I love people like you. Do keep up the good work & keep your narrow behinds out of India.

The less of the likes like you have dealings with India, the better for the rest of us. Thomas Hardy sums people like you nicely, “There is a condition worse than blindness, and that is, seeing something that isn’t there.”

Dr Frankenstein, just to correct a little fact. Chandrababu Naidu was the former CM of Andhra Pradesh. He rightly deserves recognition for developing Hyderabad into an economic power, but the former Karnataka CM responsible for Bangalore’s rapid growth as an IT powerhouse is S.M. Krishna (the current External Affairs Minister).

what the writer speaks about is how impressive india’s growth has been despite not relying chiefly on exports. it is one growth story where its largely the result of people’s efforts and little on the government side. it is a success story that will unfold as time goes by and the full potential of india is unleashed.

the dismal side of india is equally depressive. its only given that as a country achieves economic growth, the number of poor will decline though the proportion may not and the severity of poverty can actually worsen with the larger divide

so overall how do one rate india. the growth story of india isnt like any other asian country which chiefly has been export oriented and cheap labour. indian masses has not just within the middle class but also the working class high competency despite the inefficiencies. they can manuerve their economy into any terrain they want as they have the skills. that puts india in a stable and sustainable growth path being in a position to grab opportunities as they come along

as to the poverty issue, its due to two factors. one – the politicians who are not interested in eradicating poverty. they actually want to preserve the poverty for their own votes and to protect their power to be corrupt and unquestioned. two – the middle class who actually dont want to accept there is poverty in their country. they rather live in their illusion maybe because it makes them less guilty of their consumption patterns.

in summary, in economic terms, the growth of india is phenomenal. poverty remains a major economic problem but its due to social and political realities which cannot be resolved with economic solutions.

India is probably at the stage Singapore was in the 70s and 80s whereby a growing middle class further stimulates domestic economic growth. Unfortunately, Singapore is so small that we have reached the limit for the middle class to continue to sustain the economic growth. In simple terms, the Singapore economy has outgrew the Middle Class.

I would say having a better understanding of India’s economic structure would help us Singaporeans to identify commercial opportunities in India. Cross-border trade is still the way forward for continued economic growth for Singapore.

What bothers me is the implication that some strategies (for eg, consumption-driven economy, deliberate concessions for local producers etc) are suitable for Singapore just because they work for India. For one, there is no way for domestic consumption to bear the bulk of the GDP based on Singapore’s current population size and demography.

Again, I have no problems with facts. But projecting the facts into recommendations requires more prudence.

I like a discourse! It is nice to read why readers disagree with the author. It not only enlightens the author on points that he/she could have missed, but also highlight perspectives and alternative interpretation of the same fact that would have made a better thesis It is learning curve for all readers and writers, isn’t it? We learn, we improve, and we write better articles in future.

You arguments suggest that you are of the opinion that only the service sector is capable of elevating one’s status to the middle class. I was wondering if you could further elaborate why it is not possible or substantially more difficult for an Indian to elevate to the Middle Class through the manufacturing sector.

Looking forward to your reply.

I appreciate you providing your viewpoints and applaud you for taking the time to write for us.

Writing for an online newspaper like TOC means that you are going to get loads of feedback. Some of which you may not like or agree with. You shouldn’t view my points as being negative; I’m simply pointing out why I disagree.

One piece of advice: You owe it to the readers to provide factually correct articles. As Dr Frankenstein @ 3 has pointed out, your article is riddled with factual errors.

Please realize that I am not being “bitter” here, I am providing you with constructive advice. I would point you to articles written by your colleagues Andrew Loh and Gerald Giam. I often don’t agree with them either but their articles are factually correct and well thought out.

I hope that this does not discourage you from writing more articles for TOC because having a diverse range of views is what makes this site interesting.

I dont’ agree that my point is moot. While many other countries have had to face discrimination and poverty, none has had the unique challenge that India faces. Not only is the middle class a very small % of the population, the middle class unlike traditional economies is services based. A service based economy requires a very literate and educated work force.

Consider this: Traditional middle classes have advanced through manufacturing. The leap from agrarian societies to industry does require skill set changes but it does not require one to have a very high level of education. In India’s case, most of the middle class comes from services. The leap from an agriculture based society to services based is much larger and, to my knowledge, has not been implemented before.

Compound this with the fact that 80% of the population is currently not in middle class and has little means to advance and you realize the big leap that India has to make is stupefying.

The author encourages us to consider the alternative path that India is taking (vs an export driven east Asian country). He talks about the growing middle class that drives the growth, and how India may have a stable development trajectory, but he neglects to inform us about the real challenges and problems India faces. He does allude to the usual infrastructure/ bureaucratic problems etc but doesn’t tell us about the scale of poverty that India endures in return for this consumptive middle class. If readers had been informed of these issues, they would be less inclined to desire such an economic model.

One final point: I don’t think India is stably developing in its current form. If 10% of the population does very well, and the other 80+% has little means of participating in such gains, it is a tinderbox waiting to explode.

Abhishek@ 10. I liked your response a lot. Thanks for enlightening us. At the end of the day, a prosperous and peaceful India and China is good for all of us!

it’s not negative…just reality check! Yes…indians will alway be indians..at the expense of others! I don’t need to elaborate…Until and unless…they understand what’s is global and international playing field…it’s still another 100 years for me…dont get me wrong…majority of my friends are indians. However, as far as biz is concerned…it’s extra effort for me!

I really enjoyed reading this perspective on India. I must say you’ve brought out some important features of our economy. I always enjoy reading pieces on India written by a visitor, because you sometimes have to stand outside to look inside.

‘India has had the notorious reputation of being economically slow. Delays are rampant, work deadlines are often promised but not met, and there is a general perception that Indians lack a sense of urgency with regards to business.

Infrastructure is also undeveloped. Potholes are numerous, blackouts frequent, and the ubiquitous Indian traffic where people drive with little regard for road rules and direction, are still present even in the relatively developed IT hub of Bangalore.’ These lines are right on mark. Indians run on an Indian Standard Time as I joke sometimes. Infrastructure is so badly strained because of the congestion and population. Roads have pot holes because they see so much traffic everyday. Blackouts occur, because grids don’t mature as quickly as demand does. And Indian traffic sense scares me daily, I don’t have any explanation for this other than that perhaps people are so tired of waiting everywhere else, on roads they make as mush haste as possible.

Also about local bureaucracy, it is frustrating sometimes. But I’ve seen it become better over a period of 3-4 years. For citizens it is getting much smoother, but there’s lot to be done before perfection.

A very good point about startups. Being a student entrepreneur, I can say more and more of my friends find it rewarding to run a business, because entry for barriers are low. Businesses are built to solve problems and we have a million problems waiting to solved :)

I have a few additions. First is that I don’t think any of us in India think about China as competition, unlike the outside world talking about some sort of competition quoting GDP growth rates. I always find this funny, as my Chinese friends do as well.

Secondly I think you’ve seen only the IT hub of India, and not too many other industries. Perhaps being in Delhi or Mumbai would have shown you a different side of India. Bangalore is a city of mostly highly educated migrants, because it is so highly focused on IT. And the city grew so suddenly in the past decade that it is still suffering under the strain. And it has nothing to do with British Defence :). Just a very active CM and state government.
Mumbai is a city always in hurry, but has an impeccable traffic sense as does Delhi.

Finally to all the people who’ve commented here. I agree there are a lot of problems that some of us urban folk aren’t even aware of, but things are getting better and quickly. Every generation is doing better than the previous, but if you use sheer numbers that you quote while using statistics things will look gloomy.

You live in a country that has systems designed for and to be used by few people, it is the opposite problem to solve in India. High population is a problem but we are still figuring out how to make it a strength.

Oh and Indians will always remain Indians :) I agree. We are a proud country and I think you will hardly find many pictures of even the poorest of people not smiling at the camera.

Cheers!

I celebrate this mode of development because we’ve (especially the PAP) have chosen to focus on China, and how the crisis has impacted its export industry. We often forget India as the number 2 upcoming country, and the fact that it seems to have a more stable mode of growth not subjected to the vagaries of the international financial system. Added to that is their focus on organicism – driving the economy through startups – and taking a more cautious approach to development even though it slows down the process of major infrastructural development in the rural areas.

Honestly, I didn’t expect the first views to be so negative.

As a country transitions from 3rd world to 1st world, there will always be discrimination and people living below the poverty line. I think your points are moot because the author celebrates the path of development India is taking. How do you measure the success of a country’s economic strategy – a growing middle class or a falling number of people who live below the poverty line?

Talk to one Indian friend= 1st hand experience? One of my friend’s wife who is a teacher, once asked me when I returned from a one year stint in a Jakarta University whether it is safe to travel there because of the Bali blasts in 2002. So can I take it that all Singapore teachers are ignorant, sterotypical and have no sense of geography and direction? Obviously not……