surprised if it
recovers sooner than everyone expects. While it may be
in a tight situation, I will not totally discount it.
That economy has been able to surprise everyone and
proven a lot of naysayers wrong in the past.
It is in
a rut, yes, but we should not count it out yet. It will
recover—the only question is when.
So am I
saying that everyone should start dumping his pesos and
buy US dollars? Of course not! All I am saying is that
the US economy is sick, but it will get better someday.
Asia has
been a marvel for many years now. One can’t really
dispute the valor of Asia, with China as its
front-runner. Everyone seemed to have marveled at
Japan’s strength decades ago and, although people gave
Japan’s
economy much credit, many didn’t really think it was
Japan who’d be the one to dislodge the US as the No. 1
world economy.
China
is another story. Look at China’s economic output and
you don’t need an economics degree to discern it’s
economic strength.
I once
got a very funny text joke. It said: “God made the
world, everything else is made in China”—and China is
laughing all the way to the bank.
Look at
China’s domestic market and consumption, and you have a
radical change of perspectives. As a collective might,
China, India, Japan, Korea and the tiger countries are
really the economic marvels of the new century. Their
growth rates would put the US and the EU’s best growth
rates to shame. Although the EU has lately been showing
positive marks, with all due respect to the EU, the
collective strength of the Asians will seriously be a
force to reckon with. It will not be too far-fetched to
conceive that if Asia can do an EU-type alliance, it can
even overtake the combined strength of the EU and North
America.
What
about us?
Yes, we
are part of Asia, but, hmmm, are we really part of the
Asian might?
While
our economy has showed remarkable improvement, it is
still a laggard compared with our Asian neighbors. The
development of the country is really at a much slower
pace when you compare it with countries like Thailand
and, in a relative sense, even Vietnam.
We have
yet to produce enough food supply to feed our
ever-growing population. Agricultural advancement is
practically at a standstill for us—to think that God
blessed this country with enormous natural resources and
a very resourceful citizenry.
Our
workers continue to be recruited by other countries
because of the good quality of our labor and the
intelligence of our citizens. We have the resources,
both natural and human—everything we will ever really
need to be prosperous.
What,
then, is the case? When you ask around, you will always
hear people blame our political situation. While
Philippine politics really leaves a bad taste in the
mouth and corruption is something we can never be proud
of, I hardly think it’s all about bad politics or bad
governance. When you look at Thailand, can one really
say they are politically stable? How about corruption in
Malaysia, Indonesia or South Korea? Are they spared from
excessive corruption? Not from the last time I checked.
What,
then, is the reason for our economic situation? While
many will not agree with me (but I’ll say it anyway), I
dare say the core reason of our problem is “social” in
nature.
Filipinos are great for many things—but flawed in many
things, as well. Are we really as industrious and
hard-working as our neighbors? As a nation, do we put
emphasis on the value of savings? Are we willing to set
aside our regional cultural differences and work as one
nation like Singapore? In this time and age, have we
abandoned negative characteristics like the crab
mentality? Do we expect too much from our elected
leaders? At work, have we embraced the value of
stewardship?
For
personal finance, have we learned basic common sense in
making sure we achieve financial stability? Simple
questions, but our answers to them will tell us who we
are, where we are and where we will be.
These
may be rhetoric to some people, without real solutions
for real problems. I am not an economist and, luckily, I
am not a politician, but I view things with simplicity.
My
solution? Me. Make a better country by making a better
me. Be a responsible me. Raise my family properly, work
properly, run my personal affairs properly, manage my
personal finances properly and most important, be a
God-fearing me. Imagine what will happen if all of us
will do the same?
When the
baton gets passed to
Asia, do we take
part in it? Or do we just watch and applaud our
neighbors as mere spectators? The choice is ours.
****
J. Randell Tiongson is a training specialist,
personal-finance educator and coach and a director of
the Registered Financial Planning Institute. He has been
engaged in the various facets of the Financial Services
Industry for nearly two decades. He is also the
cofounder of
www.income-tacts.com with Efren Ll. Cruz, an
interactive site dedicated to the financial literacy of
every Pinoy. For inquiries, you may send an e-mail to randellt@gmail.com.
Join the 11th RFP Program (July 5-August 23, 2008).
Visit www.rfp-philippines.com or inquire at info@rfp-philippines.com/Tel.
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