For Whom the Bell Dengs, It Dengs for Lee
Charlie Rose interviewed the former Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew the other night. Rose asked Lee who, out of all the world leaders he had met, he most admired. Lee answered that he admired Deng Xiaoping for his adaptability. Lee related an anecdote about Deng’s first visit to Singapore in 1978. Deng was surprised by Singapore’s prosperity, which his brief had not adequately covered. Deng asked Lee how he had made Singapore so prosperous. Lee replied that they had attracted foreign direct investment due to Singapore’s cheap (at that time) labor costs. They then became subcontractors then contractors then competitors, learning as they went. Deng observed that Lee had created an egalitarian society using capitalism, an observation Lee seconded. Deng then went back to China and, Lee implies, applied the Singapore model to China with the side effects the world has experienced since.
If this implied influence on Deng is accurate, it makes Lee one of the most influential figures of the twentieth century, all from a little dot south of the Malay peninsula. Lee is often times considered the most effective authoritarian of the late twentieth century, the sort of man that, if they could be produced on demand, would doom democracy.
Interestingly, Lee insisted that senior government and civil service officials be paid at a level on par with the highest paid figures in the public sector. Whether this produces better senior politicians and officials is an open question, though Singapore seems to have better governance that a lot of other countries in the region. Makes you wonder if you get what you pay for in your politicians.
