A Teacher of Governance

Lee Kuan Yew gave priority to the maintenance of social and political stability in governing his country. This focus on national stability resonated with China as a form of wisdom.

As a matter of fact, compatibility in governance approaches led China to seek Singapore’s assistance in training generation after generation of Chinese civil servants. Such training programs cover a wide range of topics, from economic policy to project management, from community management to fighting against corruption; virtually every aspect of governance was covered in these programs. Transfer of ideational/technical expertise from Singapore to China has become systematic.

For China, learning from Singapore comes within a unique cultural environment. Under Lee Kuan Yew’s leadership and personal exemplification, many Singaporean civil servants are fluent in the Chinese language. This greatly helps Chinese participants to benefit from interactions outside the formal classroom, something which is unavailable in many other advanced economies.

In the wider world, the match in governance between Singapore and China has drawn mixed comments, including some critical ones. But Lee Kuan Yew and his successors stood the ground and, arguably, have prevailed. China is solely responsible for shortcomings that still exist in its own society. The appeal of building a clean government, with Mr. Lee as a leader and his country as a model, continues to be strong.

Singapore in China

In April 1994, Lee Kuan Yew (as Senior Minister) inaugurated the China-Suzhou Industrial Park, in China’s Jiangsu province. For China, this ‘Singapore in China’ project was conceived to be a tangible demonstration of modernization. Chinese planners envisioned 2012 to be the year for the collaborative Suzhou project to reach comparable Human Development Index levels of Singapore in 2011.

The initial years of the Suzhou project did not live up to Singaporean expectations. Only the strong bilateral relationship initiated by Lee Kwan Yew helped it to continue. Emphasis on pragmatism, another hallmark of Lee Kuan Yew’s leadership, helps to navigate both sides of the partnership.

Today, ‘Singapore in China’ projects have spread to cities including Tianjin, Guangzhou, and Shenyang. In numerous other Chinese industrial zones and beyond, the Singaporean presence is strong. The value of these projects goes beyond statistical records of trade and investment. Throughout the times of uncertainty the outside world had about China as a global economic partner, Lee Kuan Yew and his government casted a vote of confidence.

The one thing Lee Kuan Yew has for sure shown China and Chinese society is that countries do not have to be large and strong in the conventional sense to be valuable. Mr. Lee is going to be remembered as a true towering source of inspiration.

The author is a Professor of International Political Economy School of International Studies at Peking University.