Why Singapore is One of the World's Richest Countries

Summary

In 1965, Malaysia ejected Singapore, a small island with severe economic and social issues, leading to its independence. Despite dire circumstances, Singapore transformed into one of the world's richest and most developed nations under the leadership of Lee Kuan Yew. Lee's authoritarian but effective policies stabilized the nation, attracted foreign investment, and created a thriving economy. Today, Singapore boasts top infrastructure, education, and healthcare, illustrating a unique path to prosperity despite significant initial challenges.

Takeaways

• 🌍 In 1965, Malaysia expelled Singapore, making it an independent nation.
• 😟 Singapore faced severe economic and social challenges upon independence, with high poverty, unemployment, and a lack of natural resources.
• 🌆 Despite its dire situation, Singapore is now the 4th richest nation, with highly educated and productive citizens, and world-leading infrastructure.
• 🛡️ British East India Company initially established Singapore as a strategic free port to attract international trade.
• 📉 Singapore became a hub for illicit activities due to minimal administrative oversight during its early years.
• ⚔️ World War II and Japanese occupation severely devastated Singapore, leaving it in ruins.
• 🛠️ Post-war rebuilding was slow and uncoordinated, with widespread poverty and violence.
• 🗳️ Lee Kuan Yew, through the People's Action Party, led Singapore to independence and implemented strict authoritarian measures to stabilize the nation.
• 🏢 Lee's policies focused on rapid economic growth through attracting foreign investment, building affordable housing, and fostering a disciplined workforce.
• 💡 Singapore's success came from strategic planning, low corruption, and leveraging its human capital, despite the sacrifice of individual freedoms.

Q & A

What significant event occurred in 1965 involving Malaysia and Singapore?

In 1965, Malaysia voluntarily ejected Singapore from the federation, making Singapore an independent nation.

What was Lee Kuan Yew's initial reaction to Singapore's independence?

Lee Kuan Yew foresaw economic calamity and expressed concern, as he had always believed in the Malaysia Merger.

What were the main challenges Singapore faced immediately after gaining independence?

Singapore faced high unemployment, no natural resources, social unrest, a lack of significant industry, and the withdrawal of British military forces, which further damaged the economy.

How did Singapore become an economic hub despite its initial challenges?

Through a combination of low taxes, attracting foreign investment, focusing on exports, and maintaining a pro-business environment, Singapore transformed into an economic hub.

What role did Lee Kuan Yew play in Singapore's transformation?

Lee Kuan Yew implemented authoritarian policies to stabilize the nation, promoted economic growth by attracting foreign investment, and focused on education and housing to improve living standards.

How did Singapore address its housing crisis under Lee Kuan Yew's leadership?

Lee Kuan Yew introduced policies allowing the government to buy land cheaply and construct affordable housing, encouraging citizens to purchase these homes through the Central Provident Fund.

What measures did Singapore take to attract foreign investment?

Singapore maintained low taxes and regulations, offered incentives like tax exemptions for foreign companies, and invested heavily in infrastructure.

How did Singapore ensure political stability during its economic transformation?

Lee Kuan Yew's government curtailed individual freedoms, banned free speech, jailed political opponents, and implemented strict punishments to maintain order and control.

What industries became prominent in Singapore during its economic rise?

Singapore developed industries such as petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, advanced computer components, shipbuilding, and chemical manufacturing.

How did Singapore manage to reduce corruption during its development?

The government implemented strict anti-corruption measures, including severe penalties for corruption and offering high wages for government officials to reduce the temptation for corrupt activities.

Outlines

00:00

🇸🇬 The Birth and Struggles of Singapore

In 1965, Malaysia ejected Singapore, a 360-square-mile island, from its federation. Lee Kuan Yew, the new leader, faced significant challenges: two-thirds of the population lived in slums, many were addicted to opium, and there was widespread violence. The island had no natural resources, faced hostility from neighbors, and was losing the British military, which made up 20% of its economy. Despite these hardships, Singapore transformed into the 4th richest nation globally, with top-notch infrastructure, education, and a leading role in high-tech manufacturing and finance.

05:01

📈 Rise of Singapore as a Strategic Trade Hub

In the 19th century, the British East India Company sought a port in Southeast Asia to protect its profitable trade route through the Malacca Strait. Sir Thomas Raffles established such a port on the sparsely populated island of Singapore. Singapore became a free port with no taxes, quickly attracting traders from China, Malaya, and India. Despite becoming a hub for undesirable activities, its importance surged with the opening of the Suez Canal. By 1867, it was an official British crown colony and a crucial hub for rubber and tin trade in Southeast Asia.

10:02

⚔️ Conflict and Rebuilding in the 20th Century

The early 20th century brought significant challenges to Singapore. During World War II, the Japanese invasion led to its occupation, causing immense suffering. Post-war rebuilding was chaotic, with widespread slums and violence. Despite terrible living conditions and social unrest, the desire for independence grew. Lee Kuan Yew's People’s Action Party (PAP) gained support, leading to independence from British rule. Initially merging with Malaysia, ethnic conflicts led to Singapore's expulsion and eventual independence in 1965. Lee faced the monumental task of creating a cohesive, prosperous nation from a divided, impoverished population.

15:03

🏗️ Authoritarian Rule and Economic Transformation

Facing economic and social instability, Lee Kuan Yew implemented authoritarian measures to stabilize Singapore, including curtailing freedoms and jailing opponents. Despite harsh methods, these policies reduced violence and paved the way for economic reforms. Housing was addressed through government-built affordable apartments, funded by the Central Provident Fund. To attract foreign investment, taxes and regulations were kept low, and extensive infrastructure projects were launched. Singapore's focus on exports and competitive wages drew businesses, leading to rapid economic growth and diversification into advanced industries. Strict anti-corruption measures further boosted investor confidence.

20:08

💼 Modernization and Economic Miracles

Singapore continued its economic ascent by focusing on human capital, technical education, and healthcare. It diversified into advanced industries like petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals, becoming a major global producer despite lacking natural resources. The financial sector also flourished, making Singapore a key global financial hub. State-owned enterprises, run efficiently and profitably, filled market gaps and drove growth. Profits were reinvested in national development, creating a prosperous, advanced economy. Despite its authoritarian governance, Singapore's strategic policies led to remarkable success, positioning it as one of the world's most competitive and prosperous nations.

🏝️ Unique Path to Prosperity

Singapore's strategic location and favorable global trends contributed to its success, but it was Lee Kuan Yew's leadership that truly transformed the nation. His authoritarian yet effective governance maximized Singapore's advantages and minimized its shortcomings. While the nation's path to prosperity can't be easily replicated, its tailored economic model proved highly effective for its unique context. Despite criticisms, Singapore's rapid development from a struggling island to a global economic powerhouse highlights the importance of adaptive, strategic governance in achieving national success.

Keywords

💡Singapore Independence

The event in 1965 when Malaysia ejected Singapore, leading to its independence. This was unusual as independence typically involves a struggle for freedom rather than expulsion. It marks the beginning of Singapore's transformation from a poor island to a wealthy nation.

💡Lee Kuan Yew

The first Prime Minister of Singapore, who played a crucial role in its development. He implemented strict, sometimes authoritarian measures to stabilize and grow the economy, and is credited with transforming Singapore into a prosperous state.

💡Economic Transformation

The process through which Singapore went from being a poor island with no natural resources to becoming one of the richest nations. This involved significant investment in housing, infrastructure, and attracting foreign investment through low taxes and regulations.

💡Authoritarian Rule

Lee Kuan Yew's governance style that included curtailing individual freedoms to ensure stability and economic growth. Measures included banning free speech, jailing political opponents, and strict punishments for crimes. This approach stabilized Singapore during its critical developmental phase.

💡Housing Development

A major policy initiative where the Singaporean government constructed affordable housing to replace slums. This involved the Central Provident Fund, which allowed citizens to save and buy homes, significantly improving living conditions.

💡Foreign Investment

A critical factor in Singapore's economic success. The government attracted foreign businesses by offering tax exemptions and low regulations, creating jobs and boosting the economy. This was essential given Singapore's lack of natural resources.

💡Central Provident Fund

A mandatory savings scheme for Singaporean workers, initially intended for pensions but expanded to include housing. This fund played a significant role in enabling citizens to afford homes and accumulate wealth.

💡Strategic Location

Singapore's geographic position on major global shipping routes, particularly the Malacca Strait. This has historically made it a vital trade hub, contributing to its economic significance and growth.

💡State-Owned Enterprises

Businesses owned by the Singaporean government, which were run efficiently to generate profit and support economic development. These enterprises helped diversify the economy and provided significant revenue for public investments.

💡Economic Policies

The various strategies implemented by the Singaporean government to foster economic growth, including low taxes, incentives for businesses, strict anti-corruption measures, and investment in education and infrastructure.

Highlights

In 1965, Malaysia voluntarily ejected Singapore, a rare move in global politics.

Singapore's initial conditions were dire with two-thirds of its population living in slums and high unemployment rates.

Despite severe economic challenges, Singapore transformed into the 4th richest nation on earth.

Lee Kuan Yew played a pivotal role in Singapore's independence and subsequent economic development.

Singapore's strategic location made it a key player in global trade routes, especially during the British East India Company era.

The introduction of the Suez Canal significantly boosted Singapore's importance as a trade hub.

Singapore's transformation involved harsh authoritarian measures to ensure stability and economic progress.

Lee Kuan Yew's policies included curtailing individual freedoms and implementing draconian punishments to maintain order.

A significant policy was the creation of affordable housing through the Central Provident Fund, leading to high homeownership rates.

Singapore's economy was geared towards attracting foreign investment with low taxes and incentives for businesses.

The banning of unions and low regulations helped maintain competitive wages and attract labor-intensive industries.

Singapore's government tackled corruption with severe penalties and high wages for officials to deter misconduct.

Lee Kuan Yew focused on human capital development, establishing technical schools and modern hospitals to support economic growth.

Singapore became a leading producer of refined petroleum despite having no natural resources.

The nation developed a robust financial sector, becoming the 4th largest financial center globally.

Transcripts

In 1965 the newly created nation of Malaysia did something that nations almost never do,

it voluntarily ejected a strategic and important part of its own land.

The 360 square mile island known as Singapore.

While Independence is usually a cause for celebration, the new leader of Singapore,

Lee Kuan Yew, foresaw the coming economic calamity.

“You see the whole of my adult life, I believed in the Malaysia Merger”.

Singapore was already in a terrible position prior to independence, two thirds of its million

population lived in slums, with many addicted to opium, its highly mixed population was

increasingly breaking out into violence, it had no significant industry, and unemployment

was already high.

Its new found independence now meant it was without access to natural resources as the

island has none.

Its larger and more powerful neighbors not only were going to cut off trade but were

actively hostile to Singapore's existence.

To make matters even worse, British military forces were withdrawing from the island taking

with them 20% of the remaining economy.

Singapore appeared to be destined for underdevelopment, violence and poverty.

Yet today, Singapore is the 4th richest nation on earth.

Its citizens are among the most educated, healthy, and productive of any country.

It has the best infrastructure in the world, is a leader in high tech manufacturing and

is the financial and logistical hub of all of southeast asia.

But how did this unlikely, poor and tiny asian island nation go on to become one of the best

places to live in the world?

How did Singapore become so incredibly rich?

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In the 19th Century there was a corporation so powerful, it brought in more revenue than

its host nation, had its own military, and a fifth of the entire world's population lived

on its private lands.

That corporation was the British East India Company.

It derived its profits from shipping and trading resources from all over the world, and its

most lucrative cargo was Chinese tea.

To purchase the tea, it would sell massive quantities of opium that it grew in Northern

India All of this shipping happened to pass through

one narrow corridor known as the Malacca Strait.

Quickly this became the company's most profitable trade route, constituting 50% of its revenue.

But in order to protect this route and to make the voyage more feasible, the company

desperately wanted their own port in the region.

However, a naval superpower already had an iron grip in the region.

For the two centuries prior the Dutch had a monopoly on these lands and outpowered anyone

who attempted to compete.

As such it was official company policy to not take any actions that might anger the

dutch out of fear of disrupting the incredible lucrative existing trade routes.

But one tenacious company official named Sir Thomas Raffles took it upon himself to create

such a port on the sparsely populated island that would go on to become Singapore.

Situated at the tip of the malayan peninsula it was the ultimate location to set up shop.

After some back and forth in Europe the Dutch eventually did nothing to stop the British

from having the territory.

But Singapore was not to become an ordinary port.

In order to attract traders away from the existing ports in the region, Singapore was

to become a free port, meaning there were zero taxes on businesses or port related activities.

This was a massive advantage over the other heavily taxed ports in the region and word

quickly spread.

In just 4 years Singapore had attracted tens of thousands of traders from China, Malaya

and India.

Soon the horizon became full of ships as everyone clammered to seek their tax free riches.

But because of its lack of significant administrative oversight, Singapore became a hub for less

desirable ventures.

Slave trading, gambling, opium dens, violence and prosititution became common place.

But booming international trade continued to propel Singapore's importance and popularity.

This was supercharged by the opening of the Suez canal in egypt.

Trading from England to China was now 5 thousand less miles, which in turn cut costs and dramatically

increased shipping demands.

The new route also now favored the strait of malacca instead of the sunda strait meaning

more traffic was passing by and utilizing the port.

Singapore was now by far the most important port in the region, and as such, in 1867 It

became an official crown colony of the British Empire.

But yet another development would propel its importance further.

The introduction of rubber trees in malaya and a booming global demand for tin which

was abundant in the region, meant singapore was no longer just a stop on the way to China

but the hub for the riches of southeast asia.

Resources would be extracted from the peninsula and then transported to Singapore, where it

would be processed and shipped globally.

As Singapore has no natural resources this fostered a symbiotic economic relationship

with malaya.

With its growing importance came greater British military presence creating industry surrounding

its dockyards and providing services to military personnel.

By the year 1900 tiny Singapore would be home to more than two hundred thousand people who

were much better off than those in other nations in the region.

But Singapore's centuries of un hindering growth would come to a screeching halt.

As the 20th century progressed, Singapore, even being six thousand miles from Europe,

was not safe from the ensuing global conflicts.

During the second world war the Japanese Empire was engulfing all lands it came into contact

with.

In December 1941 the Japanese invasion of Malaya had commenced and within two months

it was at Singapore's doorstep.

Despite orders from London, Singapore was officially surrendered on February 15th 1942

and for three years, Singapore would undergo unbelievable suffering and destruction.

Even as the tides of war changed and liberation came in 1945, the retaking of the Island leveled

much of the remaining structures.

Singapore was no longer a jewel of southeast asia but a smoldering pile of rubble.

Devastated from war and neglected from a crippled British Empire.

The rebuilding of Singapore was uncoordinated and unregulated.

Haphazard Slums started to dominate the island, infrastructure was not fully restored and

violence and opium continued to wreck the population.

As one travel magazine put it, Singapore was filled with “utter filth and poverty.

One must see with his own eyes to believe it.”

Over the centuries, The British did little to promote or integrate the diverse and densely

packed population.

There was no Singaporean identity as each group lived amongst themselves, fought for

their own resources, stayed isolated to their own customs and oftentimes had conflicting

interests with the other groups.

Now with terrible living conditions and growing unemployment, these groups started to engage

in violence further worsening Singapore's situations.

For most of Singapore's existence its desire to split from the British empire was low as

its lack of resources meant it did not experience the exploitation that other colonies faced.

But when the British Empire was not able or willing to defend it during the war, with

its now crippled economy, rising social violence and with the decolonization of much of the

rest of the world, the idea of independence started to propagate among the population.

Singaporians would go on to put their trust in one man to do just that.

Lee Kuan Yew, a lawyer who spent his years studying in Britain, formed the People’s

Action Party or PAP and was able to successfully gain a few seats in local elections in 1955.

Lee spearheaded the independence movement, prompting London to initially clamp down on

the PAP.

But with changing British public opinion in favor of decolonization the process of independence

had begun.

In 1959 Lee was elected as prime minister on the promise of merging with Malaya as in

his mind it was the only way for Singapore to survive.

Its economy was symbolically linked with malaya, it had no capacity to defend itself and it

needed help in controlling the violence and righting its economy.

Therefore merging with Malaya made sense.

On September 16th 1963 this became a reality when the former colonies of Malaya, North

Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore merged to become the Federation of Malaysia.

But there was a problem, the Malaysian Elections resulted in a party coming to power that ruled

on the promise of putting ethnic Malays first.

This was a problem for Singapore which was at the time 60 percent Chinese and was deeply

mixed ethnically.

Massive violence broke out on the streets, and the PAP, against their promise, ran in

the federal elections on the promise of a fair and multi ethnic state.

The ruling party saw Singapore as a threat to political, social and economic stability.

As such a unanimous vote ejected Singapore from the nation, just 2 years after the merger.

Against its wishes, Singapore was independent and alone to fend for itself.

Lee Kuah Yew found himself in an impossible situation.

How do you build a nation out of a population that has no national identity, let alone make

it a prosperous state.

How do you create jobs when you have no natural resources?

How do you pull 70% of your population out of abject poverty, House and educate them

and set them on a course for a greater life?

Independence also brought the departure of the British military further damaging the

economy and taking away even more jobs.

The cards were stacked against Singapore, which now found itself South of a Malaysia

that planned to starve it economically by stealing trade, and North of an expansionist

Indonesia who possibly had aspirations of invading.

Lee Kuan Yew knew the fate of his fragile new nation was up to him, and he decided he

was going to drag Singapore into modernity even if that meant with an Iron fist.

The first thing to overcome was the social unrest while at the same time working to cement

the PAP’s political power.

Individual freedoms were curtailed, free speech was banned, Political opponents were jailed

without trial and draconian punishments were carried out for rioting, violence, and drug

use.

This hardline authoritarian approach even included public caning for chewing gum, graffiti

and public drunkenness.

Anyone that spoke out against the government was sued into bankruptcy.

Religious extremists, communist Chinese, malays who wanted to reunite with Malaysia were all

silenced or worse.

Lee Kuan Yew's solution to the potentially explosive underlying ethnic and social tensions

was authoritarian rule.

However, as horrible as this was, It worked in curtailing violence and stabilizing the

nation.

In his mind the population would not care about the diminishment of their freedoms if

it meant he could provide them with economic prosperity and social peace.

Free elections would continue in theory however they would be tampered with so much that the

nation would become a one party state under the PAP, whose rule still stands to this day.

With the social and political situation stabilized, Lee would carry out a dramatic economic overhaul

that would go on to enable a miracle.

The most pressing economic problem to address was housing.

Representing one of the largest slum populations on earth, 70% of all Singaporeans lived in

rough temporary structures with no plumbing.

Lee instituted a controversial law allowing the government to buy land cheaply to which

row after row of affordable housing would be constructed.

While initially inspired by the British welfare state, Lee did not want his people to be dependent

on the state forever.

As a way to give citizens a stake in the nation's prosperity, to increase upkeep of the structures

and to build wealth, residents were heavily encouraged to buy their apartments at low

rates.

The way in which they could afford this was through another policy that forced a percentage

of one's income to be saved, called the Central Provident Fund.

Originally the savings fund was for pensions, however lee modified it, allowing citizens

to spend it on housing.

Slowly overtime the amount forced to be saved was increased to 25% of every paycheck with

another 25% being deposited by employers.

This eventually made Singapore the nation with the highest ratio of savings to income

earned.

This savings policy coupled with cheap rates for state owned housing proved to be a massive

success.

All citizens living in slums were housed and most started to be able to own their property.

Today 80% of all Singaporeans live in houses they own that were originally built by the

state.

This has allowed Singaporeans to largely avoid the extreme housing prices in other similar

nations like Hong Kong.

But building houses for the population would not nearly be enough if the economy did not

have jobs for them to work at.

With no resources, no real existing manufacturing and neighbors reluctant to trade, Lee knew

the only way to grow was by doing everything possible to attract forign investment.

Keeping inline with Singapore's historical roots, taxes and regulations were kept low.

Companies were even given massive incentives like being completely exempt from taxes for

ten years.

To keep wages competitive Lee banned unions and actively encouraged businesses to fire

all workers when faced with a strike.

The government also started dumping money in infrastructure projects and creating sprawling

modern industrial zones.

Seeing as Singapore's domestic market was small, numerous policies were implemented

to gear the economy toward exports.

Mixed with Singapore's existing port, incredible geography, and business friendly policies,

simple, labor intensive forigin businesses started pouring in.

This was helped further with Mao Ze Dong's cultural revolution in China that scared investors

away from Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

Within just 10 years Singapore had practically zero unemployment and the economy was growing

at a monstrous 13% every year.

Singapore would continue to implement hyper capitalistic policies to increase investment

by forign companies, so much so that it is the second easiest nation to do business in.

With an Economy starting to become evermore reliant on government intervention, Lee also

took drastic measures to cut out corruption.

This included sentencing those suspected to death as well as offering some of the highest

wages in the world for government officials, helping to reduce the desire to engage in

corruption in the first place.

This worked.

And today Singapore is one of the least corrupt nations on earth.

This substantially increased the effectiveness of policy implementation as well as increasing

investor confidence, further boosting growth and cutting down on wasteful spending.

But Lee did not want Singapore to always be focused on simple cheap manufacturing.

He knew the most valuable resource the nation had was its human capital.

As such he started creating technical schools, paid forign companies to train workers and

created modern hospitals to keep the population healthy.

This in turn brought in more specialized industry and thus higher wages, higher savings and

more budget for the government to reinvest into education.

This created a positive feedback loop of productivity gains.

By the 1980’s Singapore was now in the business of Petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, advanced

computer components, ship building, chemical manufacturing and more.

In fact, despite Singapore's lack of resources it had become the world's third largest producer

of refined petroleum.

That is because it had once again become the regional hub of southeast Asia, importing

raw materials from its neighbors, processing and manufacturing them into higher value goods,

and then shipping them across the planet.

This status of regional hub was further facilitated by Singapore's rapidly growing financial sector,

which strategically bridged the gap between American markets closing and European markets

opening.

This rise was also perfectly timed as many Asian nations were undergoing tremendous growth,

allowing Singapore to act as the Logistical and financial hub through which forign investment

was distributed.

This mixed with pro financial policies allowed Singapore to become the 4th largest financial

center in the world.

But Singapore, coming from such humble beginnings meant it did not have its own class of entrepreneurs.

The lack of capital and technical know-how meant it was impossible for Singaporeans to

build substantial companies of their own, to compete on the world stage.

Not wanting to be left out and to further facilitate growth, Lee organized a group of

gifted civil servants and international business men to make efficient state owned enterprises.

This included Singapore Airlines, Steel, iron and chemical manufacturing and many other

capital intensive enterprises.

While State owned companies are usually synonymous with inefficiency,in singapore their primary

objective from the very beginning was to make profit.

The low corruption in the government, Lee’s willingness to shut down loss making ventures,

and the lack of unions which kept costs low, meant these companies were wildly successful.

By the 90s the government began limited privatization of the most profitable, giving Singaporians

preferential rates for buying shares.

These companies helped to diversify the economy as well as fill in gaps in the market.

The revenue generated was also placed in a sovereign wealth fund which was then used

to further funding for healthcare, infrastructure and education.

Today Singapore is one of the richest, most advanced and competitive economies in the

world.

It operates the second largest port, is the second easiest nation to do business in and

still attracts the third highest forign direct investment.

Its people have affordable housing, they have access to world class healthcare and their

students test the highest in the world.

Its government under Lee Kuah Yew was able to efficiently implement policies that relied,

not on ideology, but their utility to Singapore's long term prosperity.

But this has of course, come at the cost of political and certain individual freedoms.

While it's hard to agree with its Authoritarian governance its hard to argue with its success.

The consolidated power allowed Singapore to maximize its advantages while limiting its

shortcomings.

Singapore has always been lucky with its location on one of if not the most important global

shipping lane.

It got lucky with riding the growth of globalization in the second half of the 20th century.

But most importantly it got lucky that its dictator Lee Kuan Yew was smart and more or

less benevolent in his actions.

While it might be easy for those of us that live in western countries to criticize some

of Singapore's actions, our ideals and institutions have had hundreds of years to form while developing

nations are expected to do the same in less than a generation.

The path Singapore took should not be and likely can't be replicated by other nations.

Singapore's economy is not perfect for the world, it's perfect for singapore.