Former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew is gone. Nine years short of a hundred, the Lion State’s founder and foremost nation-builder has passed on. He leaves behind a prosperous, cohesive and modern Singapore, with one of the highest per capita income in the world and the lowest crime rate as well.
While I was growing up and until today when my own daughter is all grown-up, I keep hearing a recurring lament: “Why can’t the Philippines be like another Singapore?” then comes the quick and inevitable reply: “Because we don’t have leaders like Lee Kuan Yew!” Indeed, Singapore’s iconic leader had always given a premium to discipline over excessive democracy, to systems built to last over romantic, more fluid motions and notions of governance.
I also recall the reminders shared by Filipinos who have visited Singapore to first-time travelers – 1) Do not litter or you will face a jail term. 2) Do not spit or you’ll be arrested. 3) Do not smoke in public. 4) Do not leave your chewing gum anywhere. It was always a long list of don’ts, that later became a running joke among Filipinos. The image of Singapore as a stern democracy has stuck in my memory.
Yet, Singapore of today is the result of a vision that came true because of Lee Kuan Yew. Governance in Singapore is built on the back of an efficient, corruption-free bureaucracy with institutions that share a common vision. Singapore’s oldest leader knew Asia like the back of his hand. American presidents and even his close neighbors in ASEAN benefitted from Lee’s wise counsel. Even when he was alive, long before the twilight of his years, the word “statesman” is uttered like a familiar adverb to his name.
His genius in building Singapore from the ground up gave him the license to speak his mind, even to the consternation of some of his neighbors. In his book, “From Third World to First: Singapore and the Asian Economic Boom”, Lee wrote: “Millions of Filipino men and women had to leave their country for jobs abroad beneath their level of education. Filipino professionals whom we recruited to work in Singapore are as good as our own. Indeed, their architects, artists and musicians are more artistic and creative than ours. Hundreds of thousands of them have left for Hawaii and for the American mainland. It is a problem the solution to which has not been made easier by the workings of a Philippine version of the American constitution.”
“The difference lies in the culture of the Filipino people. It is a soft, forgiving culture. ...Some Filipinos write and speak with passion. If they could get their elite to share their sentiments and act, what could they not have achieved?"
Future generations shall be relying on the books he wrote, the quotes he made to partake of Lee’s wisdom. We visit Singapore and feel the vibrancy of its economy, the exemplary work ethic and discipline of its people. In that sense, Lee is never really gone. He fathered and grew a nation, and in the course of history, mentored several others.
Farewell, Lee. Your place in history is assured.
