some singapore advice for obama

This is pretty random, but I always feel pride when Singapore reflects well in the global media:

Invest in the political positions as well as in the permanent professional staff.

Too many politicians overvalue the former and undervalue the latter. But you just can't build lasting greatness without staffing the Administration with competent professionals at all levels, including young staffers with potentials who will continue strengthening the country long after the Presidential mandate is over. At the time of its independence, Singapore's founding fathers realized that without natural resources or scale its only way to grow was to invest in talent. They systematically have attracted the best people, both to key political appointments and its exemplary civil service, for over four decades now. As a result, since 1965 Singapore's gross national product per capita multiplied by a factor of eight in real terms (constant dollars), while that in the U.S. multiplied by a factor of less than three.

From Claudio Fernández-Aráoz, "Obama's First Priority: Hiring the Right People", BusinessWeek, Nov 7 2008
http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/nov2008/ca2008117_893589.htm