The passing of Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew is a good moment to consider the tiny island state's remarkable achievements over the last half century, achievements which were very largely due to Lee's vision, determination and drive. When it won its independence from Britain in 1965, Singapore became part of the newly created Malaysia. However, two years later, frustrated in part by what he saw as the unadventurous and hide-bound approach of the other constituent parts of Malaysia, he took Singapore out and set about pursuing a highly-focused path toward rapid economic growth. The success of that economic transformation is visible in a single remarkable statistic. In the 1950s, in the final days of British rule, the average Singaporean income was $550. Today it is $55,000. Singapore is the world's largest ship- bunkering port, it has the biggest container port, is one of the major centers for foreign currency trading and has emerged as a major hub for substantial investments throughout the region, but particularly in China. It is posing a genuine challenge to Hong Kong as the place to raise capital. All this was achieved by Lee and his close-knit team of lieutenants through a combination of determination and discipline. Singapore has no natural resources. It does not even have a substantial independent water supply. The new country had to import virtually everything that it needed to survive and that required foreign currency. Lee recognized that the key resource was its people. Hard-working and thrifty, they were prepared to knuckle down and get on with the job of building this remarkable island city state.
The economic outcome speaks for itself. The people of Singapore are among the most prosperous in the world. However, some would argue that they have to be. Singapore is now the most expensive city in the world, with housing rents doubling in the last decade. The increase in business rates has been even greater. It is not simply that the island has become a victim of its own success; that success has come about because of an influx of foreign bankers, brokers, fund managers, lawyers, accountants and corporate executives. They have been lured by low personal and corporate tax rates, a stunningly efficient bureaucracy, a solid judicial system based on British laws and an almost total lack of corruption in the course of daily life. This is a buttoned-down country, where once chewing gum was illegal, because people were not trusted to dispose of its carefully and environmentally. But the trade off between the liberty to chew —important perhaps in a state that was also clamping down on smoking — is a small price to pay to have a safe and well-ordered society. For international wheelers and dealers, Singapore is not only a attractive place in which to do business, but it is also a fine place in which to live. Yet, as Singapore pursues even more ambitious goals, the proportion of well-heeled foreigners seems sure to increase. That is going to put further pressure on the less well-off. It also seems set to add to the government's concerns over a falling population compounded by rapid growth in dependent old people. Lee Kuan Yew could do most things, but it seems that he could not persuade his people to have more babies.
