Table of Contents
System-based
How did we differentiate ourselves from them? They are not clean systems; we run clean systems. Their rule of law is wonky; we stick to the law. Once we come to an agreement or make a decision, we stick to it. We become reliable and credible to investors.
To the top or decline
The choice is simple. Either we have a first-class airline, a first-class shipping line, and a first-class bank, or we decline. One of the things we did in the early years was to buck the third world trend by inviting the multinational corporations, and we succeeded.
Acid test of a system
The acid test of any legal system is not the greatness or the grandeur of its ideal concepts, but whether, in fact, it is able to produce order and justice in the relationships between person and person, and between person and the state.”
Singaporean citizens should cultivate three qualities:
Singapore’s competitive advantage of the government
Lee saw a clean, efficient, rational and predictable government as a competitive advantage. He sought order and justice in the relationships between citizens and the state.
Lee’s top three priorities were cultivating
(1) a determined leadership (2) an efficient administration (3) social discipline
Import - export rethinking
Singapore embraced global markets and sought multinational companies to spur industrial growth and shifted away from import substitution, towards export-led industrialization, a decision at odds with the conventional wisdom of the time.
Equatorial climate
There is only one other civilization near the equator that ever produced anything worthy of its name. That was in the Yucatan Peninsula – the Mayan Civilization There is no other place where human beings were able to surmount the problems of a soporific equatorial climate.
Lack of natural resources
However, Singapore’s lack of resources proved to be a blessing in disguise. Its reliance on the outside world forced the country to think in terms of a global network. To survive, it had to focus on being a valuable, stable trade partner.
American system based on individual
In American culture, an individual’s interest is primary. This makes American society more aggressively competitive, with a sharper edge and higher performance.”
4 features of American entrepreneurship
“These are the four salient features of America’s entrepreneurial culture: (1) a national emphasis on personal independence and self-reliance, (2) respect for those starting new businesses, (3) acceptance of failure in entrepreneurial and innovation efforts, and (4) tolerance for a high degree of income disparity.”
Advantages of America
In fact, American society was so successful for so long not because of these ideas and principles, but because of a certain geopolitical good fortune, an abundance of resources and immigrant energy, a generous flow of capital and technology from Europe, and two wide oceans that kept conflicts of the world away from American shores.”
Cons of extreme individualism
The expansion of the right of the individual to behave or misbehave as he or she pleases has come at the expense of orderly society…It has a lot to do with the erosion of the moral underpinnings of a society and the diminution
Political system of America based on popularism
The problem with popular democracy is it incentivizes a short-term mentality. In search of re-election, leaders avoid essential discussions and topics that may divide the voting populous.
Best marketers get elected
Lee believes that popular democracy, especially in today’s media environment, leads to problems. For example, the best marketers — not the best governors — get elected.
Presidential vs partiamentary system
In the presidential system, your personal appearance on TV is decisive, whereas in a parliamentary system, the prime minister, before he becomes the prime minister, has been a member of parliament, and probably a minister, and in Britain the people have sized you up over a period of time…and they have come to certain conclusions as to what kind of a person you are, what kind of depth you have, what kind of sincerity you have in what you say…
Individual vs masses
Americans believe in the primary rights of the individual while Singaporeans prioritize the interests of the masses over the interests of the individual.