OPINION | 12 Lee Kuan Yew Policies that Transformed Singapore

2015-0328 OPINION 12 Lee Kuan Yew Policies that Transformed Singapore

Lee Kuan Yew. AFP FILE PHOTO

Lee Kuan Yew does not have a name that rings Western ears, and Singapore is not familiar to many people outside ASEAN. It is quite unfortunate that the death of such an upright and consistent statesman, a model politician whose pragmatism should be emulated, is going to pass unnoticed by most people. His great feat cannot be ignored: create prosperity and bigger possibilities of happiness in a hostile and resource-less territory of the globe.

Right after their deaths, Hugo Chávez and Margaret Thatcher received insults or praises depending on the ideological filter of the opinion-maker. But it seems the death of LKY is not going to be as widely remarked on as it should.

This is most probably because his unorthodox political mindset did not carry the socialist faith or neoliberal Darwinism. His ideas about how to take charge of the destiny of a tiny city-state, although never systematized, deserve to be better known, thoroughly discussed, and studied. To do that, it would be necessary to touch on the recent history of the small island of Singapore.

Singapore, at the end of the Malayan Peninsula, was expelled from the recently independent Federation of Malaysia in 1965 after the severe 1964 inter-ethnic riots between Malays and Chinese. LKY found himself prime minister of a minuscule portion of the earth without any remarkable resources, full of social tensions, located between two hostile neighbors, and without any promising perspective to prosper.

LKY felt forced to take quickly emergency measures which could enable the viability of the small territory:

1. To look for international recognition. The legitimacy and the search of powerful allies prevented the territory from being easily attacked by foreign nations.

2. To liberalize the economy in order to attract foreign investors and get loans. As of today, Singapore is one of the top countries in terms of economic freedom. Philippines, in contrast, protects the oligarchies forcing foreign investors to find and trust a local partner. To change this would take no less than an amendment in the Constitution.

3. To maximize the profitability of its strategic location through the port fees. The gains were wisely reinvested in public works and infrastructure.

4. To carry out an ambitious and long-term project of urban planning. A visit to the National Museum of Singapore is quite educational. It illustrates the transformation of a place full of squatters, dirty esteros, and muddy paths into one of the most livable places on the planet.

5. To declare four national languages: English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil, with the predominance of English in the educational system.

6. To eradicate real estate speculation by providing affordable housing through the House Development Board, taking into consideration ethnic quotas to make sure there is racial integration, avoiding the formation of ghettos and preventing ethnic violence.

7. To guarantee the government of the most skillful public servants through political meritocracy. Singapore’s foreign affairs ministers are outstanding in the brilliance of their discourses and geo-strategic wisdom.

8. To heavily penalize criminals. The criminality index is extremely low.

9. To transform Singapore into a city-state that is financially and legally secure in order to attract industries, and to offer financial services.

10. To strengthen tourism by building relevant architectural works and designing a green city.

11. To promote the use of public transportation with an efficient, fast, and cheap system, while imposing high taxes to buyers of private cars.

12. To create top quality educational institutions and a net of excellent public hospitals.

The above list could be widened, but the essential are there. LKY deliberately ignored the recipes provided by ideologies. He knew about ideologies as he studied in the London School of Economics. He faced the problems of Singapore offering practical solutions and always keeping in mind the goal of bringing prosperity to the citizens of Singapore. He created a place populated by the middle class.

One of LKY’s most remarkable successes as a political leader is the absence of any kind of cronyism. Meritocracy is a must and corruption is almost non-existent. The successive ministers elected by the People’s Action Party were designated according to their aptitude and skills. The goal is for every department to be led by the most capable person, regardless of whether he belongs to the party or not. A brilliant CV is not enough.

LKY had stated quite clearly several times that if the government wants to have the best people, they should get the best salaries, so they do not go to the private sector. As of today, Singapore holds the best paid ministers in the world.

But the task is demanding: Accountability test is periodically given in order to check achievements or failures. LKY led government as the private sector would in human resources management to make sure that only the most qualified people take charge of the most important responsibilities of the nation.

LKY has generated controversies because of claims that are considered politically incorrect in the Western world. Among them, the most interesting is his idea of setting good governance above democracy as an ideal. LKY repeated several times that democracy is the “sacred cow” of the West, an untouchable concept whose merit is to enable the change of power without violence. He said the vote of the majority does not guarantee the Aristotelian and wise government of the best, only a peaceful government, even if mediocre.

Several times, LKY put the example of Philippines as a country where democracy has not resulted in an improvement in the standard of life of the citizens, being governed by familiar clans, well-known oligarchies, mediocre actors, and famous TV characters voted by an impoverished and ignorant populace.

One of the most frequent criticisms toward the PAP has been the lack of real democracy. However, at least in the two last elections, Transparency International declared that the polls were conducted properly. LKY was quick to clarify that his continued success in the polls were actually a consequence of the achievements carried out by his party.

The people who argue that Singapore is only an island of capitalism and consumerism where resources are wasted ignore that 20 percent of the annual budget is invested in education, that 97 percent of students get extra-curricular classes in order to improve their grades, and that even in $2 bills – unlike in another countries where the important personalities in history are depicted – there is a picture of children learning in the school with the word “Education” in it.

In Singapore, there is a clear awareness that without a culture of effort and knowledge, it is impossible to achieve anything in life. Without the fostering of talent and the search of highly skilled people -a key idea in LKY’s pragmatism – even in foreign lands if necessary, the Singapore project would not have been viable.

The educational system of Singapore appears on top of all rankings. While Cuba praises itself for having eliminated illiteracy, Singapore achieved it widely without ideological indoctrination and without cutbacks on individual freedoms.

I cannot agree with certain Singaporean laws: there is death penalty and corporal punishment, homosexuality is official prohibited (although this law is not being implemented), handicapped people are discriminated in educational system, and the financial institutions and banks carry out a deliberate opacity (Singapore is a fiscal paradise).

However, it seems to me that this little spot of Asia is one of the best places to live in, to grow professionally, and have children. Luckily, the legacy of good governance left by LKY has penetrated enough in society and politicians, so unless severe foreign interventions alter this dynamic region of the planet, Singapore will be an island of welfare and peace, at least, in a few more decades.

(Source: InterAksyon.com)

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