Alas, the health care debate in the US is covered here, but not in an alarmist way, since Singaporeans are neither without coverage (it is universal) nor on the hook for future liabilities. There have been a few op-eds by Singaporeans patting themselves on the back for having such a good system (even The Wall Street Journal editorial pages has sung its praises). Evidence, perhaps, that this Lion City is better governed than the US. But all that has taken a back seat this weekend.

Asians are a commercial people and when they look at the US, they see what is still the world’s largest consumer economy. Therefore, maintaining stability in the relationship – and ensuring that trade continues to flow – is the foremost priority. On that front, Obama has given all the right messages on supporting free trade (traditionally, Republicans are preferred by Asians since they are seen as more mercantile-focused than those pesky Democrats with their focus on issues like human rights). Additionally, the POTUS seems to have walked the fine line of appeasing Japan without offending China, which is, after all, the best way of ensuring that regional tensions do not interfere with trade.

Furthermore, the current kerfuffle over Afghanistan is no issue here. The news is reported but the problem is seen as remote. If anything, people think the US is wasting its resources, leading to the potential premature demise of its empire. While people want the US to remain a customer, the depletion of its power is not lamented in most of Asia, Singapore being an exception because it so values US dominance of the seas as the best way to ensure continued flow of trade through the world’s busiest port.

As for the big news of postponing climate change action, I cannot think of a better place for Obama to have announced that action, since the reason for the postponement is largely on his back for not getting any legislation in place this year. Asian governments are generally not too keen on any sort of binding treaty, as they prefer to grow their economies unfettered. Had the announcement been made in Europe, I imagine the protests would have been fierce. Likewise, in Africa, which is trying to hold Western governments for a ransom over climate change, reaction would not have been positive. I think it was fortuitous that this announcement came from Asia, where the story will have the least impact.

So, all in all, a perfect time for Obama to escape all the criticism in Washington for adulation in Asia. I bet he will miss his honeymoon when he has to get back to the business of government and the hard issues of health care and Afghanistan.

A century on, one has been acclaimed the greatest nation in the history of the world and one is a basket case. So what went wrong with Argentina, a country that, though it has some of the proudest people on earth, is a byword for bad governance and is experiencing emigration on a massive scale by people going back to countries they once fled?

Simply put, it can be put down to poor governance. While the United States by and large embraced capitalism and the rule of law, adopting appropriate regulations for the securities industry and against monopolies to promote capitalism, Argentina took a different route. It championed national producers, prevented external competition and became rife with corruption rather than the rule of law.

The results of these divergent approaches to governance are clear. Whereas Argentina fell behind its neighbors Chile and Brazil, the United States became a ‘hyperpower’ admired around the world.

The reason I tell this story is that it is by no means clear that history cannot be reversed, and the US fall down the path that Argentina went down. Our rapidly spiraling national debt and nationalization of industries such as finance, automaking and insurance show that the US’s position as a world power is by no means secure.

Living in Singapore drives this point home. On a recent visit to New York, I was reminded of America’s deteriorating infrastructure and general sense of decline. When I had lived there previously, that was part of its charm. Living in a country that is shinier and is without problems such as homelessness and crime, the problems America has are put in a much sharper focus.

It would be wrongheaded to blame Obama for the current state of affairs. Much was inherited. And yet, this is where he finds himself. In the view from Asia, America could become another Argentina. A country full of people that think they are the best in the world that are in fact an overly indebted laughing stock.

Asia is traditionally Republican territory.  The primary focus of Asian governments is trade, which also happens to be something favoured by Republican administrations.  Human rights, something that Democrats focus on, are treated as a distraction at best and a threat at worst.  Simply put, most Asian countries are much closer to the experience of true poverty than most Western nations, and thus prefer to focus on economic growth rather than human rights violations, and they find the Republicans to be stronger partners than Democrats, who often have other concerns.*  The fact that George Bush the elder was once the Ambassador to Beijing does not hurt.

Despite the Asian predilection for Republicans, the winds of the world are not lost on them.   Most Asians that I have encountered had lost faith in Bush and are excited about a change.  In addition, due to the positive press Obama has been receiving, most are favourably disposed to him.  It certainly helps that most are favourably inclined towards America to begin with, but the goodwill definitely seems sincere.  From government officials to taxi drivers, people are genuinely excited about the potential of a Barack Obama presidency and wish him well.

The excitement with Obama, alas, is for the man rather than for everything he represents.  While it would be unfair to label all Asians this way, an undercurrent of racism persists in many areas.  While Asians are happy to speak publicly about their appreciations of Obama, they are equally happy to share their views about African-Americans in private.  I will give an example.  I recently had a dinner with a former high ranking Filipino government official who is now a businessman.  Shortly after praising Obama, he began pressing me on how America is dealing with its “negro problem”.  Perhaps it was a slip of the tongue, but the conversation went downhill from there after I told him that we now call them African-Americans, that they are equal citizens, and that many have acheived great prominence and wealth in a multitude of disciplines, including academia and finance as well as the arts, etc..  Suffice it to say, his racial views persist.  I do not raise these issues generally, but, when they come up, the sentiment is often similar, indicating that much work remains to to be done to makes Asians more favourably disposed to people of African origin.

I end this, my first note, by reiterating that Asia wholeheartedly welcomes Obama.  However, it would be premature to read too much into this, given its general Republican leanings and, in particular, China’s, rumblings about the continued viability of the US currency as a long term store of value.  The permanency of the US as a world leader, despite a shiny new face, remains in doubt around Asia and it is up to Obama and his new administration, which have caused much excitement, to follow through on the excitement and create policies that make Asia content.

*If Americans and Europeans had longer memories, they would recall the Irish potato famine and the Okies, among other instances of white poverty and understand the Asian mindset of concentrating on growing wealth as the first priority, but our memories are alas extremely short, so we often ignore the millions of impoverished poeple that have died in our past in our current negotiations and focus instead on issues that many Asians consider to be ancillary to rising out of poverty.