By Khaw Boon Wan, former PAP Chairman and Minister for Transport (2015-2020), National Development (2011-2015) and Health (2003-2011), for the PAP Public Policy Forum (PPF).
This year, the British are marking the 75th Anniversary of their National Health Service. The promise of “free” healthcare from cradle to grave remains hugely popular. But their challenges of delivering the promise have grown more severe. According to The Economist (May 13): most Britons agree that “their beloved NHS is broken”. While some think that they need a “radical overhaul” it is political suicide to go against the NHS.
Ensure welfare is sustainable for generations
Mr Lee Kuan Yew (LKY) foresaw the difficulties of “free” healthcare. His cold-headed analysis of the NHS shaped his scepticism against the promises of the western model of the welfare state. As he often reminded us: “There is no free lunch.”
Five simple words, but they contain critical reminders:
- That responsible leaders must tell voters the hard truth of politics: “who is paying the bill?”
- That good intention in policy making must be adequately supported by a viable financing plan: “how to pay the bill?”
- That free things once given, are impossible to withdraw.
In 1981, when I was helping then-Health Minister Goh Chok Tong reform our healthcare financing model, I had my first lesson in Mr Lee’s political wisdom. Later, my political schooling broadened across other policies, when I moved through the various Ministries.
Get people behind sound (inevitably unpopular) policies
One key takeaway was how to persuade voters to accept bitter medicine, as the alternative to populist idea is inevitably bitter to swallow. LKY’s political brilliance was his ability to craft policies which strongly align personal interests with national interests. By for example:
- aligning political stability with the common wish for a better life;
- aligning economic prosperity with the need for fiscal discipline; and
- aligning sound labour policies with the common aspiration for good jobs.
One concrete way was to “give people stakes in the country.” Our home ownership policy was such an example. LKY got Mr Lim Kim San and HDB to launch, execute and scale-up the home ownership policy. HDB flats are significant stakes in Singapore’s stability and prosperity. As economy grows, HDB flat prices rise and Singaporeans’ wealth rides on the growth of Singapore. This is the virtuous cycle of sound governance.
Help people achieve their aspiration
While LKY was no fan of the western welfare state, he was deeply passionate about Singaporeans’ welfare. Indeed, he worked hard to realise their Singapore Dream by evolving our own model of welfarism. While wealth distribution is necessary to level up those less endowed, the priority is to first grow the pie. For the vast majority who can look after themselves, his policies were directed towards maximising their opportunities to achieve a better life while keeping their tax burden low. In practical terms, this means delivering: a good job, a good home, and a safe living environment for all.
Through huge investments in education and life-long learning, we maximise our peoples’ capacity to command good pay as our economy grows and ups the value chain.
Through home ownership, we ensure that all families can afford their own flats through CPF. Public housing does not merely provide an HDB flat, we strive to build a harmonious multi-racial community.
LKY worked tirelessly to provide Singaporeans a first world quality of life: gracious living, clean water, blue sky, green environment. These were ideas long before they became fashionable for mankind. To realise it for Singapore, he ran the environment portfolio directly in the initial years.
“Singapore: A Garden City” crystallised his vision. LKY watched over this space closely. To translate idea to real outcome, he self-taught and became an expert in horticulture and literally, the Chief Gardener of Singapore. He started the tree planting and the greening of Singapore movement. While travelling, he observed, and he brought back ideas and seedlings. That was how we got the raintrees and the khaya trees to shade our roads, complementing the indigenous tembusu and angsana trees.
Remove our vulnerabilities
Above all, LKY was seized with the survival of Singapore as an independent sovereign state. He worked hard to remove our vulnerabilities, starting with defence.
Together with Dr Goh Keng Swee, he built up our SAF. He successfully changed the oriental attitude against soldiering: “好男不当兵” and overcame our space constraint by securing military training overseas. He never allowed constraints to limit our ambition.
Water is another vulnerability. At time of independence, he negotiated and incorporated our Water Agreements in our Separation Agreement with Malaysia. Supported by Mr Lee Ek Tieng and Mr Tan Gee Paw, he cleaned up our waterways and maximised our local water catchment areas. He patiently funded water technology research, built desalination plants when the economics became viable, and made possible an exportable water treatment and NeWater industry for Singapore. He turned vulnerability into a competitive advantage.
Boost our strengths
Nation building is not mere defensive play. We must conquer markets, sell our goods and services, attract investments, and boost our competitive advantages. “The world does not owe us a living.” We must make ourselves relevant to the world. When our neighbours opposed our independence and cut us off their markets, LKY got Singapore to leap-frog the region and rode with the MNCs to the global market. Together with Dr Goh Keng Swee, Singapore began industrialisation well ahead of the regional competitors. Together with Mr Hon Sui Sen, LKY tapped on our time zone advantage to build up Asian currency trading and boost the development of Singapore as a financial hub. Together with Mr Howe Yoon Chong and Mr Sim Kee Boon, LKY got PSA to adopt containerisation and relocated our airport from Paya Lebar to Changi. These strategic moves made possible our global transport hub ambition. They were bold decisions and even seemed crazy at the time. Jurong appeared so and was mocked at (“Goh’s Folly”) in the initial years.
We had little resources, but LKY maximised what little comparative advantages we had and worked hard to widen the gap with the competitors. This required objective analysis, sound judgement, boldness, determination, and agile execution of strategy.
Build institutions and Singapore Core
LKY’s achievements are visible on the hardware side. His legacy is even more consequential on the software side of governance. Afterall, hardware is transient and has limited shelf life. But software will determine if the governance model and the values underpinning it will last for generations. To ensure this, he built world-class institutions, embedded the rule of law and positive values in our political culture, and painstakingly nurtured a Singapore Core of first-class talent, grounded on integrity, meritocracy, and fair market compensation. These were the foundations for the Singapore Miracle.
Following Deng Xiaoping’s 1992 Southern Tour during which he praised the Singapore governance model (economic growth with stability and discipline), China sent multiple delegations to study Singapore. We shared openly with the visitors. But LKY doubted the efficacy of such study trips. Instead, he offered President Jiang Zemin a unique opportunity to learn via co-developing a modern township in Suzhou, with both teams jointly solving real problems on the ground through adapting Singapore’s experience.
It was a bold political idea, a unique bilateral cooperation project of friendship at the highest level. We assembled a strong team and shared our experience and expertise earnestly. Cross-border and cross-cultural cooperation was never easy. There were initial difficulties and misunderstandings. While hardware development was easy to fathom and quicker to show results, software transfer was our top priority. But it was not an easy concept to grasp and unlike hardware it needed time to show results. It took our counterparts in the Suzhou Industrial Park project many years to appreciate our approach and our obsession with software transfer. While the project ended well, it was a long and winding road.
Make Singapore the best place to live, work and play
Underpinning LKY’s nation-building approach was his determination to keep Singapore exceptional, a place where things work as they should, an oasis in a troubling world. Given Singapore’s circumstances (a tiny city state without much resources), he could not simply emulate other countries’ development plans. Instead, he took an eclectic approach, picked the relevant elements, and forged his own way. He did not hesitate to take a different path, when circumstances required it. He had the self-confidence to face off critics, even against immense external pressure for us to conform.
Our media policy is a good example. LKY was against the western model of allowing the media to freely publish what they wish, even fake news or half-truths. Our conflicts with some western media were illustrations of our different approach to journalism and our high expectation of the media to both inform and to unite society. For the vernacular media, they also play a critical role to entrench our multicultural identity.
Likewise, we forged our own way, in our zero-tolerance approach towards corruption and drug addiction. He had the guts to go against the grain, and the intellect to see through the limitations of seemingly attractive options. Our dispute with the west on capital punishment as a necessary deterrent against violent crime and drug-trafficking continues to this day. In developing our own solutions, we were often a trail blazer in policy making. In transport, for instance, we were the first to introduce road-pricing, starting with ALS paper coupons in the 1960s, and subsequently via the ERP gantries. Motorists were not happy but he persisted and let the outcome of a free-flowing traffic vindicate the logic of the policy.
Many of his ideas were radical in their time, but which we now take for granted. Many were also complex ideas, involving many moving parts with strong interdependencies. For example, home ownership will be hard to achieve without CPF and the land acquisition legislation. Garden City comes with long term urban planning and sensible traffic management policies. Sound execution requires a world-class civil service working closely with the political leaders. That is why I have mentioned a few pioneer leaders and their officials to refresh our memory of their vast contributions. While LKY fronted the Singapore Miracle, there was a great team behind the Miracle.
Even then, nation building was never smooth-sailing. There were ups and downs. This was especially so as we navigated difficult bilateral relations amidst daunting geopolitical tension. But crises were teachable moments, when LKY taught us to stay calm:
- never get carried away (得意忘形), when riding high; and
- never despair, even when in seemingly hopeless situations.
Conclusion
Comrades: This is my sense of Mr Lee’s approach to policy making and nation-building. I have limited the discussion to only aspects where I had some personal knowledge. For a comprehensive account of his vast contributions to Singapore, you should read (or re-read) his memoirs, the Singapore Story.
But I hope this limited account gives a flavour of Mr Lee’s:
- Strong sense of mission: to safeguard an independent Singapore;
- Indomitable determination: to build a fair multi-racial Singapore; and
- Ceaseless search: for the best solutions to make Singapore better.
For us privileged to be in his team, Mr Lee inspired us to give of our best to public service, including in politics. Some of us were reluctant initially but soon appreciated why it was necessary for honest people to come forward to serve.
Under his indirect tutelage, I got to participate in the making of our 3M Healthcare Financing Model, hospital restructuring, expanded HDB programme, car-lite urban living, prototyping an active ageing model via the Kampung Admiralty Project and many more. It had been a satisfying journey with a deep sense of gratitude.
