How Lee Kuan Yew made Singapore Asia's least corrupt nation (2000)

By Wilson Lee Flores

When I asked the nation's top business leaders from John Gokongwei, Jr., Lucio Tan, Enrique Zobel to young tycoon Luis Miguel Aboitiz as to who they admire the most for enlightened leadership, they unanimously mentioned the name of 77-year-old Lee Kuan Yew, founding father of Singapore and now Senior Minister.

Zobel says, "Lee is very straightforward, superhonest and he always knew what he was talking about. Lee Kuan Yew is a great leader whom I admire the most."

Lucio Tan explains: "Lee Kuan Yew has strong political will and selflessness as a leader." In fact, Gokongwei goes a step further, describing Lee as "the world's greatest businessman." He adds: "Lee Kuan Yew is the greatest businessman, because he efficiently managed the Republic of Singapore like a successful giant corporation." Lee is an exceptional Asian leader who personifies excellent management, integrity and discipline.

Even John Chambers, boss of global giant Cisco Systems, says: "There are two equalizers in life: the Internet and education. Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew is a world leader who understands this and is using the power of the Internet to position Singapore for survival and success in the Internet economy."

Billionaire media tycoon Rupert Murdoch of News Corp. says, "More than 40 years ago, Lee Kuan Yew transformed what was a poor, decrepit colony into a shining, rich and modern metropolis ?all the time surrounded by hostile powers. With his brilliant, incisive intellect, he is one of the world's most outspoken and respected statesmen."

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher says: "In office, I read and analyzed his every speech. He had a way of penetrating the fog of propaganda and expressing with unique clarity the issues of our times and the way we tackle them. He was never wrong." Success In Stamping Out Corruption

One of the remarkable successes of Lee Kuan Yew's management of Singapore is his making his nation the least corrupt in Asia, by institutionalizing "clean, no-money elections" and recruiting the best people into government. He says: "They must be paid a wage commensurate with what men of their ability and integrity are earning for managing a big corporation or successful legal or other professional practice. They have to manage a big corporation or successful legal or other professional practice. They have to manage a Singapore economy that yielded an annual growth rate of eight to nine percent in the last two decades, giving its citizens a per capita income that the World Bank rated in 1995 as ninth highest in the world." He debunked what Western liberals claimed about a free unfettered press exposing corruption, pointing out that the freewheeling press of India, the Philippines, Thailand, South Korea and Japan have not stopped pervasive corruption.

One way Lee Kuan Yew cleaned up Singapore was by shaming corrupt officials. In fact, one of his cabinet ministers took his own life due to "loss of face" from corruption charges. "We had established a climate of opinion which looked upon corruption in public office as a threat to society." Lee laments that in much of Asia, corruption has become a way of life for government officials. He said: "The higher they are, the bigger their homes and more numerous their wives or mistresses, all bedecked in jewelry appropriate to the power and position of their men." Another method Lee used to stamp out corruption ?in 1960, his government allowed the courts to treat proof that an accused was living beyond his means or had property his income could not explain as corroborating evidence that the accused had accepted or obtained a bribe," Lee explains. Surviving Malaysian Expulsion, Accounts Of World Leaders

On a recent visit to Singapore, I called the office of Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew who was then in America. I had requested the statesman to autograph my copy of his latest 778-page memoir entitled From Third Word to First, The Singapore Story: 1965-2000. His secretary explained that Lee's autograph is worth 10,000 Singapore dollars for each signed book, and that the proceeds would be donated to charities. Even in such a seemingly minor detail as the cost of an autographed book, Lee had a specific plan which reflected his pragmatic business-like ways, his efficiency and his public service.

The memoir is an eloquent chronicle of Lee Kuan Yew's extensive experiences in statecraft, politics and international diplomacy. In 1965, when the Muslim majority Malaysia expelled Singapore and forced it to exist as a city-state with no natural resources or army, few people gave it much chance of survival. The world has many tiny states which have languished in obscurity, with even resource-rich small stakes like Nauru mired in problems. In 1965, the Sydney Morning Herald said: "An independent Singapore was not regarded as viable three years ago. Nothing in the current situation suggests that it is more viable today." The Sunday Times of Britain said in 1965 also predicted the eventual collapse of Singapore without British aid. Today, after decades of good governance and struggle, Singapore is a thriving nation with the world's fourth highest per capita income.

In this latest book, Lee fearlessly expresses his ideas, seeking "to be correct, not politically correct." He is unapologetic for his aggressive responses to his political opponents, his often unorthodox views on Western-style democratic systems, the Western concepts of human rights. Lee also recounts his impressions of nations, leaders and historic events as diverse as Indonesia from Suharto to President Wahid, Thailand, the Sultan of Brunei, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, British leaders, Japan, America to Taiwan, Hong Kong and others. He advised Wahid: "I said if he expected his ministers to be honest, they had to be paid so that they could live up to their status without corruption." In acerbic Lee Kuan Yew style, he describes Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, China's poetry-quoting Jiang Zemin, the late Mao Zedong (whom he likened to first Chinese emperor Qinshihuang), the incorruptible Zhu Rongji to the bold reformer Deng Xiaoping (whom he remembers as "a five-footer but a giant among men"). Impressions Of Marcos, Cory And Philippine Problems

Among the most interesting parts of the book were Lee Kuan Yew's references to the Philippines and his sadness that our talented nation could suffer so many socio-political and economic troubles. An anecdote recounts the 1985 official trip to Washington, DC where State Secretary George Shultz asked Lee to convince President Ronald Reagan that his old friend Ferdinand Marcos was then the problem of the Philippines, not the solution. During the EDSA uprising the following year 1986, when the US government asked Lee's opinions, he said America should not accept a fraudulent election, and put pressure on Marcos to call new elections. In those days, Lee feared a prolonged crisis might cause bloodshed and chaos, he worried that Marcos might fight it out if he had no place to go, so he invited Marcos to take political asylum in Singapore. Instead of accepting Lee's offer, Marcos accepted Reagan's offer of asylum in Hawaii, where he later encountered many lawsuits. When Marcos sent a message to Lee wanting to flee to Singapore, it was already too late and President Aquino objected.

Lee Kuan Yew is blunt and honest in his assessments of our leaders. He says that Imelda "had a penchant for luxury and opulence. When they (Marcos and Imelda) visited Singapore... they came in style in two DC-8s, his and hers." On Corazon C. Aquino, Lee says: "I had hopes that this honest, god-fearing woman would help regain confidence for the Philippines and get the country back on track... She was a sincere, devout Catholic." He had the impression that President Aquino believed that democracy would solve the country's economic and social problems. The Aquino government created a Constitution that was once again inspired by the American model. Lee asked the rhetorical question: Is there no incompatibility between the American-type separation of powers with the culture and habits of the Filipino people that had caused so much problems for all past presidents? Lee got the impression from our leaders that there was none.

There are three things which Lee believes have hampered Philippine progress. First, the traditional power elite who have a detached attitude towards the sufferings of the masses, similar to the mestizo hacienderos of other former Spanish colonies in Latin America. Another obstacle to progress is overpopulation due to the Catholic Church opposition to birth control, which aggravates the poverty crisis. A third obstacle to progress is what Lee describes as "a soft, forgiving culture." His example of this is the case of the Marcoses, who had been accused of pillaging the nation for 20 years, but they are now back. Lee is even puzzled that the late General Fabian Ver was given by the Estrada government military honors at his burial.

This Singaporean statesman laments that many political and other troubles have hampered Philippine economic progress. He writes: "This was a pity because they had so many able people, educated in the Philippines and the US. Their workers were English-speaking, at least in Manila. There was no reason why the Philippines should not have been one of the more successful ASEAN countries. In the 1950s and 1960s, it was the most developed, because America had been generous in rehabilitating the country after the war... Some Filipinos write and speak with passion. If they could get their elite to share their sentiments, what could they not have achieved?"