Vietnam's a mere two-hour flight from Singapore, but they're two centuries apart in development. it's not a simple task to find things in which Vietnam fares as well as Singapore. but in 2007, there're at least two fields that see Vietnam on par with Singapore. or even better.

let's first talk inflation. in Vietnam, fuel prices are just increased by VND 1,700 per litre, thereby "fuelling" even further food prices. even salarymen of VND 3 million a month are feeling the crunch. well, sympathy aside, i should be happy i'm gonna live in a more expensive neighbourhood without having to move when i return home this December.

so as Singapore's roaring to its all-time high inflation rate of 5%, Vietnam's galloping to 10% odd. this is ridiculous. everybody needs to spend more on everything, especially when i think we need to save money. well, in case it becomes valuable again in the future. inflated hope?

next comes the economics of traffic jam: in Hanoi and HCMC, demand outstrips supply, thus unit price must increase. and so the ladies and gentlemen up above decide to impose annual vehicle usage fee, and increase new registration charges. sounds like best-practice policies to streamline the humongous traffic volumes as world-class Singapore has it too. a lot of it.

but ladies and gentlemen, please mind the 198-year divide. in Singapore, people can rely on convenient public transport to avoid the high cost of driving. but it's a mission impossible alternative for the million motorists in Vietnam.

just my late-night scribble. maybe the hours on my macroeconomics revision for tomorrow exam have been exciting enough for me to spot the similarities between the different Vietnam and Singapore. but please, don't gimme more of this.

it's been conventional wisdom that Vietnam's prime time has come. this Lexus owner (whose Vietnam friend heads VinaCapital) could travel to Ho Chi Minh City way more often than me. and media coverage on the country has been like torrents of positivity. also look at the international attention the Prime Minister commands on his overseas visits.

when the hype runs high, it's always good to be attached to reality so yeah, i shall be a cynic on the other side of the coin, less polished and less frequented.

let's see. FDI's gonna exceed US$12 billion this year. but no, Vietnam's energy resources are seriously too wanting to materialise half of that. not to mention the severe inadequacy of connectivity. the proportion of investment that materialises into factories comes at the cost of environmental degradation, which if accounted for could well reduce real GDP growth by 4 to 5 percentage points. so yeah, even as Vietnam's roaring to its 8.5% growth benchmark, there's little cause for celebration.

there's still the other villain of "galloping" inflation. the PM demands controlled price increase. but looks like his ministers could best hold it at 8%, due to the inherent high import composition of the economy, especially of petrol and diesel fuel. but 8% is ridiculous. minimum wage rate is expected to rise, but that's too little to even play good catch-up, let alone a keep-up game, with inflation.

it doesn't at all matter to the Da Nang man who just ordered a US$2 million private yacht or the HCMC tycoon with his US$1.5 million chauffeured limousine. but damn it, to the civil servants and school teachers and even university lecturers whose average pay is at most US$150, the case's alarming. to think many are intellectuals. "cheap grey matter" eh.

to the extent that Vietnam is littered with such impediments, it's simply economic growth, not at all economic development. the conventional wisdom is kind of unconventional after all.