September 16, 2013
The leader who gave the world hope.
Ladies and gentlemen!
Today is a special jubilee of the greatest living person on earth. Today is the 90th birthday of Lee Kuan Yew, the founder and indisputable leader of the city-state of Singapore, without whom Singapore today would be a very different place. This is the man who turned a backward non-entity of a place into a flourishing nation, a dream city – an example for all the other countries in the world.
So what was Singapore like before?
In 1965 Singapore didn’t just become independent as many nations do – it was forced to become independent after having been thrown away much like unwanted garbage. It was a tiny group of undeveloped islands with very little going for it, which no one in their right mind considered either credible or potentially viable. People in their right mind tended not to consider it at all in the first place.
What was it like?
- It was wretched territory – marshland and an overall mess of a territory on which pigs and cows grazed.
- No natural wealth, not even drinking water (and apparently still none).
- Unfriendly (to put it mildly) neighboring countries.
- A semiliterate population, and a strong communist influence (including outside support).
- Interethnic conflicts; a population made up of Chinese, Malay and Hindus – three very different religions.
Bonuses:
- Organized crime.
- No army; no loyal police force.
- Corruption with a very BIG capital letter.
- Besides the British military base and the sea ports there was practically no other business at all.
Enough?
Dirt, poverty and nothing to look forward to. That was in 1965.
After 25 years of reforms (yes, as early as in 1990) it was a completely different place…
A rapidly growing economy, virtually nonexistent corruption, unequivocal rule of law over everybody – without exception, investors queuing up, universities, electronics, and all sorts of other ‘Made in Singapore’ high-tech stuff, the second-largest Asian financial center (after Hong Kong), an airport straight out of a dream, one of the coolest airlines around… did I miss anything important? I could go on and on and on! So I will…
…The fine-tuning of social programs, plus the stable political system, plus resolved ethnic conflicts, plus next to no crime… All that adds up to Singapore being, well, paradise! //Hmmm… that is, when the wind isn’t blowing from the region’s largest oil refinery. There’s got to be something to complain about, after all.
When I first came here back in 2009, I wrote at the time:
“Singapore is a high-tech garden city; spacious, clean, with no graffiti on the walls or homeless people on the pavements below the skyscrapers. The buildings are clean as if just painted. Everywhere. All of them. A kind of “communist surrealism”. Or rather – state-capitalist surrealism. Well-groomed, trimmed, smoothed, painted, cleaned, no cigarette butts or garbage in the gutter. And looking at and visiting the local university – I want to become a student again! Forever. This is paradise.”
So how did it happen? Who was responsible and why?
Singapore is the achievement of the greatest man now living on Earth – Lee Kuan Yew. It was he who set the objective of making Singapore the best city in the world. He was able to build the perfect team and found the strength and firmness to lead his country along the chosen path.
Today, on September 16, 2013, Lee Kuan Yew turns 90.
Today is the beginning of the 100th decade for the greatest politician of the turn of the millennium, the world leader who has not only led his country to prosperity and well-being, but who has also become a shining example of leadership for hundreds of millions around the world who admire Singapore and consider its modern history a model to emulate. Today we congratulate the man who has given maybe billions of people a most precious thing: hope and faith that miracles are possible in our imperfect world and happiness is attainable. His selfless work for the good of the people, his talent to get to the core of problems and successfully solve them, his ability to make the right decisions, his skill of turning noble intentions into reality, his honesty and unselfishness – all of that together ranks him as one of the greatest ever leader-reformers of the world to have changed the course of history.
That all sounds a little over-the-top. But the thing is – it’s what I firmly believe. There are people who can turn a dream into reality. Lee Kuan Yew did it. We all – everyone inhabiting the planet – need more leaders like Lee Kuan Yew.
The man had a dream – and the required intelligence, strength and willpower to make it a reality. A truly phenomenal feat.
PS:
“Once Singapore learned it from Britain; now we are re-learning it from Singapore.”
– Margaret Thatcher
Later in September our social media team will launch the Chinese version of my blog. Consider the text below the first step in this direction. And I have a special request to the Chinese-speaking reader – let me know i anything should be improved in this post:
给予世界希望的领导人
女士们，先生们！
今天是全球在世最伟大领导人的生日。今天是新加坡这个国家的创始人及无可争议领导人—李光耀的90岁生日。如果不是他，如今的新加坡将完全不同。李光耀先生把一个落后、无实体性的地方，变为一个繁荣的国度，并变为一个令全球其他国家奉为典范的城市。
那么从前的新加坡是什么样子呢？
1965年，新加坡和诸多其他国家一样刚刚独立——这个国家就像是被人摒弃的垃圾土地一样被迫独立。当时的新加坡仅是极少人愿意前往的一小组未开发岛屿；所有人的心中都认为这个国家没有可靠或潜在的发展前景。人们在心中都不愿意把新加坡作为其首选前往的国家。
新加坡从前的特征是什么？
• 这是一块可怜的领土— 境内沼泽遍地、整体杂乱无章、猪和牛等家畜任意饲养。
• 没有任何自然财富，甚至连饮用水都极为匮乏（几乎等于一无所有）。
• 邻国关系（委婉的说）较不友好。
• 半数人口为文盲，并受较强的共产主义影响（包括外国的支持也是如此）。
• 种族冲突严重，该国人口由中国人、马来人及印度人，三种宗教信仰不同的人群组成。
附加特征：
• 有组织的犯罪团伙
• 无军队；无忠诚的警察武装。
• 腐败横行
• 除英国军事 基地服务及海港业务外，几乎无任何其他商业。
这些就是全部？
脏乱、贫穷且无任何希望—Thatwasin 1965
经25年的改革之后（是的，仅在二十世纪九十年代早期），新加坡就已变为一个完全不同的国家……
经济快速发展、几乎无任何腐败现象、明确至个人的法规—无人例外、络绎不绝的投资者、大学、电子产品、带有”新加坡制造”地各种类型的高科技产品、亚洲最大的金融中心（仅次于香港）、直达目的地的机场、最酷的航空公司……我是否遗漏掉重要的事项了？我可以继续、再继续、仍继续写出新加坡的更多特征，所以我将……
正在不断微调的社会计划、稳定的政治体系、已平息的种族冲突、无任何犯罪的下一目标……所有特征相加后，新加坡成为—天堂！//呃……当微风不再从该区域内最大炼油厂吹过时，新加坡才是天堂。总要找一些抱怨的理由，不是么？。
在2009年首次返回新加坡时，我曾写到：
“新加坡是一座高科技花园城市，这里宽敞、清洁、墙壁上没有任何涂鸦、高楼大厦角落里没有无家可归的流浪者。 新加坡国内任何地方的建筑如都清洁如新。所有建筑物都是如此。这是一个”共产主义及超现实主义”的国家。或者可以说——国家资本主义及超现实主义的国家。这是一个植被经精心修饰、修剪；道路平坦；建筑物经粉刷及清洁；下水道中无任何烟头或垃圾的国家。在我寻找并访问本地大学后—我希望再次成为一名学生！永远成为这里的一名学生。这里就是天堂！
那么，这一切是怎么发生的呢？谁应当对这一切负责？为什么？
新加坡拥有全球最伟大的在世领导人——李光耀。正是李光耀先生为新加坡设定了成为全球最佳城市的目标。李光耀具有组建卓越团队的能力，该能力为李光耀先生领导新加坡沿着已选择的路线坚定不移的前进，打下了强劲且坚实的基础。
今天，2013年9月16日，是李光耀先生的90华寿。
今天是千禧年过后，这位最卓越的政治家接近百岁华寿十年进程的第一天。这位全球领导者不仅带领新加坡走向繁荣安康，而且使其本人成为全球亿万人追崇的领导榜样。全球人民都羡慕新加坡，并将新加坡视为当代历史的典范。今天我们向这位给予数十亿人民最宝贵财富的领导人，致以最真诚的祝福。这项最宝贵的财富就是：在这个不完美的世界中，信息和信念可以创造奇迹，幸福是可以实现的。李光耀先生为人民福祉忘我工作的态度，他寻找问题核心并成功处理问题的卓越才华、他做出正确决策的能力、他将高尚意图变为现实的技能、他的诚实及无私奉献—所有的一切将李光耀先生铸就成已改变历史进程且全球最伟大的改革领导者。
这一切听起来有点过度赞誉。但是，我坚信的一点是，人们可以将梦想变为现实。李光耀先生已做到这一点。 我们—居住在这个星球上的每个人—都需要更多类似李光耀先生的领导者。
李光耀先生拥有梦想，并拥有使梦想变为现实所需的智慧、实力及意志力。李光耀先生完成了一项令人瞩目的壮举。
PS:
“曾经新加坡向英国学习；现在我们重新向新加坡学习。”
– Margaret Thatcher
