Open-Day – get there!

ASIA:
Where Art Thou Going?
We continue with a bit on continents.
It was such fun doing the one on Europe.
Now for Asia! This huge mysterious place.
Let us do geography first.
Asia is about 30% of the world’s landmass with 60%
of the population - some 4,4 billion people. Asia also
has deserts and empty spaces, which means that the
areas that people occupy is crowded. Very crowded.
Wikipedia says: In the late 1980s and early 1990s,
Japan’s GDP was almost as large as that of the rest
of Asia combined. In 1995, Japan’s economy nearly
equaled that of the USA as the largest economy in
the world for a day, after the Japanese currency
reached a record high of 79 yen/US$.
Economic growth in Asia since World War II to the
1990s had been concentrated in Japan as well as the
four regions of South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and
Singapore. It is forecasted that India will overtake
Japan in terms of nominal GDP by 2020. By 2027,
according to Goldman Sachs, China will have the
largest economy in the world.
Asia has got it all: oil, diamonds, gold and everything
else.
India has more than a million millionaires, but
also 20% of the world’s poor live in India. And not
all countries in Asia are rich. Look at Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Mongolia and so on.
The differences are huge.
What we need to remember is that Asia was
devastated after World War II. There was not much
development outside of Japan and the Philippines
to begin with. And what was left after 1945 was just
about nothing.
How did they do it?
We might laugh at the Japanese workers’ zeal, but
let us face it. If all workers show up two hours early
for work (and not expecting any pay for that) and
go home 2-3 hours later than expected (and not
expecting pay for that) and where taking annual
leave is showing no commitment to the company (so
you don’t go on holiday), well, no wonder they are
so successful..
With China unleashing the creativity and the zeal of
its billions after waving goodbye to communism, it is
no wonder that China will be the dominant country
within the next 20 years.
It is education. Any Asian country is focused on
42 >>>HOLA MAHIGH-SCHOOL