Few gave tiny Singapore much chance of survival when it was granted independence in 1965. How is it, then, that today the former British colonial trading Post is a thriving Asian Metropolis with not only the world’s number one airline, best airport, and the busiest port of trade, but also the World’s fourth highest per capita real income? Singapore is the 5th wealthiest country in the world in terms of GDP (PPP) per capita.
The 2014-15 Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) prepared by the World Economic Forum defines competitiveness as a set of institutions, policies and factors that determine the level of productivity of a country. The level of productivity, in turn, sets the level of prosperity that can be reached by an economy. The report’s index ranked Singapore 2nd out of 144 world economies with a general average score of 5.65/7 maintaining its 2013-14 position behind Switzerland. The global Competitiveness Index measures performance of economies on three sub-indices namely:
a) Basic requirements sub-index comprises of pillars such as Presence of
Institutions (effective legal and administrative framework); Effective and efficient Infrastructure; Stability of Macro-Economic environment; and Healthy workforce and Basic Education
These are referred to as, “Keys for Factor- Driven Economies.” In this category, Singapore came 1st worldwide with a score of 6.34/7.
b) Efficiency Enhancers sub-index comprises of Higher Education and Training; Goods Markets Efficiency; Labor Market Efficiency; Financial Market Development; Technological readiness; and Market Size. These are referred to as, “Keys for Efficiency Driven Economies.” In this category, Singapore ranked 2nd worldwide with a score of 5.68/7.
c) Innovation and Sophistication factors sub-index comprised of pillars such as Business Sophistication and Innovation. These are described as, “Keys for Innovation Driven Economies.” In this Category, Singapore ranked 11th
Worldwide with a score of 5.13/7
The Legartum Prosperity Index sets out to measure the prosperity of a nation in comparison with other world nations, by using eight core pillars of prosperity. In the 2014 rankings, Singapore had an overall prosperity rank of 18th/142. She performed as follows on the identified pillars in comparison with 142 world economies studied:
a) Economy (2nd)
b) Entrepreneurship and Opportunity (12th)
c) Governance (13th)
d) Education (22nd)
e) Health (18th)
f) Safety and Security (14th)
g) Personal Freedom (40th)
h) Social Capital (45th)
For an economy which celebrated its Golden Jubilee in 2015, what triggered such development among a people who started out with such challenges as race/ethnic riots; instant exit of the British military support, hostile neighbours to mention but a few? What really happened to this nation for it to turn around in less than 2 generations? And what of the other Asian Tiger economies; how did they come to be? In this book, Lee Kuan Yew, the Founding Prime Minister of Singapore and the man who was at the centre of this change provides an eye-witness account of this journey with his pen covering a lot of what happened in the background that gave birth to Modern day Singapore, specifically and Asia as a whole.
Dr. Henry Kissinger in the foreword to this book states that, “Every great achievement is a dream before it becomes a reality and that Lee Kuan Yew's vision was of a state that would not simply survive but prevail by excelling. Superior intelligence, discipline and ingenuity would substitute for resources. Lee Kuan Yew summoned his compatriots to a duty they had never previously perceived: first to clean up their city, then to dedicate it to overcome the initial hostility of their neighbours and their own ethnic divisions by superior performance. The Singapore of today is his testament.”
Lee Kuan Yew was a man who left a mark in his generation and our time and he left an accurate record to show, at least in part, how he and his colleagues did it. Jim Collins in his book, Good to Great, asserts that greatness is largely a matter of conscious choice and effort and the account of Lee Kuan Yew suffices a lot of evidence to back this statement.
My critique of this book will focus on providing issues that I agree and/or disagree with and provide the reasons why. I shall also provide some key lessons that I picked from his leadership that I feel are worthy taking home for leaders interested in National Transformation. This is because he clearly states in the preface (last paragraph, page xv) that and I quote, “This is not a how-to book on whether to build an economy, an army, or a nation. It is an account of the problems my colleagues and I faced and how we set about solving them.” In essence, my approach will largely involve examining the approaches he used to achieve this end. I shall also explore his book organization and method of book development.
PERSONAL STATEMENT ON THE AUTHOR OF THE BOOK:
(From www.biography.com/people/lee-kuan-yew-9377939), the following is said about Lee Kuan Yew:
Lee Kuan Yew was born in Singapore on 16th September, 1923 to a wealthy Chinese family that resided in Singapore since the 19th Century. He became the longest serving Prime Minister in World History. He rose through the ranks of the country’s political system before becoming the 1st Prime Minister of Singapore on June 5th, 1959. He led Singapore to a merger with Malaysia in 1962 but three years later, Singapore left the merger for good. He resigned as Prime Minister in 1990. After World War 2, he studied law at Fitz William College in Cambridge United Kingdom.
In 1950, he was admitted to the English Bar but instead of practicing law there, he returned to Singapore to do so. At the time Singapore was a British colony and held Britain’s main naval base in the Far East. It was ruled by a governor and legislative council, mostly comprising of wealthy businessmen who were appointed rather than elected by the people. In early 1950, Singapore buzzed with talk of Constitutional reform and independence. Lee bonded with other like minds to challenge the governing structure of the country. Soon breaking from this group and taking a more radical stance in 1954, Lee became the Secretary General of his own Party, the People’s Action Party (PAP).
In 1955, a new Singapore constitution was introduced. It increased the number of elected seats on council to 25 out of a total of 32 thereby allowing only 7 seats to be filled by appointment. In 1958, he helped negotiate what Singapore’s status would be as a self- governing state and a new constitution was formed. Under the new constitution, national elections were held in June 1959. He campaigned on an anti-colonialist, anticommunist platform and called for sweeping reforms and an eventual federation with neighbouring countries. Lee’s Party won a decisive victory taking 43 out of 51 seats in the assembly and Singapore gained Self governing status (except in Matters of defense and foreign affairs.) He was sworn in as Prime Minister on June 5th, 1959 becoming the first Prime Minister of Independent Singapore. Once in office, Lee introduced a 5 year plan calling for an urban renewal and construction of new Public housing; greater rights for women, Educational reform and industrialization. His plan also called for a merger with Malaysia.
Malaysia Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman (who he writes about in this book) proposed formation of a federation State that would include Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak. Lee campaigned in favour of the effort and also to end British colonial rule for good. To show that Singaporeans were supportive, Lee used the results of the referendum held in September 1962 in which 70% of the votes were cast in favour of the proposal.
Growing tensions between Chinese and Malays in the Federation, however, resulted in rioting in Singapore notably weakened by the Prophet Muhammad birthday riots or Sino-Malay riots of summer 1964. With racial strife continuing, Lee was told by his Malaysian colleagues that Singapore must leave the Federation. Lee was passionate about working out a compromise but his efforts proved fruitless and he signed a separation agreement in August 7th, 1965. With a broken economy came problems beyond Lee’s personal grief. Singapore’s lack of natural resources and a limited defensive capability were major challenges. Singapore needed a strong economy to survive as an independent country and Lee quickly spearheaded a program to transform it into a major exporter of finished goods. He encouraged foreign trade investments and made moves to raise the standard of living He resigned as Prime Minister in November 1990 but remained the leader of PAP till 1942. In early 2015, Lee was hospitalized with Pneumonia. By early March 2015, he was on a ventilator in critical condition and he died soon after on 23rd March 2015.
Under Lee’s guidance, Singapore had a per capita income second only to Japan’s in East Asia and the country had become a Chief Financial center of South East Asia. I note that in this book, he dramatically recounts this miraculous history not only as one who lived through it all but who fearlessly forged ahead and brought about most of these changes. He focuses on a lot on issues of policy both on domestic and Foreign matters because that is his strength probably because of his academic legal background and early exposure to politics when he formed the People’s Action Party (PAP)
Purpose of Writing the Book:
In the preface to this book (page xv), I pick Yew’s purpose in the last paragraph and I paraphrase:
a) To provide an account of the problems he and his colleagues faced when building the economy, army and nation
b) To provide an account of how they went about solving them. Thus, Lee has the intention of providing information on the above to his audience but also try to explain the technicalities that justified many of the decisions he and his colleagues took when in charge of the government of Singapore.
Intended audience And Motivation:
From his preface, Lee Kuan Yew says that he wrote this book for a younger generation of Singaporeans who took stability, growth, and prosperity for granted. He wanted them to know how difficult it was for a small country of 640 sq. Kilometres with no natural resources to survive in the midst of larger, newly independent nations all pursuing nationalistic policies. He states in the second paragraph and I quote: “We cannot afford to forget that public order, personal security, economic and social progress and prosperity are not the natural order of things, that they depend on ceaseless effort and
Attention from an honest and effective government that people must elect. He therefore writes from an eye-witness account point of view
Book Organization:
The book is organized in three parts, preceded by a Foreword by Dr. Henry Kissinger (Former United States Secretary of State) and then the preface by Lee Kuan Yew himself. Lee uses a very formal writing style providing his evidence to back up his submissions, arguments, detailed explanations and counter arguments to defend many of his decision making approach. For an economy which stands 22nd in the world on the education rankings according to the Legartum index that I quoted in the introduction, I believe, it suits his target audience many of whom are learned.
Part 1 deals majorly with the approach Lee Kuan Yew adopted for his domestic policy. It provides a fair account of how he and his colleagues started out, what they had and the decisions they had to make involving such issues as the revamping the economy to make it outcompete its neighbours with the negligible resources at hand; and compete globally; handling dissenting views from within such as the media and the unions; Succession planning and the handling of the environment
Part 2 deals majorly with examining foreign relations that Lee’s government had. He begins with his former colleagues, Malaysia; then to other neighbours like Indonesia; Thailand; Philippines; and Brunei. He then examines the influence of the ASEAN Umbrella body of Asian countries and its impact on Asia. He also shares about the relationship with former colonial power of Britain and the Common wealth Conferences which also extend to examining Singapore’s ties with New Zealand and Australia. He also examines the relations with the United States; Japan’s success lessons and other emerging Asian tigers for example Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and finally China
In Part 3, he draws his discourse to a conclusion with briefs on how he prepared for a transition and a government beyond him, a few principles his family life and then lastly his conclusion
Personal impact of the book
a) Impacting journey through Singapore History: The story of Singapore journey to progress has really impacted me positively. First, the book introduced me to how it all started. I had no previous thinking about Singapore as a country let alone the few things I had about it in the press and other public engagements. I had in my primary school days read a story about, “Badang, the strongest man in Singapore,” and though I liked the story, I never did dig any deeper than that. After reading this book, I have gained basic insight on how transformation begun in this country and the principles which were applied to achieve it Important Information on Asia:
b) The Asian economies, nowadays called Asian Tigers, because of their impressive growth over the years make a lot of headlines today especially when being compared to African economies, especially Uganda. These got independence around the same time as many African states but a generation later, there is nothing to compare about the two. In this book, Lee tries to also elaborate on how the transformation boom caught up with the rest of Asia by showing what they used to perform poorly and how they made drastic changes to turn around their fortunes and in some cases, due to the good influence of Singapore. This has been very enlightening for me
c) Transformation can happen and co-exist with a good culture: Lee provides a strong example for me as a national transformer of how to pick good cultural practices and adopt them in the Development agenda. He stood for a strong. Confucian value system which espouses the central role of family in development and in effect dismissing the western approach which tends to push for the state and not family to be the focus of transformation. This is a commendable lesson I can adopt. We need not disband our African good values when we have an option of fusing them with our development agenda.
d) Transformation as people-based with people-involvement: Lee demonstrates to me that whereas the leader plays a big role, he is only as successful as the people who follow him. Lee is not seeking to blow his trumpet to get praise; rather, he gives a thorough example of how a leader can influence his followers to buy into the development agenda. This is evident in his winning all the elections he participated in.
e) A multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural harmonious society is possible In this book, Lee demonstrates to me that it is possible to have a people of different languages, religious and cultural background co-existing in the same society harmoniously. Though his government started off with racial and religious riots, a lot of improvement has been registered since. As Africans, we can learn from such principles that worked in Singapore and put them to use here so that wars and bloodshed that has always emanated from conflicts on such issues becomes a thing of the past and then we can work together for a common development agenda.
f) Value of integrity: Lee shows that he not only is a man of integrity, but he will go at any length to protect and defend it. Like him, I think it is wrong for people or entities to make unfounded accusations without proof as the case is with our modern media. I have a lot of respect for him for taking his opponents to court to substantiate their accusations against him but like many dissenting voices with no proof, they choose to shy away from justice. I personally think it is a good thing for people to be responsible for the words they speak and their conduct
g) Admitting of weaknesses: It is worth noting that Lee includes weaknesses, challenges and failures that came along his way. In some incidences, he even takes personal responsibility for them. This makes it unique. Many authors are shy to share about times they felt short, or blundered as they only want to write about the good side only and when they bother to mention their failures, they do so when apportioning blame to someone else
Author’s Success and Goal Achievement:
a) Man of principle and of concern: In this book, Lee Kuan Yew demonstrates that he is a man of Principle as well as a man of action yet balancing it with the heart of compassion his people like that of a mother for her children. He demonstrates that he is as equally concerned about their personal life issues as he was about the state issues. For example, the performance of Muslim Malay students, Marriage of the Educated men to uneducated or under-educated women, which would easily pass as issues of fate in any society were issues of concern for him that forced him to do something about it.
b) He ably reached his target audience: His intention is to write to a younger generation of Singaporeans to give them a history to the privileges they now have. He starts from home which they are familiar with, then expands to neighbouring countries and regional entities. He then goes on to relations with distant countries, international powers and organizations. The sequence he follows is a Confucian one which begins from family (home) outward. Thus, this makes for easy reading for his audience
c) His communication pattern is simple and straight forward: It is surprising that a man who has been on the global scene, moreover with a background in Law writes with a simple vocabulary. He rarely uses complex terms just to show that he is not selective of his readership.
d) Policy implemented with evidence: He ably shows the place of evidenced-based policy implementation and its results. He and his cabinet developed a habit of shaping their policy agenda around what statistics of a particular area showed. This book is a masterpiece in that the leader presents points in time where statistics showed his government was not performing well in certain spheres. He did not trash or explain away the figures; He drafted his policies to confront the brutal facts head-on. On page 163 for example, to provide evidence of the progress of the fight against corruption, Lee quoted the Institute of Management Development’s World’s competitiveness yearbook 1997 that ranked least corrupt countries in the whole world giving 10 points for a perfect score for a country with no corruption, Singapore was least corrupt in Asia with a score of 9.18
e) A leader can succeed with his family: Lee also presents a rare case to find by including something about his family. In a world where leaders are preoccupied with impacting their sphere of influence; Lee shows how his leadership begun from home. He prepared his children with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to go further than he did by first and foremost enabling them appreciate the role of merit in achieving their destiny. I found this touching
Recommendation
a) I recommend principles in this book to leaders of Uganda. Policy is made at the Executive arm of government. The executive can learn many principles from Lee how he made policies and easily made the citizens to buy into them. Lee also gives examples of how development, though unpopular to the masses, can be adopted and masses empowered to buy in subsequently.
The executive can also draw an important lesson of recruiting the best people of expertise and integrity in handling the state affairs.
The legislature is the where laws are made. Our law makers can learn from Lee’s example to pass laws that empower development and change. They can strengthen weak laws, and toughen sanctions against law breakers. By being faithful to their role, like in Singapore, corruption can be a thing of the past. The Judiciary is critical for maintain the rule of law and exercising Justice. By adhering to its independence like it was under Lee, the rule of law can prevail.
b) I recommend the book to leaders of local, National and multi-cultural Corporations. Lee provides evidence that it is possible to work and profit in a state where you equip Nationals with skills and employ them, pay your taxes and grow your market share. It is also possible to profit in a corruption-free environment. These principles if adopted can improve standards of living by creating more employment
c) I also recommend this book for the diplomats of Uganda in other countries. Lee’s foreign policy approach has some very good principles to draw for example always negotiating for the welfare of the people of your country above all else and then for peaceful coexistence with others.
d) The Media Practitioners in Uganda can also learn from Lee’s advice when setting out to prepare news items. In Uganda, the media makes an error by assuming that it is representative of the voice of the people which is erroneous because, as Lee puts it, it is the elected government. The media does well to assist the elected government in fulfilling the expectations of the electorate
e) Curriculum Developers in the Education Sector in Africa can draw many lessons from this book for their students if they intend to help the students adopt a National Transformation attitude.
General Book Evaluation
Although in parts of my presentation, I have already highlighted aspects from Lee that I consent to, the following are the key opinions of the book that I picked for personal development from the book that I pick up for the critique and I agree with providing the reasons why:
a) Vision Casting: Lee provided a clear and concise Vision for his fellow leaders and other followers to follow so as to eliminate ambiguity and ensure commitment to the cause. Chapter 43, page 687, Paragraph 1, he says, “When we started in 1959, we knew little about how to govern and how to solve our many economic and social problems. All we had was a burning desire to change an unfair and unjust society for the better.” In the Preface page XIII, fourth Paragraph, Lee said, “The Japanese occupation filled me with hatred for the cruelties they inflicted on their fellow Asians, aroused my nationalism and self respect, and my resentment at being lorded over. My four years as a student in Britain after the war strengthened my determination to get rid of the British colonial rule.” This power of vision and focus empowered them to achieve a fair and just society in their life time and have the opportunity of giving it to their successors to build upon while the founder were still alive. The power of Vision thus enabled them to stick to the cause and perform whatever was necessary in their means including standing up to and/or engaging opposition and dissenting voices, to achieve the transformation the aspired to see.
b) Setting of systems and guidelines: The next principle I learn from Lee is establishing Operational Systems and guidelines that guide how society runs. In chapter 4; Page 68, Paragraph 1, Lee provides a clue of this when he says, “If I have to choose one word to explain why Singapore succeeded, it is confidence.” In saying this, he was trying to draw foreign investors’ interest in them having their sites in Singapore by assuring them that Singapore had effective and efficient systems for investment. To prove that this principle worked, one only needs to read the paragraph that followed the one above where he says, “The decision increased international confidence in the Singapore government.” The resulting effect was that it attracted many oil refining entities and in Lee’s words, “By the 1990s, Singapore had become the world’s third largest oil-refining centre and the world’s largest oil trading centre and the largest fuel oil bunker market in volume terms.”
c) Providing an enabling environment: Providing physical structures and sustainable processes was another key Principle of National Transformation. Lee’s government set out to achieve this by setting out to, “Create a First world oasis in a Third world region,” according to Chapter 4, Page 58 Paragraph 1. His government set out to train its citizens, and equip them to provide First World standards of service. Granting citizens the capacity to provide globally competitive skills and labour make for their improvement in GDP per capita which has a direct impact on the ordinary citizen
d) Harnessing your hedgehog: The Principle of harnessing your hedgehog also contributed to Singapore’s national development. Isaiah Berlin in his famous essay based on an ancient Greek Parable, “The Hedgehog and the fox,” says people are divided into two basic groups: foxes and Hedgehogs. He thus elaborates, “A fox knows many things, but a hedgehog knows one big thing. That what separates those who make the biggest impact from all others who are just smart is the fact that they are hedgehogs.” Lee knew something about his people that he would use to propel them forward. In chapter 1 page 7 last paragraph, he states that, “Our greatest asset was the trust and confidence of the people.” On page 8, Paragraph 1 he further emphasizes that, “The other valuable asset we had was our people – hardworking, thrifty, and eager to learn.” On page 58, he re-echoes this principle in the Second paragraph saying, “We had one simple guiding principle for survival that Singapore had to be more rugged, better organized, and more efficient than others in the region. We had to make it possible for investors to operate successfully and profitably” .His realization of this principle was to be one of his major successes. Lee using The Principle of the Hedgehog was able to simplify a complex situation in Singapore into a single organizing Idea, basic principle or concept that guides everything.
e) Strategic Planning: The Principle of Strategic Planning is also important in National Development. Lee demonstrates this in Chapter 4 Page 66 Paragraph 2 when he said, “Our job was to plan broad economic objectives and target the periods within which to achieve them. We reviewed these plans regularly and adjusted them as new realities changed the outlook. Infrastructure, and the training and education of workers to meet the needs of employers had to be planned years in advance.” The Singaporean government took the lead by starting new industries and also placed its faith in its young officers who had integrity, intellect, energy, drive and application... further saying that the key to success was the quality of the people in charge.
f) Providing for success of systems: Another principle for National development is provision for success of systems and Lee Kuan Yew went a distance to ensure that these were in place. For example in Chapter 4, Page 68, Paragraph 2 that I have already alluded to in a paragraph above, he provided for high standards to increase international confidence in the Singapore government. Success of systems also thrives where corruption is checked. In Chapter 12 Page 157, Paragraph 1, he says, “When the PAP government took office in 1959, and we set out to have a clean administration.” For the fight against corruption to bear fruit, on the 3rd paragraph of Page 157 the government focused its strategy on, “the big takers in higher echelons.” Lee also provided for a fair society by preoccupying himself to give every citizen a stake in the country and its future. In paragraph 3 on Page 95, he intended for a home-owning society. Fairness easily makes everyone participate in the vision for development of society. The provision of clarity while handling dissenting voices is also a critical factor for the success of systems. In Chapter 14, Pg. 190, Paragraph 2, while justifying his position to guide the media in its activities saying that, “The role of the media in a new and young country like Singapore was to reinforce, not to undermine, the cultural values and social attitudes to being inculcated in our schools and universities.”
g) Developing and empowering fellow and younger leaders: Developing, Empowering, Delegating and entrusting your fellow leaders and successors is also an important principle for National Development. In Singapore, Lee exercised in an unprecedented manner. What is not in doubt is that Lee was a rare type of statesman. It has been said that, “Politicians make decisions eyeing the next election, Statesmen make decisions eyeing the next generation” Level 5 leaders set up successors for even greater success. It is also not in doubt that Lee did that. He did not employ sectarian or nepotistic tendencies to do that. In Chapter 41 on Page 664, Paragraph 1, Lee says that, “The single decisive factor that made for Singapore’s development was the ability of its ministers and the high quality of the civil servants who supported them. Whenever I had a lesser minister in charge, I invariably had to push and prod him, and later to review problems and clear road blocks for him.” In Paragraph 3 on the same page, he says he went a step further and, “started to search for younger men as possible successors in the 1960s. On page 665, paragraph 2; he said that he had, “to find and get into office a group of men to provide Singapore with effective and creative leadership.” In page 671, paragraph 3, when he decided that the 1988 election he would lead as Prime Minister, he asked the younger Ministers to decide among themselves whom they would support as Prime Minister so that his successor had the support of his peers. I think that such an approach was a powerful principle that was applied in Singapore made for its development and can make for the development of any other country, Uganda inclusive
h) Recruiting the best team: One of the most engaging questions in the Book Good to Great by Jim Collins if applied to Singapore is, “Why was Singapore able to make a leap from Good to great?” This is ably answered by Lee on Page 664, paragraph 1, he says and I quote,” The single decisive factor that made for Singapore’s development was the ability of its ministers and the high quality of the civil servants who supported them. When I had the right man in charge, a burden was off my shoulders.” It is my firm belief that having the right team of people to work with is the strength on any leader and for Lee to register a lot of success; it is worth noting and learning from by any leader.
i) Taking Responsibility: In his book Church shift, Sunday Adelaja told Ukrainian Political leaders thus, “If you will not accept responsibility for this country, then I will.” This is also what seemed to resonate in the heart of Lee who often reminded himself of his duty to the 2 Million people he was responsible for and who channelled his followers’ strength to create a better life for them. His intent for them to engage hard work in their lifestyle and his disdain for aid was seen in such statements as, “The world does not owe us a living. We cannot live by the begging bowl!” From his narrative, it is safe to say that such a self reliant attitude which seeks for hand-ups not and-outs is an approach I agree with as the most viable vehicle for national transformation.
j) Level 5 leadership: Level 5 leaders according to Jim Collins book Good to Great are fanatically driven and infected with the need to produce results. They look out of the window to attribute success to factors other than themselves. When things go poorly, they look through the Mirror and blame themselves. Jim also says that Level 5 leaders sought out the “Who does the job before what is the job?” He also says that at critical points in their history, Good to great companies had Level 5 leaders. I believe that if Singapore of the 1960’s was the company, Lee was that leader. There is no doubt in my mind that Lee Kuan Yew was one in such a Calibre. On page 687, paragraph 2 he says, “I sought out able men and placed them in positions of authority as ministers, and top public officials to administer an honest, efficient system and be responsive to the needs of the people.” He was not intimidated by the success of his equals or the younger ones and he often took responsibility for any lapses
k) His stand on Foreign aid: I believe he had one of the most honest views of Foreign aid. He understood that countries do not progress on handouts but hand ups. He made his stand very clear even before Prime Minister, Harold Wilson of United Kingdom on 23rd August, 1965 (page 8, 2nd paragraph) that, “Do not worry about Singapore. My colleagues and I are sane, rational people even in our moments of anguish. We weigh all possible consequences before we make any move on the political Chessboard.” Thus was his disdain foreign aid that he was determined to use his position to negotiate better for his hardworking followers so that they could get engaged in productive work and contribute to their own wellbeing. I believe that this was a major success.
l) Using expert advice: Lee and his government were good at engaging experts when making strategic decisions or decisions of national importance. It is humble of him to again show the readers that he was not the alpha and omega on all matters. In his book, Buy the future, Mensa Otabil, he notes that one of the reasons that made for Esau’s missing out on the blessing was that Jacob used the expertise of Rebecca to prepare the sauce that Isaac loved and thus Jacob getting the blessing. Lee indeed acknowledges this principle in Chapter 4 when showing how Singapore survived without a hinterland thanks to the expert assistance of the Singapore Dutch Economic Advisor- Dr. Albert Winsemius.
Weaknesses of the material / My
Disagreements
a) An apparent loss of focus: Lee Kuan Yew in the preface states that his intention is to share with the younger generation of Singaporeans who took stability, growth and prosperity for granted by providing information for them on how it was difficult from the start. Through the 15 chapters of Part 1, he ably does that. However, he ends up focusing over half of the book on telling stories of his government and other governments in Asia and the world. For example, he uses 199 pages in Part 1 which is supposed to be the information for the young Singaporeans, yet he allocates over 400 pages to his foreign relations. He ended up drifting from his focus along the way. The second part of the Book Title happens to be about the Asian economic boom. In part 2 where he exclusively discusses about the Asian economies, he really doesn’t provide details about the Asian boom, be it the causes, results or the method. The only country he largely focuses on in its economic boom is China.
b) Limiting of audience: While he does well for his Asian readership because of the familiarity they have with the places, it made a difficult read for me who has never been to Asia. Some places, events and people he mentions are hard to visualize if you haven’t been to or read about Asia. That would make it difficult for non-Asian readers to relate with his story line especially when the bulk of the material is about Asia. The lack of accurate knowledge of what goes on in Asia makes it difficult to give an accurate counter argument to what he states
c) Overregulation: Whereas progress in any nation thrives on the rule of law, especially when in its formative years, I think he ended up on the extremes almost crossing to the point of using the law for individual or party benefit. This is especially so when he used to amend the law to curtail dissent. I disagree with this method because in my thinking, the law of any country is supposed to be representative of the citizens of that nation. Dissent could also be handled by verbal engagement.
d) A discussion bias: When Lee comes to discussing relations with other countries, he is not as balanced as he is when he discusses Singapore. He doesn’t hesitate to show his bias. When writing about Singapore, he moves from internal affairs, defence, economy, handling dissent, etc. However, when it comes to discussing other countries, he majorly discusses the strengths or weakness of their leaders, the policies and their mistakes. This only serves as a point of information, even for the Singaporean reader but does not in any way make relevant the topics he discusses in line with the intentions of educating the young Singaporeans.
e) Societal Code: Lee’s leadership involves a given approach that involves shaping the behaviour of society around a given value system. In Singapore, because of his staunch belief in Confucianism, which espouses Paternalism, he ended up viewing the nation solely from a Father’s eye going to great length to shape it according to that standpoint. The inability to employ restraint towards citizens usually led him to employ high handed methods to check disobedience. The effect of this is that people live in fear of the state. This is probably the reason why Singapore ranks a distant 40th on the Personal Freedom measure on the Legartum prosperity index. It may also explain why there was very little disagreement by his cabinet with many of the decisions he took. Confucian value system may find application in Asia where his target audience is but just a few principles from it can apply in Africa
f) Some Unsolved issues: In the beginning, Lee shows how he faced great opposition from the communists to the extent that he devoted an entire chapter (8) to them. They seemed to have bothered him a lot but though he says they self destructed, he did not show that it was the end of them. He says he cleared the decks for his successor but does not show that the communist problem was dead and buried. He says the opposition boycotted elections for a long time but does not clarify whether the communists were among them or not. For if they were among, they did not utterly self destruct.
Principles for National Transformation:
To Lee’s credit, his book highlights many principles for National transformation. In parts of my submission, I have already highlighted a few. In this section, I shall supplement.
a) Excellent Organizational Skills: Lee’s leadership is one that demonstrates a leader with excellent organizational skills. From the beginning of his term (as early as the 1960’s), he set out to prepare for his exit and putting into motion a successor search. By the time of his death, instead of the economy sinking in the absence of the architect, it has built on where he left it. His ability to know the importance of recruit the right people for the right positions was also a very good organizing ability. This is a key National Transformation principle that guarantees long term stability and success
b) Personal and Collective responsibility: As already highlighted in my submission and in the book as well, Lee Kuan Yew exhibited a high level of personal and collective responsibility. He always reminded people, especially those who intended to shove Singapore over that he was, “Responsible for the welfare of two million people.” Even in his foreign policy, for example in ASEAN, Common Wealth,he did his best to always negotiate for a good deal for his country. In tackling corruption, he and his colleagues on assuming office made a decision to lead a clean government and punish severely any tendencies of corruption. These are principles of National Transformation that can be applied anywhere and change happens.
c) Curriculum for Transformation: National Transformation needs a vehicle and education is one of the most efficient means to have it realized by critical mass. It must be accessible to all. When Lee’s government discovered a challenge with the Malay Singaporean students when it came to arithmetic, a program was specially designed for them to bridge that gap. Even when Singaporean workers had a skills gap, the government had Foreign Corporations set up training places where they could access skills upgrade. This too is a vital principal for National Transformation it played a key role in providing a basis for excellence in output.
d) Compassion: Probably from a Fatherly or Confucian paradigm, Lee truly cared for his people and he was bold to intervene even in the most personal of matters. For example, any other leader could have overlooked a report which showed the anomalies in the marriages at the moment whereby Graduate men married less or non educated women, and Graduate women ended up unmarried. I believe it was out of compassion that he undertook to do something about it. I also think that out of compassion, he decided to work for a fair society for all despite being from a Chinese background that happened to be of a majority at some point in his leadership. Compassion is a key National transformation Principle that he employed
e) Rule of Law: The rule of and not by law is also important for National Transformation. Lee’s leadership gave a distinct mark to this aspect of society life demonstrating that everyone even the Prime Minister is under the law. His willingness to use court to challenge his opponents and to let the law seek out even friends caught up in offenses such as corruption is a good example of a Principle of National Transformation that was put in practice
f) Paradigm Shifts: One of the principles of Institute for National transformation is to make a case for a paradigm shift. Unless people’s perspectives change, national transformation cannot happen. Lee rightly applies this concept when he says that though “they had no experience how to govern, all they had was a burning desire to change an unfair and unjust system.” This determination provided ground for a case to make a shift in the system to a more acceptable, inclusive system.
g) Good to great Leadership Principles: Jim Collins in his book, Good to Great, identifies 3 principles that enable good to great performance which are Disciplined People, then Disciplined Thought and finally, Discipline Actions. These are also fundamentals for National Transformation. Lee Kuan Yew ably demonstrates them over the course of his leadership for example the Choice of his Cabinet was from disciplined people; handling the Media, tackling corruption, and habits such as spitting in public required disciplined thought and action.
Conclusion
In life, there are people who draw the line in the sand, and make a dare that their lives will count and they will be the change they want to see in society no matter the cost.
Then, there are those who stand on the fence, undecided, comfortable with the status quo as long as they get by. Lee Kuan Yew and his colleagues belong to the former class which despises the comfort of chain masters habitat, looks at the Horizon of National Transformation and sees freedom and prosperity but locked behind a gate labelled, “IMPOSSIBLE.” Together they all march to this Promised Land telling each other, “I’M POSSIBLE.” This book shows snippets of how they did it.
Bibliography
Jim Collins:
Good to great: Why some companies make the leap" and others don’t: Random house Business books: 2001
Mensa Otabil:
Buy the Future: Learning to negotiate for a future better than your present: Mattyson Media Company 2002
Sunday Adelaja:
Church Shift: Revolutionalizing your faith, Church and Life for the 21st Century: Charisma Media/ House Book Group: 2008
The Legartum Institute:
The 2014 Legartum Prosperitiy Index: www.prosperity.com
World Economic Forum:
Global Competitiveness Report 2014 – 2015: Full data Edition
www.biography.com/people/lee-kuan-yew-9377939
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