Fifty years ago, I wasn’t surprised when people I met abroad in my travels didn’t know where Singapore was. Many thought it was part of China. A woman who had been given the Singapore address of someone she wanted to be her pen pal, wrote ‘China’ after ‘Singapore’ on the envelope. A few thought that Singapore was some jungle-infested tropical country where people still lived in trees.
Now of course the perception is different. The little island state is known all over the world. On a recent trip I made to New York, a taxi driver who had never been to Singapore said enthusiastically, as soon as he found out where I was from, ‘I want to visit your country. I know about your clean streets, beautiful shops, fantastic food!’ On a visit to London, I was once again engaged in animated chat with a very friendly, clearly very well-read taxi driver. (I have this compulsion to chat with taxi drivers, both at home and abroad.) He too had never been to Singapore, but he proudly displayed his knowledge of the island state. ‘Only 690 square kilometres, imagine, and it is called one of the Four Asian Tigers! So dynamic and successful!’ He could tell me which the other three were, but insisted he was most impressed by Singapore.
And of course the world knows SIA, with its beautiful air hostesses. The most famous Singapore brand.
I think the truest praise comes from those sources that forego emotive words and friendly anecdote for cold, hard statistics. International surveys that regularly rank countries in terms of their economic achievements and progress must bring a warm glow of pride to the Singaporean heart. Here is a quick listing of Singapore’s performance in some of these surveys:
Economic Performance
• No. 1 city with best investment potential (BERI Report 2011)
• No. 1 worldwide for ease of doing business (World Bank for 2012)
• Top 3 in world for foreign trade investment (Globalisation Index 2011)
• Top 2 most competitive (Global Competitiveness Report 2011–2012, World Economic Forum)
• Top 2 for economic freedom out of 155 countries (Index of Economic Freedoms 2008)
Effective Government
• Lowest crime rate, second lowest murder rate, lowest drug abuse in the world (BBC programme 2013)
• Least corruption, greatest transparency, ranked No. 1 jointly with Denmark and New Zealand out of 178 countries (Transparency International: Corruption Perceptions Index 2010)
• Top 3 for preparedness to deal with a major medical crisis in Asia (Political and Economic Risk Consultancy PERC 2003)
Standard of Living and Quality of Life of People
• Healthiest people in the world (BBC programme 2013)
• Top 2 for lowest Infant Mortality Rate (World Health Statistics 2010)
• Top 3 among world’s best performing school systems (McKinsey Report November 2010)
• Asia’s most network ready country (Global Information and Technology Report 2010–2011, World Economic Forum)
• Shortest time in world to become millionaires; over half of Singapore’s wealthy people have taken less than 10 years to accumulate wealth (wealth report from Barclays Bank 2013)
Overall, Singapore scores as the country with the best quality of life in Asia (Quality of Living survey, Worldwide City Rankings 2011, Mercer).
One goes through the lists with wide eyes, dropping jaws. Number One. Numero Uno. The Most. The Best. The Greatest. Imagine a little nation, hardly visible on the world map, that achieved independence only fifty years ago, inspiring these breathless superlatives, overwhelmed by an embarrassment of riches.
So, on the occasion of the 50th birthday of Singapore, let’s roll out the champagne!
But wait. There will always be a few sceptics and cynics (like myself!) who are tempted to rain on the parade.
Hidden in some of these reports, and openly announced in others, are items of information that might be a dampener on the celebratory joy. Here are some of them:
• Singapore is the third largest gambling market in the world (BBC programme 2013). Surely that has serious social and ethical implications?
• Millionaires are minted in Singapore in the shortest time (BBC programme 2013). What does that say of the increasing social income gap? The possible emergence of an elitist class detached from the rest?
• Singaporeans are not a happy people. According to the Happy Planet Index 2012, Singapore is a lowly 90th out of 151 countries. (The top 2, Costa Rica and Vietnam, are nowhere near Singapore on the Rich List.)
• Singaporeans are not capable of expressing positive emotions. According to a Gallup Survey 2012, Singaporeans are the least emotional people in the world. (The two top countries, Panama and Uruguay are very far from Singapore on the Economic Performance List.)
Actually, I am less perturbed by the findings of these Happiness surveys than those that rank countries in terms of political freedom. I suppose the concern comes from my role as a political commentator. Without exception, these surveys give Singapore a very low ranking. For example:
• For press freedom, Singapore is ranked 149 out of 179, behind Russia, Fiji and Zimbabwe (Reporters without Borders Press Freedom Index 2011)
• For political rights and civic liberties, Singapore is only ‘partly free’, with ‘limited respect for political rights and civil liberties’ (Freedom House Annual Survey 2013)
• As a democracy, Singapore is ranked well below Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Indonesia (Democracy Index 2012)
So while the economic surveys extol Singapore’s ‘freedom’ and ‘transparency’ that have resulted in such amazing world business, these terms, ironically, have exactly the opposite meanings in the political surveys. ‘Freedom’ is used only to draw attention to its absence in civil society, and ‘transparency’ to its absence in the government’s relationship with the people, leading to resentment and distrust.
On the joyous occasion of the 50th birthday, can we not just dismiss these unfriendly reports as just that — unfriendly, biased views of Singapore? But if we do that, we should also, for logical consistency, dismiss the complimentary reports as biased too (though in the opposite direction).
I know what I’ll do. For that one special day, I’ll not give a thought to anything that threatens the pure joy of the occasion. No party-pooper will be allowed at the celebration. So, yes, let’s roll out the birthday champagne!