How Singapore became Asia’s No.1 Country - Case Study
Today, Singapore is one of the richest countries in the world. But what's even more surprising is that it was once a country that was hit by extreme poverty, unemployment, drugs, crime, gambling, ethnic riots, overpopulation, illiteracy, lack of natural resources and hostilities with neighboring countries. So how did Singapore become such a developed country within a span of 25 years? Watch this video by Dhruv Rathee to find out the insane story of Singapore and its development.
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00:00Namaskar, friends!
00:01Imagine a country where there is heavy poverty and unemployment,
00:05a lot of crime,
00:07drug problems,
00:09riots,
00:11overpopulation and illiteracy.
00:15You can imagine the terrible condition of such a country.
00:18But you don't have to imagine too much
00:20because this was the reality of Singapore in 1965.
00:26But in the next 25 years,
00:28you get to see such a terrible turnaround
00:30that the world keeps watching.
00:32Singapore becomes a highly developed, high-income country.
00:35Today, it is considered one of the top 5 richest countries in the world.
00:39One of the cleanest countries of the world.
00:41No corruption, no crime.
00:44In true sense, it is Asia's number 1 country.
00:47But how did this happen?
00:49Who is the hero of our story?
00:51In today's video,
00:53let's know the miraculous story of Singapore.
00:57The hostility between Singapore's ethnic Chinese and Malays
01:00finally erupted into violent clashes.
01:03And as long as I'm in charge,
01:05nobody is going to knock it down.
01:07From a lack of land and high density,
01:09but with some hefty government purchasing power,
01:11they did the impossible.
01:13The Republic of Singapore was born.
01:16Singapore is a small country, friends.
01:18So small that it is difficult to find it on a map.
01:20If you look at the map of Southeast Asia,
01:22Indonesia is clearly visible.
01:24The country of the Philippines is very clean.
01:26Malaysia can also be easily identified.
01:29But if you come below it,
01:31you will see a small island, Singapore.
01:34A small water body, straight off Johor,
01:37separates Malaysia and Singapore.
01:39Area-wise, Singapore is actually half the size of Delhi.
01:43But approximately 57 lakh people live in this small area.
01:47The total area is 710 square kilometres.
01:50This means that Singapore's population density is 8028 people per square kilometre.
01:55We consider India to be a very overpopulated country.
01:58But for comparison, India's population density is 446 people per square kilometre.
02:03This means that Singapore is 18 times more densely populated than India.
02:08And overall, it is the third most densely populated country in the world.
02:12Only Monaco and Macau are above it.
02:14An interesting fact is that the name of Singapore
02:17originates from the Sanskrit word Singpur.
02:20Sing means Lion and Pur means City.
02:23So Singapore means the Lion City.
02:25And Lion reminds us that Singapore is counted among the four Asian Tigers.
02:29Four highly developed countries in Asia.
02:32South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.
02:35Interestingly, the population density of these four countries is higher than that of India.
02:39Some people will find this fact quite shocking
02:41because a lot of people blame India's population for not being so developed.
02:45But here, the GDP of these four Asian Tigers is much higher than that of India.
02:49And the population density is also much higher.
02:51If we talk about the people living here, Singapore is a very diverse country.
02:55People from different religions live together.
02:57There are five major religions.
02:59Buddhists, Christians, Muslims, Taoists and Hindus.
03:03Apart from this, there is a very small population of Jewish, Zoroastrians, Jains and Sikhs.
03:08The second largest group here are those who don't believe in any religion.
03:12They are atheists.
03:13But apart from religion, Singapore is also very diverse in terms of ethnicity.
03:17The largest majority here are Chinese ethnic people, 74.5%.
03:21Then there are Malays, 13.5%.
03:24And then there are Indians, 9%.
03:26Among Indians, mostly Tamils, Bengalis and Punjabis have the highest population.
03:30And the remaining 3% are Eurasians and Arabs.
03:33While talking about the people, we shouldn't forget Orang Laut here.
03:36Who are actually the original inhabitants who have been living in Singapore for centuries.
03:40The tribal people here.
03:42Overall unity in diversity.
03:44Actually, this is the reality of Singapore today.
03:46But it wasn't always like this.
03:49Let's go back in history a bit.
03:51If we talk about early history, Singapore's island has been used as a trading outpost for centuries.
03:57By Malays, Thai, Chinese, Indian, Arab and Japanese traders.
04:01Throughout the history, there was the occupation of an Indonesian king here.
04:05The Portuguese occupied it.
04:06The Dutch occupied it with their Dutch East India Company.
04:09And in the year 1819, a very ambitious officer of the British East India Company,
04:15Thomas Raffles, bought Singapore from the Sultan of Johor.
04:19You heard it right, the British made their entry here by buying this island.
04:23Thomas Raffles made Singapore a free port.
04:27All the ships that pass through here don't have to pay any fees.
04:31For this reason, Singapore saw free trading.
04:34In the year 1869, the Suez Canal was opened.
04:37The ships didn't have to travel from all over Africa.
04:40Because of this, more ships came to Singapore's island.
04:44Most of the ships used Singapore as a refueling station.
04:48In the neighboring Malaysia, the industry of two main things was very popular.
04:52Tin and rubber production.
04:53Because Singapore was very close, it became a hub for rubber processing.
04:58It sounds like Singapore is developing a lot.
05:01But there was a dark side behind it.
05:03Actually, the British used to grow opium in Bengal.
05:09And they used to bring the opium processing to Singapore.
05:12The British employed Chinese schoolies for this work in Singapore.
05:16And here, they used to get one of the lowest grades of opium.
05:19Now, the Chinese people who were working in these factories,
05:22they were very far from their homes.
05:24There was no means of entertainment.
05:26So, they became opium addicts.
05:28In thousands, opium addicts were seen in Singapore.
05:32Because of drug addiction, crime increased.
05:34People started stealing.
05:35In 1941, it was estimated that there were around 16,500 opium addicts in Singapore.
05:41And if we talk about the 1940s, it was the era of the Second World War.
05:52On 15th February 1942, the Japanese invaded Singapore and Malaysia.
05:57The people living here surrendered to the Japanese.
06:01For the next three and a half years, the Japanese ruled Singapore.
06:04And this Japanese rule completely destroyed Singapore.
06:08Mass murders were seen.
06:10Not only on the field, but also inside the hospitals.
06:13Many soldiers were made prisoners of war and tortured.
06:16Thousands of people were used as forced labour.
06:19Women were used as a commodity.
06:22Thousands of women were brought from Korea, China, Indonesia and Malaysia to Singapore.
06:28Where they were used as Japanese soldiers.
06:31By 1945, the Japanese lost the war and left Singapore.
06:36In Singapore, there were more than 30,000 opium addicts.
06:39Gambling and prostitution were seen everywhere.
06:42The buildings were completely destroyed.
06:44There was a lot of poverty.
06:46There was a lot of unemployment.
06:48And diseases were rampant.
06:49There was a shortage of food.
06:51People were starving.
06:52There was crime and violence.
06:54And Singapore has become a slum colony.
06:57After the end of World War II, the British took over Singapore again.
07:01And the British military administration tried to bring things under control to some extent.
07:07The basic gas, water and electricity services were restored.
07:12Canteens were opened for people so that they could deal with the problem of starvation.
07:16The opinion of the people living in Singapore about the British was very favourable.
07:21It was positive if you compare it with countries like India.
07:24The main reason behind this was that the British defeated the Japanese.
07:28And the Japanese committed more atrocities against the people of Singapore.
07:32The second reason was that in July 1945, the government changed in the UK.
07:36The Conservative Party was removed from power and the Labour Party came into power.
07:40Which was against imperialism to a large extent.
07:43So the British rule over Singapore was gradually removed.
07:46And it changed into self-governance.
07:48I won't go into too much detail about what happens here.
07:51Because it can be dragged on for a long time.
07:53But the first elections are held in 1948.
07:55Elections are held only on a few seats.
07:57The constitution of Singapore is made.
07:59It is revised twice in 1955 and 1958.
08:03And in 1959, proper full-scale elections are held.
08:07These elections are won by a very young leader, Lee Kuan Yew.
08:11Who was the Secretary General of the People's Action Party.
08:14PAP.
08:15Remember him.
08:16Because you'll hear a lot about him in the video.
08:18He becomes Singapore's first Prime Minister.
08:21Initially, Lee Kuan Yew believed that Singapore won't be able to survive as an independent country.
08:26That it should merge with Malaysia.
08:28And this is what he did in 1963.
08:31He merged Singapore with Malaysia.
08:34But there's a shocking twist in our story now.
08:37The government in Malaysia didn't like that Singapore was becoming a part of their country.
08:42The biggest reason behind this was the elections in Malaysia in 1964.
08:46PAP decided to contest those elections.
08:49Malaysian politicians didn't like that a political party from Singapore would contest the national elections of Malaysia.
08:56On the other hand, the people of Singapore were not happy with this merging.
09:00Because an agreement was made that Singapore will give 40% of its revenue to the central government of Malaysia.
09:06Even though the population of Singapore is only 17% of the total population.
09:10The people of Singapore found this to be quite unfair.
09:12Apart from this, under Article 153 of the Malaysian Constitution,
09:16Malays were given special rights and privileges.
09:19The Chinese and other non-Malay ethnicities of Singapore didn't like this discrimination.
09:25They saw how Malaysia is being made a Malay Malaysia.
09:29That only Malay people have Malaysia.
09:31The other small minorities aren't given the same rights and equality.
09:40We wanted gradually, not immediately, a Malaysian Malaysia.
09:44Where as citizens, we share the burden and the rewards.
09:48Because of these differences, the communal tensions increased in 1964.
09:52And riots were also seen in the name of race.
09:55Things hit each other.
09:56So I wedged my soldiers in between them.
09:59And we fired a few tear gases.
10:03Because of these riots, it was decided in 1965 that Singapore would be separated from Malaysia again.
10:10And it would become an independent country.
10:12The Republic of Singapore.
10:14At this point of time, the British still had some control over Singapore.
10:19In 1967, the British announced that they would withdraw all the troops from Singapore.
10:24And they would leave the country completely.
10:27You might think this is a good thing.
10:29But for the government of Singapore and the people of Singapore, this was a very problematic thing.
10:34The British had a huge contribution in running the country.
10:38The British forces provided a lot of jobs to a lot of Singaporeans.
10:42Apart from this, Singapore didn't even have its own army.
10:45It didn't have its own defence forces.
10:47If the British went, they couldn't defend themselves.
10:50For this reason, Lee Kuan Yew went and told the British to wait for a few more days.
10:55To give them a chance to transition.
10:57And the British actually agreed.
10:59The deadline to leave the British country was set in 1971.
11:03That is, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew had 4 years to take care of his country.
11:08A country that was already struggling with heavy poverty, unemployment and drug addiction.
11:14On top of that, riots were also seen in the country.
11:17And at the same time, Malaysia had just separated the country from itself.
11:21They didn't even have their own natural resources here.
11:24How to bring this country back on the right path?
11:28This is where our miraculous story begins, friends.
11:31A story whose hero is Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.
11:35He immediately gets to work.
11:37First of all, peace should be established with the neighboring countries.
11:40And geopolitical problems should be solved.
11:42In 1967, he established the ASEAN Group.
11:46Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
11:49Five foreign ministers from five countries.
11:51Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
11:54They sit together.
11:56The purpose of which is that all these countries collaborate together.
11:59Cooperate in different fields.
12:01So that there is peace and stability in this entire region.
12:04But this does not mean that there is no need for an army in the country.
12:07Secondly, Lee Kuan Yew introduces National Service for the defense of his country in the same year.
12:13Every 16-year-old boy in the country will have to register for National Service.
12:18After the age of 18, he may have to enlist any day.
12:22Basically, for every 18-year-old boy, it was made compulsory in the country
12:26that he would have to join the Army, Defense Forces or National Service.
12:29For a few years.
12:30Now, if any country wants to develop in the right way,
12:33then education is one of the first things that should be focused on.
12:37And Singapore did the same.
12:39There is compulsory primary education in the country.
12:41There is public education.
12:43There is high quality.
12:44The government builds very good schools and colleges.
12:47The infrastructure of the schools is very good.
12:49And public education is given at very low fees.
12:53It is almost at the level of free.
12:59Education is actually a very basic but main difference between developing and developed countries.
13:04Practical skills are very essential to make any country developed.
13:08Singapore also focused a lot on vocational training.
13:11But unfortunately, in our country, most people do not even know the basic practical skills.
13:16We should try our best to learn these skills.
13:20We should constantly learn and become lifelong learners.
13:24They made a promise in front of the Singaporeans.
13:27That Singapore will be a multi-racial nation.
13:30We will rise like an example in front of the world.
13:33We are not a Malay nation.
13:35We are not a Chinese nation.
13:36We are not an Indian nation.
13:38Our country is not being built in the name of any religion.
13:41Our country is not being built in the name of any language.
13:43Nor is our country being built in the name of any culture.
13:45We are a secular country where everyone is equal.
14:10But it is not enough to write secular in the constitution.
14:12This will not bring equality in the country suddenly.
14:15People have doubts.
14:17When so many people of different religions and ethnicities are living in the country,
14:21and communal tensions are very high,
14:23people doubt each other.
14:25People will not get along with each other.
14:27To solve this problem, Lee Kuan Yew said that
14:30we will take a proactive approach to assimilation.
14:33He introduced his Ethnic Integration Policy.
14:37According to this policy, the ratio of people living in government houses
14:41will be fixed in the name of ethnicity.
14:43In one building, 22% Malays, 84% Chinese, 10% Indians and other minority groups should live.
14:51The percentage of ethnicities in the country should also be in one building.
14:55So that Chinese, Malays and Indians live together in one building.
14:58And this is a great move, friends.
15:00Because what happens in reality,
15:02if you let people run their own will,
15:04the people who are already communally brainwashed,
15:07they will never want to live with each other.
15:09They make their own ghettos.
15:12This is the Hindu area, only Hindus live here.
15:15This is the Muslim area, only Muslims live here.
15:17A ghetto is created in a city.
15:20To stop this kind of ghetto,
15:22people of different ethnicities are kept in one building.
15:26So that everyone can see each other,
15:28become neighbors,
15:30and live together.
15:32In 1990, the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act was passed.
15:36Under this Act, Singapore created a Presidential Council for Religious Harmony.
15:41Two-thirds of its members were representatives of major religions.
15:45The work of these representatives was to ensure
15:48that the different religions in the country
15:50are able to meet.
15:52Apart from this, Singapore also introduced
15:54a Racial Harmony Day.
15:56Every year, on the 21st of July,
15:58schoolchildren in Singapore dress up
16:01in traditional costumes of other religions.
16:04That is, if someone is a Hindu,
16:06he will come in a Muslim traditional costume.
16:08And if someone is a Muslim, he will come in a Hindu traditional costume.
16:10And along with that, they read the Declaration of Religious Harmony.
16:14Schoolchildren are taught
16:16the principles of secularism, diversity, and unity.
16:20How to uphold them in the country.
16:22These are some small steps that are very effective.
16:25And with this, our country can definitely learn a lot.
16:29Next point.
16:30Lee Kuan Yew said that if the country has to be developed,
16:32the country has to be kept clean.
16:34In his opinion, cleanliness is a hallmark of civilization.
16:38So he launched the Swachh Singapur Abhiyan.
16:41On 1st October 1968,
16:43a nationwide Keep Singapore Clean campaign
16:46was launched by the Prime Minister.
16:48We have built, we have progressed.
16:51But there is no hallmark of success
16:54more distinctive and more meaningful
16:57than achieving our position as the cleanest
17:00and greenest city in South Asia.
17:03And this campaign was held almost every 1-2 years
17:06between 1958-1988.
17:09This was not a show-off event
17:11where he came in front of the camera,
17:13swept the floor and shook the leaves.
17:15And published the ads in the name of Swachh Singapur.
17:17No.
17:23This was a concrete campaign.
17:25Multiple steps were taken.
17:27Public waste collectors were licensed
17:29by the National Environment Agency.
17:31Blue coloured recycling bins were installed
17:33in every public housing estate.
17:35Special public toilets were built
17:37and special programs were run
17:39like the Happy Toilet Program.
17:41So that the toilets were kept clean and well-maintained.
17:44In 1992,
17:45chewing gum was banned in Singapore.
17:47There was no compromise in the name of cleanliness.
17:50Apart from this,
17:51big laws were made with heavy fines.
17:54If someone starts spitting in public,
17:56spreading garbage,
17:57smoking.
17:58On the first offence,
17:59a fine of 1000 Singapore Dollars.
18:01On the second offence,
18:02a fine of 2000 Singapore Dollars.
18:03And a fine of 5000 Singapore Dollars.
18:05The next problem was of slums.
18:07Singapore was full of slums.
18:10What can be done about this?
18:12More than 26,000 families were relocated from the slums.
18:15High-rise buildings were built.
18:17Public housing was built.
18:19During this time,
18:20water supply, electricity and gas services
18:22were provided in free public housing.
18:24And all these things improved.
18:26As of 2021,
18:27around 80% of the population lives in public housing
18:30which is provided by the government.
18:32Because of this,
18:33homelessness has almost ended in the country.
18:36Last year,
18:37only 616 people,
18:39around 600 people,
18:40were sleeping on the streets.
18:42After this,
18:43urban planning was focused.
18:44The people who stand on the side of the road
18:46with the radios
18:47are an important part of the informal economy.
18:49But,
18:50at the same time,
18:51in the name of cleanliness and beautification,
18:54they don't give a good look to the city.
18:56It is very important to organize them.
18:59In Singapore,
19:00more than 4,900 hawkers were relocated
19:02to food centres.
19:03The people who used to sell vegetables
19:05a new wholesale market was built for them.
19:10The pig and duck farms for beautification
19:12were phased out of the catchment areas.
19:14The rivers were cleaned.
19:26More than 2,800 industries were relocated.
19:29The focus on healthcare is also very important.
19:31In Singapore,
19:32public or private healthcare is very cheap.
19:34Under the Ministry of Health,
19:35thousands of beds have been provided in government hospitals.
19:38Medisave,
19:39Medishield,
19:40Medifund system
19:41is in their healthcare
19:42which is very innovative.
19:43In a small country like Singapore,
19:45where the population density is so high
19:47and there are so few places for people to stay,
19:50if roads are built for cars,
19:53many places will be wasted.
19:54If every person living in the country
19:56owns a car,
19:57there will be no place for people to stay.
19:59Only roads will be built in the country.
20:01It was very important to discourage cars
20:03and to increase public transportation.
20:06That's why today,
20:07Singapore is one of the most expensive cities in the world
20:10if you want to buy a car.
20:12A very heavy tax is imposed on buying a car.
20:15In the whole country,
20:16only a limited number of cars can be on the roads.
20:18If you want to add a new car on the road,
20:21you will have to remove a car first.
20:24On the other hand,
20:25if we talk about public transportation,
20:26like buses and metros,
20:28it is one of the least expensive public transport in the world.
20:31It is affordable for people
20:33and at the same time,
20:34it is one of the cleanest
20:35and one of the safest as well.
20:39Whatever I have talked about so far,
20:41you will feel that
20:42these are very cheap things that are being offered.
20:44Education, healthcare,
20:45public transportation, housing.
20:47People are being given all this at a very low cost.
20:50It is being made affordable.
20:51So where is the government getting the money from?
20:53Does the government charge more tax rates than people?
20:56Like in many European countries,
20:58where the tax rate crosses up to 50%.
21:01In countries like Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Austria.
21:04But no,
21:05the income tax rates in Singapore are very low.
21:08Between 2% to 24%.
21:10So how is their government managing?
21:13Where is the money coming from?
21:14Here, friends,
21:15we talk about the primary principles of the Singapore government.
21:19They focus a lot on sustainability and fiscal discipline.
21:23For example,
21:24look at the website of this company.
21:26Temasek Holdings.
21:27It looks like a big MNC.
21:30More than 900 employees.
21:3233 nationalities.
21:34Its net portfolio was $403 billion in March 2022.
21:38But who is the owner of this company?
21:40The answer to this is actually the government.
21:43This is a government company.
21:45The Singapore government actually owns many such companies
21:48which work in the sector of transport, power and media.
21:52Many such companies are Temasek's subsidiaries.
21:55And Temasek invests in other national and international companies
21:59to derive profits.
22:01When we hear about government companies in India,
22:03they are so mismanaged
22:05that they are privatized by the government.
22:08The government has no business to be in business.
22:11But privatization means
22:13the profits of the company
22:15will go to a private owner.
22:17To a big billionaire.
22:19But if the government company runs well,
22:21if the government company is managed properly,
22:23then the profits will go to the government.
22:26The benefit of which will eventually go to the public.
22:29Apart from this, I told you where the tax is high.
22:32The tax on cars is very high.
22:34So that became a way for the government to earn more money.
22:36Then the government has imposed a wealth tax.
22:39There is also a property tax and GST.
22:42But overall, the Singapore government
22:44lives in a fiscal surplus for the next 27 years.
22:47That is, the more money it spends,
22:49the more money it earns.
22:51These rules of fiscal discipline
22:53are also written in their constitution.
22:56But if we look at the individual level,
22:58there are some people who
23:00are not very careful about their money.
23:02They keep spending unnecessarily.
23:04They don't save money properly.
23:06So for this, the government has also made a central provident fund.
23:09That people will deposit some of their salary in this fund.
23:13This thing also exists in India.
23:15In total, there are more than 42 lakh central provident fund members
23:19as of September 2022.
23:21With the help of this, Singapore is one of the highest
23:23savings rates in the world.
23:25In 2021, Gross Domestic Savings
23:27was 57.5% of the GDP.
23:30It is one of the top 3 countries in the world.
23:33So managing money properly
23:35is not only done by the government,
23:37but also by the citizens.
23:39But if we go back in time,
23:41I told you that Singapore
23:43doesn't have any natural resources.
23:45Which can be exploited and sold
23:47and money can be earned.
23:49So the question is,
23:51where do people generally earn money in Singapore?
23:53In the time of independence,
23:55their land was barren.
23:57In such cases, the economy has to be kick-started.
23:59It can be done in two ways.
24:01First, the government should spend heavily.
24:03Big infrastructure projects should be made.
24:05Big PSUs should be made.
24:07And second,
24:09the government should open up the economy
24:11so that foreign companies can invest in the country.
24:13Lee Kuan Yew did both.
24:15He also invested the government's money
24:17in big infrastructure projects.
24:19Like building a world-class port.
24:21Airport.
24:23If you see it today, you will be surprised.
24:25It is probably the best airport in the world.
24:27He has built the entire city
24:29inside the airport.
24:31Building houses for workers.
24:33He built a housing development board.
24:35Economic development board.
24:37These projects gave heavy employment to the people
24:39and became the backbone of the economy.
24:41Because the country
24:43did not have any natural resources,
24:45it meant that the country's location
24:47was its only advantage.
24:49A small island could never
24:51be independent on its own.
24:53So it means that the economy
24:55has to be opened up and the outside world
24:57has to be given the opportunity
24:59to take advantage of Singapore.
25:01In history, I had already told you
25:03how Singapore has always been
25:05a port for international trading.
25:07The same thing was continued
25:09by the Singapore government.
25:11By building a good airport
25:13and a hub where connecting flights
25:15and international trading
25:17can be done.
25:19To attract foreign investments,
25:21Singapore should be a stable
25:23and easy-to-do business country.
25:25So what did he do? He reduced tax rates.
25:27He abolished red tapism
25:29so that there would be no unnecessary paperwork.
25:31He built a single trade window.
25:33He threw out Babu type people from all agencies.
25:35He called international business people here.
25:37He made the processes very easy.
25:39And after doing all this,
25:41the result was that today,
25:43in the name of ease of doing business,
25:45Singapore is the number 2 country in the world.
25:47It comes after New Zealand.
25:49Now, a big condition for this to happen is
25:51that corruption should be eradicated from the country.
25:53If there is corruption,
25:55it will not be easy to do business.
25:57Today, out of 180 countries,
25:59Singapore is the 4th
26:01least corrupt country in the world.
26:03The only Asian country that
26:05has ranked in the top 10 in the past 10 years.
26:07So what did Lee Kuan Yew do
26:09to eradicate corruption here?
26:11First of all,
26:13he increased the salaries of government employees.
26:15And he also increased the salaries
26:17of politicians and ministers.
26:19They are paid so much salary that you won't believe it.
26:21Today, the Prime Minister of Singapore,
26:23Lee Hsien Loong,
26:25is the son of Lee Kuan Yew.
26:27Do you know that he is actually
26:29the most paid Prime Minister in the world?
26:31He is paid a salary of
26:331.6 million US dollars.
26:35This is much more than US President Joe Biden.
26:37Much more than Russian dictator
26:39Vladimir Putin.
26:41The same thing is done with the government employees there.
26:43They are also paid a very good salary.
26:45The logic behind this is that
26:47if you pay these good salaries
26:49to the government employees
26:51and the ministers in the government,
26:53they won't be encouraged to do corruption.
26:55They are already getting so much money.
26:57Apart from this,
26:59the salary also has a performance-related
27:01component for the government ministers
27:03and government employees.
27:05If they perform well,
27:07they will get a good salary.
27:09Third, if a minister is so greedy
27:11that he is doing corruption even after getting such a high salary,
27:13he will be given a heavy punishment.
27:15A fine of $100,000
27:17and jail for 5 years.
27:19In 1960,
27:21the PAP introduced
27:23the Prevention of Corruption Act.
27:27While directed mainly
27:29at corruption in the public services.
27:31Their Corrupt Practices
27:33Investigations Bureau was given more powers.
27:35It was made more independent.
27:37Basically, it is an agency
27:39that investigates corruption.
27:41It has been given operational autonomy.
27:43Even though it comes under the Prime Minister's office,
27:45the Prime Minister cannot interfere
27:47in its work.
27:49No political leader
27:51can interfere here.
27:53With the help of which, this agency remains independent.
27:55This autonomy is very important here
27:57because with the help of this,
27:59if a politician in the government does corruption,
28:01then this agency can take
28:03action against him too.
28:05If we talk about the environment,
28:07in 1972, the government of Singapore
28:09launched the Tree Planting Day
28:11initiative.
28:13That there will be a specific day when
28:15all the people of the country will come and plant trees.
28:17This initiative was so successful
28:19that within just 10 years,
28:21as many trees had been planted
28:23people live in Singapore.
28:25Within just 10 years,
28:27they had cleaned their river too.
28:29And today, the world's
28:31best indoor gardens
28:33can be seen in Singapore.
28:35Look at the amazing greenery
28:37that has been created here.
28:39It has become a tourist attraction.
28:41Singapore's greenery today.
28:43If we talk about specific sectors,
28:45Singapore started with
28:47textile and petrochemical refining.
28:49But Lee Kuan Yew didn't want
28:51his country to remain a low-cost factory
28:53for the rest of the world.
28:55He ensured that the people of Singapore
28:57learn skills in technical schools
28:59and internships.
29:01For all the employers in the country,
29:03a bylaw was made mandatory
29:05that they will give their employees
29:07a monthly skill development levy.
29:09It is sent to the Skills Development Fund
29:11through which many workforce upgrading
29:13programs are supported.
29:15With the help of skill development,
29:17by the 1990s, Singapore
29:19became a part of the global supply chain
29:21in the field of educated technologies.
29:23Like biotech engineering, aerospace,
29:25integrated circuits, pharmaceuticals,
29:27petroleum chemicals, semiconductors.
29:29It means that they gave their citizens
29:31such good education and skills
29:33that they started working in such industries
29:35where there was no need
29:37for natural resources in the country.
29:39Even after doing all this,
29:41friends, do you know what's amazing?
29:43Lee Kuan Yew knew
29:45that at any cost,
29:47he cannot allow a personality cult
29:49to develop around him.
29:51His focus was on the work,
29:53on developing the country,
29:55not on increasing his image.
29:57Today, if you go to Singapore,
29:59you will not find any statues
30:01of Lee Kuan Yew anywhere.
30:03You will not find any monuments
30:05that honour him.
30:07No temple has been built in his name.
30:09Literally, wherever he took a country,
30:11no monument has been built on him.
30:13Why is that?
30:15Because the current Prime Minister
30:17gave a statement on this in April 2015.
30:19Almost a month after Lee Kuan Yew's
30:21death,
30:23Mr. Lee made it very clear
30:25throughout his life that he did not need
30:27and did not want any monument.
30:29Mr. Lee was very careful never to
30:31allow a personality cult to grow around him
30:33and much less to encourage one himself.
30:35He developed Singapore
30:37in such a miraculous way
30:39that if he wanted,
30:41he could have shown himself as a superhero.
30:43If he wanted, he could have made people
30:45his blind devotees.
30:47Like, I am the image of God here.
30:49I took the country from one place to another.
30:51But he did not do all this.
30:53Lee Kuan Yew was an educated person.
30:55He was pragmatic.
30:57He did not feel strongly about any ideology.
30:59It is said that his ears were always open.
31:01He always listened to suggestions
31:03from others.
31:05And these are some qualities
31:07that are rarely found in politicians.
31:13I've spent a whole lifetime building this.
31:15As long as I am in charge,
31:17nobody is going to knock it down.
31:19Today, many people put Lee Kuan Yew
31:21in the category of a benevolent dictator.
31:23Because in some ways,
31:25he was against freedom of speech.
31:27Singapore improved in many different factors.
31:29But in the name of the Press Freedom Index,
31:31his ranking is not that good today.
31:33In the last few years,
31:35things have changed.
31:37But during Lee Kuan Yew's time,
31:39the Press Freedom Index was almost equal to nothing in Singapore.
31:41Many people take a wrong lesson
31:43from this story that
31:45he was a benevolent dictator.
31:47So we also need a dictator in our country
31:49who can stop all freedom
31:51and work as he pleases.
31:53But in most cases, free media is
31:55a very important thing because
31:57the one who is in power can be kept accountable.
31:59He can be kept in check.
32:01The case of Singapore is an exceptional case
32:03because Lee Kuan Yew knew how to be accountable.
32:05He listened to others.
32:07And if we should take a lesson from this story,
32:09then it is the exact policies
32:11that he implemented
32:13to bring the country to this level.
32:15What is your opinion here?
32:17Tell us in the comments below.
32:19If you liked the video,
32:21you can click on the playlist here
32:23to watch more such case studies.
32:25Thank you very much.