The privileged classes of SG & Myanmar

[kojakbt]

There are many similarities between Singapore and Myanmar. Both are governed by the ruling elites. In Myanmar, it is governed by the Junta. Many of the state owned businesses are run by families of the Junta. They also ensure that the Army personel are well paid since the Junta depends on the support of the Army. In Singapore, it is governed by the PAP party where the Lee family (LKY and son) has control. Majority of Singapore's domestic economy is controlled by PAP establishments through state-owned enterprises.

Hence, it is the people are who "connected" either directly or indirectly through the PAP's or Junta's establishments in these 2 countries will get rich quickly. The countries' interests are hence interlocked with the personal interests of these people. In Singapore and Myanmar, it is no wonder that the rich has become richer while the poor has become poorer. The rich-poor divides of these 2 countries are getting wider.

So, it's no surprise that the latest Gini-coefficients (measure of rich and poor divide) of both Singapore and Myanmar are quite similar. According to UN info:

http://www.visionofhumanity.org/gpi/results/singapore/2009/ - Singapore's is 42.5 (highest among the 1st world's nations).
http://www.visionofhumanity.org/gpi/results/myanmar/2009/ - Myanmar's is 40.0 (in fact, we are even worse than Myanmar).

By comparison, these four 1st world countries with similar population size as Singapore's:
http://www.visionofhumanity.org/gpi/results/ireland/2009/ - 34.3
http://www.visionofhumanity.org/gpi/results/denmark/2009/ - 24.7
http://www.visionofhumanity.org/gpi/results/finland/2009/ - 26.9
http://www.visionofhumanity.org/gpi/results/norway/2009/ - 25.8