SM Lee Hsien Loong at the 2024 Edwin L. Godkin Lecture

Good afternoon everybody.

Dean of the Kennedy School, Professor Jeremy Weinstein;
Professor Graham Allison;
Faculty and Students;
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen

Thank you for inviting me to deliver this year’s Godkin Lecture. I am delighted to be back here at Harvard Kennedy School, and it brings back to me warm memories of my year as a Mason Fellow (1979-1980), nearly half a century ago.

I remember Professor Richard Zeckhauser – I attended his course. He once asked me: Do you think your classmates know where Singapore is? So I boldly replied that I was sure people knew it was a small country in Southeast Asia. Perhaps I spoke too confidently at a time when mails were sometimes still being addressed to “Singapore, China”. But in the decades since then, Asia has prospered, and Singapore has developed into an international financial and business hub. So today I am a bit more confident that most people would have heard of Singapore. Last night, we had dinner and we asked the waitress, “Do you know where Singapore is?”, and she said, “It is a very, very long way away.” So we made progress. And perhaps people have not only heard of us, but also have heard of how we have gone from Third World to First in just one generation.

Many people ask us: How did you manage this leap? How did Singapore build its national leadership and institutions, develop the economy, strengthen social and political cohesion, and secure itself internationally? I would tell them, it has been the work of several generations of Singaporeans, ever since the second world war, 80 years ago. Crucially, right from the beginning, we set off down the right path. Fortunately, we were then able to stay on track, to do things which worked for Singapore, and therefore create a virtuous cycle and stay on track again. Let me start with this history and context, before explaining some of the principles and practices that we have applied in governance, and that have helped us to journey here.

Our journey here

Today’s Singapore may give the impression that the country has always been orderly and stable. But this was far from so. Our beginnings were turbulent. Like many other countries, we fought against our colonial masters – in our case, Britain – for the right to determine our own destiny. We eventually succeeded and achieved first self-government, which is internal, and then full independence. Along the way, we had to choose whether to have a left-wing and pro-communist government, or a democratic and non-communist government. It was a big political battle, especially as our population was majority ethnic Chinese, with strong ethnic and family ties to Communist China. Fending off the communist threat was one of the reasons why Singapore merged into a new Federation of Malaysia. We saw that as our independent future. But in the Federation, we encountered another fundamental conflict of priorities – between multiracialism and racial equality on the one hand, and race-based politics and the dominance of one ethnic group on the other hand.

Tragically, this led to riots and bloodshed. The differences proved too stark to be reconciled and in 1965, Singapore was expelled from the Federation. So independent Singapore was born. It was a complicated, unnatural birth, amid great political upheaval and strife. The battles could easily have gone either way. But fortunately, in the end things turned out well for Singapore, and these circumstances established the founding ideals that continue to underpin our nationhood – to be independent and sovereign; to be non-communist and democratic; to be multiracial and meritocratic, with equal opportunities for all regardless of race, language, or religion.

This path that we took to get here – that started with these three fierce struggles against colonialism, communism, and then communalism – was a crucial factor in Singapore’s development. Because of this experience, that generation of leaders and citizens knew exactly what was at stake, and they were determined to knuckle down and turn vision into reality. That is why, if others try to replicate our recipe, or even if we ourselves were to traverse all over again the same journey and hope to come here again, we may not end up in the same spot. So first lesson is, we are path-dependent, the history matters.

Building a high-quality government

The second lesson is we paid close attention to building a high-quality government and high-quality institutions. We built up the public service. We kept government careers attractive and salaries competitive. We awarded scholarships to attract the best and the brightest in each cohort of graduating students. Most critically, we created a strong public service ethos, instilling in our officers a sense of mission: To serve Singapore to the best of their ability, and to make the country succeed.

We assembled a competent political leadership too. Some leaders excel at galvanising and rousing the masses in the excitement and fervour of the independence struggle. Others are better at organising the government and motivating the people year after year, in the patient toil of nation building. Thankfully and exceptionally, our pioneer leaders were able to transition from one role to the other, and succeeded in both.

Ministers do have to get re-elected. But because in Singapore they are likely to get re-elected if they deliver results, they know the buck stops with them. Hence they have every incentive not to kick the can down the road, but to deal seriously with difficult problems. Hence also, we were able to get the right combination of politics and policy – a combination that worked for Singapore.

The whole system was organised on the basis of meritocracy, to maximise the talent that we had. We emphasised the rule of law, and built up an independent and impartial judiciary. Policies were encoded in law where practicable, so that the Government could function transparently, rationally, and predictably at all levels. We zealously kept the system corruption-free, and implemented rules to keep money out of politics, and avoided political parties and leaders becoming beholden to political donors and lobbyists.

These key moves early on in our nation-building journey enabled us to build effective and efficient state institutions and agencies that delivered high-quality public services, while keeping the tax burden low. Over time, they also entrenched norms of behaviour and expectations in our society, for the Government and its leaders to uphold. And it enabled us to do the things right – on the economy, on social cohesion, on nation-building, on setting foreign policy. The rest of what I have to say could be from a textbook. But to be able to implement the textbook, I think it is Singapore’s experience, the path we travelled, which made it perhaps easier for us to do than for other countries.

Getting policies right

Let me talk about these policies. We put high priority on economic growth and development. Without growth, we would not have had the resources to do all the good things that we aspired to. We adopted what was then a radical approach towards economic development. In an era when the conventional wisdom saw MNCs as evil exploiters of cheap labour, we welcomed MNCs as a power for good, which brought technology, created good jobs and modernised our economy.

When prevailing development models were based on import substitution and protection of domestic markets, we pursued export-led growth, minimised import restrictions, and forced ourselves to become internationally competitive.

We practised free market principles, without becoming purist or dogmatic. We believed that market forces were essential to allocate resources efficiently, and generate the impetus for development and wealth creation. Well-functioning markets also provided the discipline and the incentive for our people to work hard and to do well. But we were neither completely laissez-faire nor free market fundamentalists.

The government played an active role: We developed a conducive, pro-enterprise environment. We ensured free flows of trade, capital and talent. We educated our people with marketable skills, so that businesses could count on a skilled workforce. And we built up a strong labour movement that worked closely with employers and the government to improve the livelihoods and lives of workers, and achieve win-win outcomes. We applied economic principles to social policies too, for example controlling traffic congestion, pricing essentials like electricity and water, building public housing, designing welfare schemes, and even controlling access to casinos.

Where the private sector could not deliver the outcomes we needed, the government was quite prepared to intervene directly. For example, to develop industrial land, we set up a statutory board, Jurong Town Corporation, and it developed industrial land and infrastructure. To promote foreign direct investments – we did not believe they would just come to us themselves – we created a one-stop centre, the Economic Development Board, which became a model for other countries. We even started companies, state-owned companies operating efficiently without subsidies, and profitable – a multiple contradiction in terms – but they exist in Singapore: SIA, DBS, Singapore Telecoms and several others.

Beyond the economy, we also went into building a cohesive society and a strong nation, because we are not just an economy, we are a nation state. A small one no doubt, but we have to build ourselves up as a society and as a country. So as the economy grew, we made heavy social investments to improve Singaporeans’ lives. We built good education, healthcare, housing systems. 90% of our youths today leave school with post-secondary education qualifications. Singaporeans leave school ready to take up good, well-paying jobs, which are there and available for them. Our youth unemployment rate is very low. We enjoy good health outcomes, while keeping healthcare costs lower than most developed countries. 90% of Singaporeans own our own homes, mostly living in high-quality public housing.

We also forged a national identity out of the polyglot immigrant communities that had made their home in Singapore. We made English our common working language. We kept Malay (which is the lingua franca of Southeast Asia) as our national language, and we kept Chinese and Tamil as two other official languages.

We also introduced national service. All medically fit males serve either in the armed forces, the police or the civil defence at the age of 18, instilling in citizens a sense of duty to defend the nation. We engaged in considerable social engineering, influencing people’s habits to foster values and norms that would work for Singapore. For example, we set ethnic quotas in public housing estates, to keep our public housing estates ethnically integrated and to pre-empt the formation of ethnic enclaves before it reached the tipping point and cascaded out of control. All these strengthened our shared sense of identity – that we are all Singaporeans together, having more in common with one another than with ethnic Malays, or ethnic Chinese, or ethnic Indians elsewhere in the world.

Finally, we pursued an active foreign policy, even as we provided for our security and defence. Small nations cannot determine the course of the world events, but we must not think that we have no agency. We make friends wherever we can, including with the major powers. We make common cause with like-minded countries. We build up our credibility and value by being a reliable, trustworthy partner that delivers on our commitments.

We participate actively at multilateral institutions like the UN and the WTO. For example, we led the recent successful negotiations for an international agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of Biodiversity in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction. We are also active in climate change discussions, which is an existential issue for a low-lying tropical island.

An effective foreign policy must be based on strengths at home. A nation will only be taken seriously internationally if it is cohesive and united internally, and its leaders and diplomats too. It must be able to defend and stand up for itself. Besides skilful diplomats, it must have soldiers who are willing to fight and die to defend the country. We have invested steadily in our security and defence, building up a modest but credible armed force based on national service, as I explained earlier.

But today’s strategic environment is much more challenging. It is tricky to maintain friendships with countries that are not friends with each other. Everybody declares that they will not force you to choose sides, far from it. But everybody wants you to be on their side and not the other’s. We do our best to take a consistent, principled position in line with our own long-term national interests. When we have to disagree with other countries, we will be open and honest about it, so that they can still trust us, and they can understand that we are doing this because of Singapore’s calculations, and not on behalf of somebody else.

A system that works for Singapore

From our early years of nation building to modern Singapore today – for more than 60 years now, because the PAP took power before we became independent – successive PAP governments have performed well and delivered on our promises. That is why Singaporeans have put their confidence in us, term after term, 15 times in a row so far.

This reservoir of confidence and trust widens the government’s political and policy space, enables us to think long-term and lets us make politically difficult but essential moves. For example, to raise consumption taxes to pay for the growing healthcare needs of an ageing population, and to do so coming out from COVID-19. But we are careful never to take the people’s support for granted. Nothing prevents Singaporeans from voting the ruling party out if we breached their trust, let them down, or fail to maintain the high standards that they have come to expect from us.

Singaporean politics feels quite different from politics in many other countries. When I explain how it works in Singapore, they look at me as if I come from another world. But we have evolved and adapted our democratic political system and norms to suit our circumstances, and it has worked for Singapore. The country is successful – there is high trust in government and society, we have rising incomes and standards of living, we have high-quality public services, stable politics, a strong international reputation, and a united, resolute people who stand together against the odds. These assets have been built up over the long term, and during crises they prove their worth.

For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic. We were able to do the right things – enforcing safe distancing, treating COVID-19 patients, vaccinating everyone, protecting jobs, maintaining confidence. We could only do so because people trusted the government – both the public service, and the political leaders. Also, people trusted one another and our society was united. Hence we came through COVID-19 with relatively light casualties, livelihoods intact, and our social capital, public confidence, and trust all strengthened. And for that, we will long be thankful.

Opportunities and uncertainties in the years ahead

But COVID-19 will not be our last challenge. Existing problems never completely disappear and will keep coming back in different forms. That is the nature of government. You do not write a thesis, graduate, and then move on to the next research problem. The problem comes back in a morphed form, but again, how do you survive? How do you earn a living? How do you upgrade standards? How do you meet expectations? How do you try to break the constraints and go beyond what seems to be imaginable?

New challenges will arise too. Externally, great power rivalry and the breakdown of multilateralism will certainly mean fewer opportunities for growth, and greater dangers of tension and conflict. Domestic issues like ageing, social mobility, income inequality, immigrants and foreign workers – none can simply be waved away, especially in a slower-growing, mature economy. Politically, the compact between the government and the population must be renewed in each generation, so that fresh teams with fresh ideas can deal with fresh challenges.

Thankfully, Singapore is in as good a position as any country, to deal with these inescapable realities. The country’s leaders, at all levels, feel a responsibility to keep our system working for as long as we can and beyond our own terms in office. As stewards, they seek out and induct new talent to renew their leadership ranks, in order to have this responsibility handed on like an heirloom from generation to generation.

So far, we have made three top leadership transitions successfully. This year a new Prime Minister took over from me, and I am very happy that the transition to Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has gone well, and I hope Singapore will continue renewing itself, and rejuvenating our national project, for many years to come.

Thank you very much.