LEE KUAN YEW was one of the great statesmen of the post-WWII era. He made Singapore an economic powerhouse, demonstrating that so-called natural resources arent necessary for prosperity, that the key is creating an environment in which human ingenuity can thrive. He didnt tolerate corruption; to eliminate the temptation and attract capable people, Lee paid government officials high salaries. He kept a tight grip on spending and pushed down taxes; the top rate on personal incomes is all of 20%. He knew the folly of weak money; the Singapore dollar looks like the Rock of Gibraltar compared with most currenciesincluding the U.S. dollar, most of the time.
Lee simultaneously demonstrated that sound finance can coexist with soundly thought out social programs. He pursued a vigorous housing program that enabled people who didnt earn high incomes to buy their homes; his was a model for how subsidies need not lead to the housing-related disasters that have plagued the U.S. Singapores health care system has provided comprehensive coverage to its people without the rationing, high costs and dicey care that characterize so many others. Singapores pension system avoided the pay-as-you-go trap that is hurtling those in other countries toward insolvency.
(Credit: Munshi Ahmed/Bloomberg)
Under Lees guidance Singapore developed a real-life playbook for how an impoverished country can flourish. When Lee became prime minister in 1959, Singapores per capita income was little more than $400. Today it is over $56,000, higher than that of all but a handful of other countries.
Critics will tell you that Lee was no Jeffersonian democrat, and he wasnt. But he allowed elections, even if he didnt give the opposition a lot of breathing room (though if he had, he would have won handily). More important, under his leadership Singapore developed a thriving middle class, along with the civic institutions and habits that are crucial to a sustainable democracy. Too many times weve seen that merely holding an election does not a lasting democracy make. Singapores political system is evolving in a way that bodes well for long-term stability.
Early in his political career Lee shed his socialist sympathies and became a hardheaded pragmatist. He ruthlessly suppressed communist attempts to hijack his political party, even though he had made common cause with them in the fight for independence, when Singapore was a British colony.
In the 1950s and 1960s Lee demonstrated superb political skill in maintaining Singapores independence in the face of real hostility from two immensely larger neighbors, Indonesia and Malaysia.
But Lees influence extended far beyond his small country. One wishes he could have been the leader of a country like Indonesia or China. (He would have conducted U.S. foreign policy better than almost all of our Secretaries of State.) He supported U.S. efforts in trying to save South Vietnam from communist takeover by the North. Although the U.S. lost that war, Lee argued that our long effort gave the rest of Asia the time needed to develop the strength to resist communist takeovers. He strongly supported a robust U.S. role in the region as a counter to the old Soviet Union and China.
I got to meet Lee, thanks to our chairman, Cap Weinberger. When Cap was Secretary of Defense, he worked closely with Lee and considered him a stalwart ally, whose insight and advice were extremely valuable and who provided enormous practical help during the Cold War.
Lee helped us launch our first Forbes Global CEO Conferencein 2001. On the right is Forbes chairman and former Defense Secretary Cap Weinberger. (Credit: Glen Davis)
To listen to Lee talk about the world situation was an enlightening delight. During one of our most memorable visits he recounted the story of his meeting with Deng Xiaoping soon after Deng had won the reins of power and was mulling how to go about rebuilding China in the aftermath of Maos horrific Cultural Revolution. Dengs trip to Singapore in 1978 was his first and only trip there. He was stunned by what he saw in Singapore: a booming area populated by Chinese that was independent and politically stable. How did you do it? Deng asked Lee. Deng threw aside his itinerary and spent hour after hour in intense conversation with Lee.
When Deng returned to China, he began putting Lees precepts to work, creating special Singapore-like economic development zones along Chinas coast. Thus was Chinas historic and rapid modernization set in motion.
One of our journalistic coups occurred in 2001, when Lee Kuan Yew kindly accepted our offer to become a FORBES columnist, agreeing to share his insights with our audience every three months. Its so unfortunate that the civilized world has lost such a wise voice at this troubled time.
Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/steveforbes/2015/03/23/lee-kuan-yew-why-this-extraordinary-leader-will-be-missed/
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