We, Asian youth, are the future

By Sun Xi

Professor Kishore Mahbuabni, dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore and a top global thinker, wisely says, “Europe represents the past, America represents the present, Asia represents the future.”

Indeed, most Asian people have such confidence. According　to a latest online survey among 18,235 Internet users from 17 countries, five Asian countries: China (41 percent)，Indonesia (23 percent), Saudi Arabia (16 percent), Thailand (11 percent) and the United Arab Emirates (10 percent) are the top optimistic societies, who think the world is generally getting better.

Such confidence in a better future is likely backed by an un-ignorable fact: Asia is rising. Here are some simple but astonishing facts.

First, Asia’s share of the world GDP in real U.S.$ purchasing power parity (PPP) has risen steadily, from 23.2 percent in 1990 to 38.8 percent in 2014, and is forecast to expand to nearly 45 percent by 2025. In PPP terms, Asia has been the home for three of the world’s four largest economies, China, Japan and India.

Second, Asia’s share of global merchandise trade　has grown from 14% in 1948 to around 32 percent in 2014, with its exports growing three times faster than the rest of the world over the past decades. Between 2011 and 2014, Asia did more than any other region to lift merchandise export volume growth.

Third, 60 percent of the world’s population in Asia (4.4 billion) creates the largest market. The ageing population will be a big challenge for Asia, but meanwhile its current 500 million middle class is projected to triple to 1.75 billion in 2020, a huge momentum for Asia’s future development.

Of Course, there is no question that despite of huge growth potential, Asia is facing several critical shortcomings in achieving a more comprehensive and sustainable development.

First, Asia lacks a universal image, the economic, political and social disparities among Asian countries are huge; Second, Asia lacks unified and strong leadership, it is nearly impossible to form a strong regional union in the near future; Last but not the least, Asia lacks general consensus on universal values, especially human rights and democracy.

However, our "Asian Dream" will not end up as a mirage but eventually will turn into a reality. Hope for a better Asia comes from our Asian youth, especially those born after the 1980s.

First, there has been less hatred among young Asians. Very few Asian youth have personally participated in violent conflicts or directly confronted their Asian counterparts on battlefields. Asian youth blessedly do not have irreconcilable enmity with one another. This certainly helps create a valuable foundation for building trust and cooperation among them.

Second, Asian youth share a similar vision of peace and development. In this new era, war is a sunset business and going out of fashion. Instead, peace and development have become mainstream global objectives. Most Asian nations are keen to build peaceful societies which focus on economic development.

Last but not least, Asian youth cherish the value of mutual understanding and cooperation. They are the generation growing up with the Internet. In Asia, there are over a billion netizens and most are increasingly open-minded and actively involved young people in online communities. Information technology has made young Asians better connected than previous generations.

There is a Chinese maxim, "A youth is to be regarded with respect (hou sheng ke wei)," in the Wisdom of Confucius. Young people are without doubt the hopes for a better future.

The writer, a 1980s China-born alumnus of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, is a senior investment analyst and independent commentary writer based in Singapore. Write to sunshinelkyspp@gmail.com.