As published in The Straits Times
The recent Rotary International Convention brought 14,000 delegates from all over the world to Singapore. The foreign delegates marvelled at how well-organised we are as a society, and at our efficiency, safety, politeness, cleanliness, greenery, transport infrastructure, housing policy, national reserves and multiculturalism.
Several delegates asked me, a local delegate, how we achieved this success. I told them it wasn’t always like this and our GDP per capita was only US$500 in 1965. We progressed rapidly because we had a stable government formed by the same political party since 1959. They were shocked.
They asked me if we were a democracy or a dictatorship. I told them Singaporeans do not measure our leaders according to dogmas or ideologies. We measure leadership according to the improvements in our quality of life. Over the years, our lives have got better and so the ruling party has won elections every time. Competent leadership includes competent civil servants, civil society leaders and industry leaders.
So what is the Singapore system called? It’s called pragmatism.
Nation-building is an inclusive process. Our citizens can take ownership of initiatives and have dialogues with the Government to make the necessary refinements. In January, the Singapore Government Partnerships Office was launched, allowing anyone with ideas who wants to work together with the Government to do so more easily.
There are also opposition parties to keep the ruling party honest, and social media which lets us voice our views. Our government is not flawless, but we have constructive channels for redress.
Jack Sim Juek Wah