Singapore's Transformation from a small Struggling Island Nation to a Thriving Metropolis

Yes, one man can make a difference, a man with a keen understanding of human nature and vision, that is. This man is Singapore’s minister mentor Lee Kuan Yew. Lee Kuan Yew turned a developing nation into one of the world’s most developed countries. Singapore is often referred to as the Switzerland of South East Asia, thanks to his leadership and unswerving determination.

According to National Geographic Magazine, in an article titled “The Singapore Solution” It is stated that Singapore’s per capita income for its 3.7 million citizens exceeds that of many European countries, the education and health system can compete with anything in the West, government officials are pretty much corruption free, 90 percent of the households own their own homes, taxes are relatively low, the streets and sidewalks are pristine and you do not find homeless people or slums. Singapore also boasts an unemployment rate of less than 3 percent. Singapore has often been referred to an economic miracle, because it has achieved so much, in such a short time.

In June 5^th 1959, Lee Kuan Yew, a prominent member of the People’s Action Party became the first prime minister of a pre independent Singapore and remained in his post for twenty six years. In 1965 when Singapore finalized it’s independence from Malaysia, Lee Kuan Yew had his work cut for him. He started out with what most leaders would consider an impossible undertaking.

When Lee Kuan Yew was head of an independent Singapore, one of his first tasks was to have the sovereignty of Singapore recognized by the United Nations. In September of 1965, Singapore joined the United Nations. He believed that government officials should be well paid, in order to curtail corruption. He also felt that an overgrown population would threaten economic progress. Therefore, he developed the Stop at Two Family Planning Campaign.

The Stop at Two Family Planning Campaign was an aggressive method of discouraging rapid population growth, by urging families that already had two children to undergo sterilization. Let just say, it worked a little too well. At the current time, Singaporeans are simply not reproducing, with a fertility rate of 1.29 and not a whole lot of intercourse going on, Singapore population growth is largely dependent on immigration. At the present time, in order to prevent the extinction of the Singaporeans, the government is even giving married women baby bonuses for having three or four children. Extremes are bad, especially if family planning policies are misguided.

Economic growth is encouraged by what some Singaporeans refer to as the “big stick and the big carrot.” Everyone can see evidence of the big carrot, by simply witnessing Singapore's impressive economic growth. The big stick is another matter, this is done by creating and enforcing many rules that are foundational for a well ordered nation. When entering the country, on each airport entry card, it is stated in read letter that the penalty for drug trafficking is “DEATH.” Minister Yew describes human nature as being animal like. He believes that man can be trained and needs to be disciplined. This is accomplished by lots of rules. The enforcement of these rules is quiet strict. They are enforced with anything from fines to occasional outings. They also believe in practicing corporal punishment. In Singapore caning is mandatory for at least 42 offenses.

Disruption in religious and racial harmony is simply not allowed. In order to preserve racial harmony and avoid many of the riots that had separated the country back in the 1960's, the government installed a strict quota system in public housing to make sure that ethnic groups do not create their own monolithic units. Whether or not, this is government sanctioned, this has been a very successful way of keeping different ethnic groups from being pined against one another.

Singaporeans are so excessively compliant with the many rules that they have the rules internalized. One resident calls it “the cop insider our heads.” This has diminished the need for police surveillance. There is almost no theft, nobody steals wallets or engages in acts of vandalism. This is a country where conformity is common place and self censorship is a very common practice.

There is a word that defines Singapore’s quest to get ahead and that is kiasu. Kiasu is a term that means afraid to lose. Singaporeans make it a must, to be number one in everything. They are overachievers, and when something like when Singapore’s pore port slipped behind Shanghai in 2005 in total cargo tonnage, it was treated like a national tragedy.

In his ambition to create a superior society, Minister Yew advocated what is known as assortative mating. Assortative mating is the idea that college educated men should only marry college educated women. There was even a match making agency called the Social Development Unit, which was set up to promote socializing between men and women college graduates. Elitism in the area of marriage is just another tool of Minister Yew used for creating his metropolis, Singapore Inc.

It is an environment that encourages advancement in every sense, even the immigration policies are set up to encourage competition in the market place. Singapore has welcomed many educated Chinese immigrants that are prepared to fight for higher paying jobs. This keeps everyone from becoming complacent and falling behind.

Even though, Singapore has a military position of neutrality and non-alignment, the way for Singapore to survive is to be vigilant. In 2009 their military budget was 11.4 billion, or 5 percent of the GDP, which is among the world’s highest budgets for military spending.

Living in a very controlled society, where there is an emphasis on rote learning does have its negative consequences. One of the problems is that creativity is not encouraged. In order to correct this problem a group called Scape, a youth outreach came up with the idea of opening a graffiti wall where youngsters were encouraged to submit graffiti designs. On the other hand, the government has maintained a campaign against the use of Singlish, which is a language combination of Malay, Hokkien, Chinese, Tamil and English. Singlish is how many of the trendier teenagers prefer to express themselves.

Lee Kuan Yew, has received many accolades for his leadership efforts. These include the Nobel Peace Prize, The Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service, The Russian Order of Friendship Award, and numerous state decorations such as the Order of Companions of Honor, Order of St. Michael and St. George, and the Order of the Rising Sun as well as other honors that have been bestowed upon this truly influential leader.

Even now at the age of 86 Minister Yew is still a greatly respected and revered by the people of Singapore. He is a man of unswerving character, who says “If you are going to lower me into the grave, and I feel something is wrong, I will get up.” His great leadership is evident in all the social advancements that has happened in just the last 45 years. When a small Island nation goes from being a developing country, with an unemployment rate of 10-12 %, not to mention a host of other problems, to becoming one of the most advanced nations in the world, that has an economic standard that would rival most countries in Europe and America, that is an accomplishment!