Singapore at 50

by Padma de Silva

"You know the Singaporean. He is a hard-working, industrious, rugged individual. Or we would not have made the grade." - Lee Kuan Yew

There are only a few cities in the world where I feel totally at home. Colombo obviously is the place where I work and live and is the closest to my heart. But apart from our own Colombo, I don't feel like a tourist in several other places - London, New York (Manhattan, really), Hong Kong, Toronto and Singapore. These are cities I know like the back of my hand, where I could not get lost even if I wanted to. But out of all these, I feel more attached emotionally and physically (it is less than four hours away) to fellow Asian city Singapore. Out of all these cities, it is also the only place I can literally fly out to on a whim - with no visa needed, it is a case of 'have passport, will travel'.

Today is a very special day for Singapore and indeed, for the whole of Asia because the City State is turning 50. Inhabitants of the Malaysian peninsula and the island of Singapore first migrated to the area between 2500 and 1500 B.C. British and Dutch interest in the region grew with the spice trade, and the trading post of Singapore was founded in 1819 by Sir Stamford Raffles. It was made a separate Crown colony of Britain in 1946, when the former colony of the Straits Settlements was dissolved. Singapore attained full internal self-government in 1959. On September 16, 1963, Singapore joined Malaya, Sabah (North Borneo), and Sarawak in the Federation of Malaysia. It withdrew from the federation on August 9, 1965, and a month later proclaimed itself a republic.

From an underdeveloped city in 1965 to a highly developed economic powerhouse in 2015, Singapore has undergone a vast transformation in just 50 years, a process that many other Asian countries have not been able to replicate.

A sense of discipline

Within a generation, Singapore has moved from the Third World to the First World. When Singapore gained independence in 1965, its Per Capita Income was a paltry US$ 500. Today, it is US$ 62,400, which is much higher than even those of Japan and South Korea, the other two developed countries in Asia. Only oil-rich Qatar is ahead of Singapore in this respect.

And Singapore - and 5.5 million Singaporeans - have one man to thank for, for their development and greatness - Lee Kuan Yew, sometimes fondly referred to as LKY. The elder Statesman and the country's first Prime Minister who was synonymous with Singapore unfortunately passed away earlier this year before he could see fellow Singaporeans celebrating their country's Golden Jubilee.

LKY is rightly credited for transforming the Lion City (Singapore is derived from Sinhapura, which essentially means city of lions) from a sleepy Asian backwater to a modern metropolis. It is nothing short of a miracle, when you consider this bare fact: Singapore is a tiny island of just 700 Sq Km with hardly any natural resources.

In fact, having seen the progress achieved by Sri Lanka, which was far ahead of most other Asian countries by the time it gained independence in 1948, LKY spoke of his desire to emulate that success.

However, he watched in dismay as Sri Lanka succumbed to the primitive lure of communal politics that dragged it back by many decades. He was determined to eliminate such ethnically motivated politics from the Singaporean socio-political landscape and instill a sense of discipline in the populace. Today, both these ideals have been realized.

The facts speak for themselves: Along with Hong Kong, it is a major economic hub of Asia; US$ 339 billion GDP; superb transport infrastructure with one of the world's best and busiest airports (Changi) and metros - the public transport system is so good that Singaporeans have to purchase Certificates of Entitlement (COE) costing up to S$ 70,000 to buy a car; amazing buildings and structures such as Marina Bay Sands; 90% home ownership; 84 years life expectancy; high tech industries with exports exceeding US$ 400 billion per year; superb health and education infrastructure; seven million tourists a year (to see varied attractions ranging from Jurong Bird Park to Sentosa Island) and most important of all, complete ethnic and religious harmony.

Just ask a Singaporean who he or she is and invariably, the reply will be "I am a Singaporean". He or she can be Chinese, Malay, Indian or Eurasian. The language spoken could be Mandarin, Malay, Hokkien, Tamil, Cantonese or English. But those are immaterial as long as everyone calls himself or herself a Singaporean. This is just one of the reasons for Singapore's success. That is one lesson that Sri Lanka (and indeed all other countries where ethnic tensions have created havoc) can learn from Singapore.

There are those who say that Singapore had achieved development at the expense of personal liberties for its citizens. Indeed, Singapore is the only country in the world where chewing gum is banned and there are very heavy fines for everything from spitting on the road to traffic offences. But LKY thought of it as a necessary evil if Singapore was to be developed. This is what the great statesman himself had to say on this matter: "I am often accused of interfering in the private lives of citizens. Yes, if I did not, we wouldn't be here today. And I say without the slightest remorse, that we wouldn't be here, we would not have made economic progress, if we had not intervened on very personal matters". At the end of the day, these laws have transformed Singapore into what it is today and Singaporeans are justifiably proud of their spotlessly clean city with its clockwork efficiency.

Zero tolerance for corruption

Singapore is 'clean' in more ways than one. LKY had zero tolerance for corruption and his famous 'Clean Hands' campaign set the tone for harsh anti-corruption measures. Thanks to his efforts, Singapore is still the only Asian country ranked within the top 10 of Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index.

There are at least two other people who made Singapore "happen" - Dr. Goh Keng Swee, the architect of Singapore's economic miracle and Sri Lanka born S. Rajaratnam, Singapore's first foreign minister and visionary thinker.

The three of them also implemented three major policies - Meritocracy, Pragmatism and Honesty - that took Singapore to great heights.

There are many lessons that we can draw from Singapore's success story, from ethnic harmony to social discipline. Just like LKY, all Singaporeans have a special place in their hearts for Sri Lanka and over the years, the two countries have developed excellent relations. People-to-people contact between the two countries has soared thanks to visa-free travel either way.

This relationship will no doubt grow stronger in the years to come. Today, as fellow Asians Singaporeans celebrate the Golden Jubilee of their independence as a dynamic, even futuristic nation, we are all Singaporeans in spirit.