Political friction

But what about Asean's sluggishness in fostering intra-regional cooperation so far and the very real political obstacles?

To that, she says there is no denying that neighbourly political frictions exist. 'I'm a business type, and problems are to be managed, not avoided or ignored.

'Our neighbours are not opposed to trade, investment or external linkages - they keep promoting these to the rest of the world. They also welcome Chinese investment, from Hong Kong, Taiwan and China. We need to ask: Why have they apparently singled us out? Any problem has two sides.'

Singapore, she says, cannot take the obvious lead in Asean economic integration but it can 'work behind the scenes and be enthusiastic' about it. As for trade, a high proportion of Singapore's linkages with its neighbours are due to its entrepot function. 'There is relatively little of domestic exports, imports and investments and could be much more.'

One obvious political problem is having government-linked companies (GLCs) invest in neighbours, she says. 'There are understandable concerns, even further afield, about foreign government investments. These concerns would be mitigated if it was private enterprises doing the investing and many have without any trouble. But there just aren't enough of them.'

Dr Lim worries that this is because many Singaporeans are stumped by a 'can't do' culture of limitation. Oft-heard excuses are: 'We're too small' and 'Our neighbours hate us.'

'Too small might have been an issue 40 years ago,' she retorts. 'No longer. In terms of GDP, we're probably mid-sized in the world. Globalisation has broken down barriers and made our economic space bigger.

'Smallness is not a reality but a state of mind. Everyone else, the Thais and Indonesians, think: 'If only we had a fraction of your resources...'. It will never be enough if we have this kind of 'think small' attitude. Singapore is one of the richest countries in the world according to per capita income. If wealth did not buy you the liberty to think bigger, then you've failed.'

She dearly hopes that this crisis will change Singaporeans - 'to be more willing to change, to innovate, to take risks, to trust ourselves and each other, to draw on our native inventiveness, to get out of our comfort zone'.

Elsewhere, when there are problems, the people rise in collective action.

In China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, she notes, small export-oriented factories are struggling but quickly innovating on their own to survive. But in Singapore, news reports only mention what the Government is doing by way of handouts.

She relates: 'On my way in from Changi Airport, I asked my taxi-driver if he was worried about the recession. He said: 'It's okay. Our Government will come up with the solution'.'

But perhaps this reflexive abdicating of solutions to the state is the 'problem of perfection' here, she says.

She cites Infosys Technologies founder Narayana Murthy, who attributes the flourishing of India's IT sector, which was largely unregulated by its government, to the 'value of imperfection'.

'Because Indians live in such an imperfect place, they think big to solve problems and developed an imagination beyond constraints.'

But it is not too late for Singapore.

'I believe part of our humanness is our ability to change. We are adaptive organisms. If our environment and incentive changes, we can change too.'

As a parting shot, she quotes newly-elected US President Barack Obama's inaugural address on Jan 20: 'The world has changed - and we must change with it.'

To that she adds: 'If we think we're the only ones who don't have to change, then we're the ones being contrarian.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times.