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. |