Growing digital gulf a very troubling situation: Lee

Growing digital gulf a very troubling situation: Lee

SINGAPORE (AFP): The growing technological divide between the
rich and poor Southeast Asian nations creates a worrying
situation, Singapore's elder statesman Lee Kuan Yew said on
Monday.

Catching up with wealthier neighbors would be an uphill task
because of a lack of resources, Lee told a forum held in
conjunction with CommunicAsia 2001, the region's top
communication and information technology show.

Unlike the United States which is surrounded by neighbors that
are just as technologically-savvy, Singapore is "in a less
fortunate position partly because of history and mainly because
governments have pursued other objectives instead of education
and catching up with the modern world," he said.

"And it is not easy to see how they can catch up and it's
worrying for us," said Lee, the former premier who is widely
credited for transforming the resource-poor city-state into one
of Asia's wealthiest countries.

Citing Myanmar and Laos as examples, he said that countries
left behind not only lack infrastructure but also educated
people.

"And this brings me to a subject which is very troubling for
us, because unlike the United States we are surrounded by
countries which are on the other side of the digital divide," he
said.

The problem is not going to improve anytime soon because the
more technologically advanced countries like Singapore and
Malaysia are making progress in their climb up the ladder, he
said.

"It's a problem which is going to fester everytime we have a
meeting in one of the more developed countries and they can see
just how much they are being left behind and that's a very
unhappy situation," Lee, now a senior minister, said.

Yet there is a limit as to how much affluent Singapore can
help its less advanced neighbors, said Lee, who also mentioned
that Indonesia had recently sought the city-state's help.

"Yes, we can help to train them, but how many (people)?" he
said.

"What we are talking about might be something Marshall," he
said, in reference to the U.S.-led Marshall Plan that helped
Europe recover from the World War II.

Lee said the governments involved must also have the will to
spearhead the technological revolution in their own backyards.

"Really, we can't solve problems which have to be solved by
that country's own government," he said. "They've got to decide
what their priorities are."

The forum touched upon fears by some Asian countries that they
would lose their national identities as they try to move up the
technological ladder.

Lee said it would be futile to fight against the ongoing
information technology (IT) revolution based on the U.S. business
model.

"There will be some countries in the Third World who believe
there is a third way but I think if they spend some time looking
into it, they will conclude that in this global marketplace you
got to adopt (the) best practices or you will lose," he said.

The Europeans, and increasingly the Japanese, are now
following the U.S. model, Lee said.

Former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker, who also spoke in
a live video web conference from the United States, agreed with
Lee's assessment.

"I think you can separate doing business and cultural
considerations," he said.

"As we move with the IT revolution and as globalization takes
hold, it does not mean that we are going to eradicate differences
based on religion, culture, ethnicity," Baker added.