Cyprus Mail 16 February 2025 - by Fahri Zihni
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| Singapore has arguably the most beautiful and best kept gardens in the world |
Singapore is best described as a benevolent capitalist autocracy. Not a bad model for some
Unfortunately, make believe about 60 being the new 70, and 50 being the new 60, etc, just doesn’t work after a while. When the body starts sending us stern messages about its malfunction, we have to listen. With this in mind, my wife and I have just visited Singapore and Australia – possibly our final venture into long-haul travel before it’s too late.
Singapore is in so many ways an enthralling country. It has arguably the most beautiful and best kept gardens in the world. Gardens by the Bay has exotic plants, a set of gigantic “supertrees”, and Cloud Forest and Flower Dome glass structures which present dazzling displays of flowers and interesting artefacts.
Then there are amazing hotels like Raffles where the Singapore Sling was invented, the “grande dame” Fullerton hotel, a magnificent former colonial General Post Office and the ultra-modern architectural wonder that is the Marina Bay Sands hotel, all sitting comfortably within a carefully proportioned city metropolis with ample green spaces. Good food, good summer weather, excellent transport and friendly people make it an ideal travel destination.
On a per capita basis (GDP at PPP), Singapore is the second wealthiest country in the world. The competence of the government to use funds for public benefit is self-evident, everywhere. Singapore’s education system has been consistently ranked as one of the most successful in the world by the OECD. Singapore’s excellence in health care has achieved high life expectancies, fourth in the world, and the lowest in infant mortality.
Singapore has a globally recognised business-friendly reputation, driven by government initiatives and support. Foreign Direct Investment and outflow-financier investments are very high. Trade is the biggest money earner, much of it generated by the Port of Singapore, the busiest trans-shipment port in the world.
With a population of six million in a tiny space (one thirteenth of the size of Cyprus), housing in Singapore is a big challenge. For those on low incomes the government does not provide state-owned housing. Instead, it funds low-cost mortgage loans, based on the underlying belief that people will maintain homes they own much better than properties they rent.
Inter community implications are considered for each and every government policy. So, for example, to maintain inter-communal cohesion, an ethnic ratio for every public housing block is imposed to ensure that no “ghettoisation” of Chinese, Malays, Indians and others can occur. Any racist behaviour is punished swiftly and rigorously.
Singapore is unquestionably an authoritarian entity. It still exercises corporal and capital punishment for serious offences. Press freedom is limited, and the news media is state controlled. Freedom of assembly and open speech is limited to a designated zone that is monitored by cameras. However, Singapore does exercise a significant level of democracy though its electoral system. People’s Action Party, which has been in power since 1959, argues that their continuous re-election is a reflection of their success in government.
Singapore is a conundrum that defies Western thinking. Our political theories, mostly drawn up in response to the hard dictatorships of Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini and Franco cannot reconcile authoritarianism with stupendously successful social and economic outcomes for a given country. This is not supposed to happen.
In my personal view, Singapore is probably best described as a benevolent capitalist autocracy. Ultimately, the government does appear to enjoy strong public appeal. This is not surprising given the sky-high standards of living which exist not just for the few, but for the many. On the corruption perceptions survey, Singapore ranks the third best country in the world.
This is a country which was a swamp filled jungle in the early 19th century. In 1964 it came face-to-face with race riots between the three main communities. Despite such challenges, it has done spectacularly well for itself.
This is mainly due to the actions of the early leaders of the country. They acted swiftly to quell the rioters. In 1965, the founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew declared that “This is not a Malay nation, this is not a Chinese nation, this is not an Indian nation. Everybody will have his place: equal; language, culture, religion.”
This sentiment is echoed regularly, to this day. As a consequence, the Singapore government has been very successful in promoting a Singaporean national identity over ethnic identity. Yet ethnic diversity and multiculturalism is still respected. We can see this in Singapore’s holiday calendar, where Christmas and Easter are celebrated along with Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, Vesak Day, and Deepavali.
Singapore does not see British rule as having been oppressive, and counts Britain, today, as an important ally. Many believe that had the British not redeveloped Singapore’s ports as a major maritime trading hub, it would not have become the international success that it is today.
Singaporeans did not fight the British for independence and enjoyed a smooth transition to self-rule. After independence, English street and school names were not altered. All current Singapore key institutions and civil service, systems of law and government are based on British practice, and these are still highly valued.
Both Cyprus and Singapore are former British colonies, both islands located in strategic waters. Their modern development has taken place along the same timeline. So, why has Singapore become a wealthy multi-cultural powerhouse for all its people, while Cyprus has failed so miserably to hold its communities together? I revert to one of my previous articles for some of the answers.
Is this about the past, something we clearly cannot change? No. Right now, we still see religious and nationalistic zealots, such as the late Colonel Georgios Grivas, who have done so much harm to inter-communal relationships, still being venerated. This has to be wrong.
Maria Holguin, the 25th UN envoy to Cyprus, gave it to us straight. She understood that it’s not logic, reasoning or lack of political creativity that’s stopping the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot communities from drawing up a mutually beneficial future for themselves. It’s what’s inside their heads that’s toxic. That data needs a deep “reset”.
We live in hope, perhaps against expectation, that the island will one day work to the mutual advantage of both communities of Cyprus, and wish new UN envoy Rosemary DiCarlo good luck with her new task.
Fahri Zihni is former chair of Council of Turkish Cypriot Associations (UK), a former policy advisor at the UK’s Cabinet Office and a former president of the Society of IT Management, UK
