If you have ever been to Singapore, it is hard not to be impressed. Your first port-of-call in Changi
International Airport, one of the popular airports in the world. Like a model
university campus with high-rise dormitories, you will find orderly design, gleaming
skyscrapers, green lush vegetation, classic colonial buildings like Raffles
Hotel (where English high-tea beckons), and squeaky clean streets. Affluence
and orderliness is (almost) everywhere. Hard to believe that only 50 years ago
it was only a shell of its current stature, with a GNP that has grown 15-fold
in only 20 years.
Without question, the architect of this phenomenal success story was
LEE Kuan Yew, founding father and prime minister of the city state from
1959-1990, who died on March 23, 2015, at the age of 91. It is no exaggeration
to call him the ‘George Washington of Singapore,’ and the great display of
public grief and interest in his funeral is a testament to it.
He led the People Action Party (PAP), the only ruling party
Singapore has ever known. His state funeral was attended by Australian PM Tony
Abbot, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, Indian PM
Narendra Modi, former US President Bill Clinton and former US Secretary of
State Henry Kissinger.
LEE Kuan Yew provides an interesting and important profile in
leadership. Born in 1923 and educated in Britain during the 1940's, he caught a
vision of how his own nation should be. LEE’s vision for Singapore was to have
political stability, adequate living conditions, modern infrastructure, sound
and corruption-free governance. During and after his tenure, all these boxes
were ticked.
When LEE came to the helm in 1959, Singapore had many challenges -
small in size (715 square kilometers), sandwiched by larger neighbours like
Indonesia and Malaysia. The population was mixed race and religion without a
proper sense of nationhood. Unemployment was high, housing was inadequate, and
there were no natural resources, including water. It was a haunt of gangsters
and ghettos. This was also the time of the Cold War, leading to the Vietnam
War. All of Southeast Asia was hit by
insurgencies, inter-communal violence, and political instability. Could tiny
Singapore fend off these scourges? The short answer: Yes.
In 1963 Singapore joined the Malaya Federation as a protection but
it was expelled two years later, thus creating the Republic of Singapore on
August 9, 1965. LEE missed the jubilee celebration of his nation by 4 months.
LEE wasted no time in casting vision and getting to work. He ordered
that Singapore have a market economy, everyone was to learn English, they would
have a strong military based on the Israeli-model, foreign investment was
encouraged, corruption was banned, and Singapore would attract the world by
making it a hub trade and transport. LEE also spearheaded limited socialism,
where no one was to go unfed or unhoused; also, the government is the biggest
single employer.
Today, Singapore is one of the top economies in Asia and the world.
In 2014, it had a higher per capita gross domestic product than the United
States. It is a centre for shipping, manufacturing, finance, and oil refining.
The crime, drug, and corruption rate is very low. You can walk the streets at
night without fear, even as a woman.
Of interest is that under LEE’s watch, Christianity flourished in
Singapore. The population of the city-state is 20% Christian, with a minimum of
300 churches (some of them mega-churches), several fine Bible schools, and an
enviable record of missionary giving and outreach. Because of its size and
location, Singapore has always been forced to ‘look outward’ (remember, there
are no local flights at Changi Airport - if you board a plane, you will be
going out from Singapore). This
attitude has spilled over to the missions mindset. Being multi-lingual,
cross-cultural, culinary adventurous, Singaporeans can make good missionaries
as well. A local pastor named TAN Kok Beng coined the phrase ‘Singapore:
Antioch of Asia’ in the 1960's, a term that was later used by Billy Graham. In
many ways, Singapore has proven to be a modern-day Antioch.
From a western view, LEE’s rule was viewed as less than democratic,
with tight social controls, limits on freedom of speech, and the like. From an
Asian context however, a continent that has very limited experience with
democracy, LEE provided exactly what Singapore needed. His values included
discipline, pragmatism, stability and harmony. He made an important admission
in a New York Times interview in 2010. ‘I’m
not saying that everything I did was right, but everything I did was for an
honourable purpose.’
Regarding the latter clause, a grateful nation is sure to agree.
Interesting, informative and a good read. It's a mater of perception based on which side of the line you lie.
ReplyDeleteIndeed a fine example of how things can work. One cannot appreciate good without a knowledge of evil.