Heard of the Committee on the Future Economy Report?

News of this important report that will chart Singapore's economic directions for at least the next decade was splashed across the papers as front page news over the past two days.

Seven strategies were recommended by the 30-member committee, with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong accepting the strategies proposed on behalf of the government.

However, PM Lee said that "developing the strategies is the first step", because "what counts is how well we implement them to transform our economy".

Sounds like a daunting task, isn't it?

Here is a drinking game guide to keep you going if you want to stay awake reading the 132-page report this weekend.

The rules:

1. Get your Tiger beer ready.

2. Download this link.

3. Drink if the following incident occurs after you press "Ctrl+F".

First stop, the easy stage.

With significant geopolitical shifts and changes, and the anti-globalisation trends picking up in the US and Europe, let's look at how many times the major nations and regional institutions are mentioned in the report.

1. United States (US) -- mentioned 5 times.

"The US and Europe continue to have innovative companies and people whom we can work with."

Okay... Like Donald Trump?

2. Europe-- mentioned 11 times.

The whole continent received a few more mentions than the US, but the report said that "Europe continues to face structural problems, including high youth unemployment."

3. China -- mentioned 9 times

The CFE "see strong market potential in many parts of Asia – in particular ASEAN, China, and India".

The CEF also observed that Singapore’s township projects in China have delivered mutual benefits for both countries.

This excludes the two mentions on "Chinatown". The report mentioned that working with Chinatown Business Association to run various initiatives to add to the vibrancy and footfall in their precincts.

4. India -- mentioned 7 times

The report noted how "the Andhra Pradesh Capital City (Amaravati) Project in India, have opened up new opportunities in sectors such as logistics and urban solutions".

5. Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) -- mentioned 9 times

The report mentioned how the Singapore government should engage ASEAN to develop a regional digital policy.

It also mentioned one of Singapore's objectives as ASEAN Chair in 2018, which is to "help to advance economic integration within ASEAN and with its key partners".

Second stage - intermediate level.

As TODAY noted, "it has not gone unnoticed that several buzz phrases kept appearing in the economic committees’ reports over the span of 21 years -- such as innovation, entrepreneurship, skills, and deepening international links".

So let's assess how many times these words and other usual buzzwords were mentioned in the report.

6. Inclusive -- mentioned 10 times.

"An open and inclusive society" -- that's PM Lee's wish when he became Singapore's third PM.

The report mentioned "inclusive" a couple of times to remind the civil and public servants that the Government has to be "coordinated, inclusive, and responsive".

7. Entrepreneur / Entrepreneurship -- mentioned 19 times

Where are the pioneers of the next generation of Ron Sim (Osim) and Olivia Lum (Hyflux)?

One of the recommendations is to "expand our pipeline of entrepreneurial talent" by remaining open to global entrepreneurial talent, especially those who are prepared to collaborate with Singaporeans and Singapore-based companies.

Another recommendation is to teach entrepreneurial skills in our Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs).

8. Productivity -- mentioned 49 times

It has been mentioned many times in various economic reports, but there are no explicit productivity targets in this report.

Though it appears that there is some progress on this front. The report noted that "overall real productivity grew by 2.5% per annum between 2009 and 2016".

Jedi-level / Difficult level

9. Economy -- mentioned 118 times

It's a cop-out by us for not finding another word.

How can a report on Singapore's future economy not mention "economy" a few times?

Just drink.

10. Innovation.

The seventh strategy of the CFE report is to "partner each other to enable innovation and growth".

This includes ideas such as creating a regulatory environment to support innovation and risktaking; and setting up a Global Innovation Alliance (GIA).

In fact, the word "innovation" was mentioned a whopping 138 times in the report.

In other words, "innovation" is mentioned once or more in every page of the 132-page report on average.

So let's do this.

Drink every time you flip a page of the CFE.

Related articles:

Committee on the Future Economy Report: Heng Swee Keat presents a budget before budget

4 things S'poreans don't care about at the Committee on the Future Economy press conference

Top photo by Chan Cheow Pong

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