For economists, anthropologists, sociologists and political scientists, Singapore represents a veritable laboratory of puzzles waiting to be analyzed. In the pre-colonial era, this island of swamps and marshes served as a trading settlement due to its relative proximity to the Strait of Malacca. Traders from India and China passed through, some deciding to stop and take root. Later traders from Netherlands and Portugal arrived here. And then, the British came and brought laborers from India, Sri Lanka and East Asia.
The mystique of Singapore extends even to its name. When the Buddhist prince Song Nila Uttama arrived in the late 13th century and established a kingdom, he claimed to have seen a lion (he also claimed to be a descendant of Alexander the Great) and named his domain Singapura, Which means ‘Lion City’ in Sanskrit
Given that lions are not native to the region, the origin of the lion that Utama claimed to have seen remained a mystery until scholars realized that what he had seen was probably a civet. , also known as musang, a distant cousin of the fox.
Singapore as we know it today was born on 9 August 1965, when the Malaysian Parliament voted to carve out the troubled island, and an independent city-state was established. With a per capita income of barely $500, it was as poor as other newly independent and under-developed countries in Asia and Africa. However, twenty years later, this small island with no natural resources was already one of the richest countries in Asia. Today, its per capita GDP, at just under $85,000, is higher than that of the United States.
Who Driven Singapore’s Economic Miracle? Some right-wing groups claim that its success proves that authoritarianism works. But correlation, as we know, does not mean causation. British economist David Hendry once observed that, by this logic, it could be argued that inflation in the UK was ’caused’ by an outbreak of E. coli in Scotland.
In fact, Singapore’s rapid growth has more to do with its high savings and investment rates, first-rate education system and intelligent policy making. Intelligent policy making may result from an authoritarian leader, but there is no causal relationship. In fact, authoritarianism is a step towards cronyism and Banana Republic. Economists do not always recognize that economic performance depends on many factors beyond economics, such as cultural norms, social cohesion, and the level of public trust. Unlike other countries that have experienced authoritarianism, Singaporean society has a high degree of trust and is not divided or polarized. In a speech in 2017, then Deputy Prime Minister (and current senior minister) Tharman Shanmugaratnam argued that Singapore’s “identity is our brand of multiculturalism. This has made us a nation-state where citizens of all religions and cultures live together as one- accept each other as equals.”
On a recent short trip to the island, I managed to walk around different parts of the city and see the salad-bowl multiculturalism for myself, in between talks and meetings with students and professors. Walking down Haji Lane or Arab Street, with the beautiful Sultan Mosque shining in the background, one can easily imagine being in Istanbul or Saudi Arabia. And Chinatown, with its constant hum of conversation, calls to mind the alleyways of Shanghai or Beijing.
Little India was particularly attractive. I heard Tamil spoken all around, but the prevailing accent was a bit different from what I hear in Tamil Nadu. There were women in sarees, on whose forehead bindis were marked in a slightly different way, as is done in India. But talking to people on the street, shopkeepers, and taxi drivers, it became clear that even though each group has retained its cultural roots, they all consider themselves Singaporeans first.
Singapore’s authoritarian system of government may not be the reason for its economic success, but it is an essential part of the city-state’s character. A law-abiding society is one where pedestrians wait for a signal before crossing the road, even when no cars are in sight. While this is better than a society in which it is customary to disregard the law, a system in which people follow the spirit of the law rather than the fine print is more efficient.
For example, in New York or London, people often cross the street without waiting for the signal to turn green, using their judgment to avoid disrupting traffic.
On the other hand, Singapore is a good print-adhering society. I spent most of my time there at the crosswalk, unnecessarily waiting to be signaled correctly. ©2023/Project Syndicate
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