Saturday, November 13, 2010

Singapore Visit

I'm writing this from the Singapore Airport lounge of Singapore Airlines. It is 7.40pm now and the boarding will start within an hour. Should reach Kolkata by 10.40 pm today.

The visit sponsored by the World Bank was very useful. I was amazed how a city-country only 700 sq km (max 43 km one way) can develop so well. In course of our interaction with their agencies, I saw in photos and presentations how things were just as bad as in India in the 70s - Singapore was independent in 1965 - and it is amazing to see how they are now. My last fortnight's memory of Boston / New York is almost merging with that of Singapore.

What are the take-aways from this visit? To my mind, it is this: there is no short cut, but if there is a will to undertake a longish journey, then we can too.

1 comment:

  1. Sir,ur feelings of the visit almost reminds me of mine when i 1st visited same with my wife in 90 n the gulf war started during my stay.Before flying to hongkong from there i only silently saluted the legendry hero The Great Mr Lee n the citizens who all contributed to same

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