Taiwan...

It was in the 90s that Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea and Singapore became the 4 young dragons of Asia. I am not sure if this is in comparison with China. As far as I know, the opening of China happened during the 90s and it was fast to absorb almost all the manufacturing opportunities of the region. I remember at that time, the news in the market that only Taiwan and Hong Kong have the capability to benefit from China. Now it seems no longer possible.

My understanding from my colleague from Taiwan painted me a different picture of how Taiwan perform. China did not help Taiwan but slowly draining it dry. While manufacturing migrated to China, it deprived  Taiwanese of their livelihood. In fact, even with coninuous innovation, Taiwan's economy continued to deteriorate.

As far as I know, the starting pay of Taiwanese Engineers is much lower than Singapore's. One reason is probably because Taiwan universities continue to mass produce Engineers from locals, Singapore wise not. If you visit Singapore's universities' Engineering department, you will be surprise how few locals there are. I understand that the average starting pay of Taiwanese Engineers are around SGD1,500 mark? Singapore at least maintain SGD2,500. Such is the sorry state of Taiwanese Engineers.

When I read the Taiwan Weigthted Index, I am surprised. Taiwan actually peaked during 1990 before it plunged, ever since then, it has never recovered to its golden year's peak. So how is it that the world continue to believe Taiwan's economical progress? I worked in a Taiwanese company during the early 2000 and as far as I know all eyes were focused on Taiwan. Electronic components companies set up their headquarters there to be close to the gold mine. Even the the migration of industries to China, Taiwan remained the IPO for the factories.

Another thing that is interesting is that Taiwan further deterioted by 2008. If you look at the chart, the drop of 2008 went further than that from 1998. It did not happen with Singapore. Is this because that Taiwan maintained a larger chunk fo its manufacturing in Taiwan during the 90s while most migrated out to China by 2008, that makes it more vulnerable?

If you look at the whole chart, you can say that Taiwan has been stagnant since 1990.