Replicating Singapore in China?

It was one hell of a kicker quote, but it probably summed up the appeal of Singapore’s model of governance for Chinese Communist Party cadres. “The Singapore model of development before democracy is something which suits China,” Lu Yuanli, a Chinese professor who studies Singapore, was quoted by The Straits Times to have said.

When I was back in Singapore on vacation last week, I stumbled on an article that ST carried in its print edition on June 24 about the “Singapore fever” among Chinese government officials. The full article is appended at the end of this entry, because you need to be a subscriber to access ST’s articles online.

Singapore’s system might be premised on too small a scale for China to copy its system entirely, but it can be and has been used as a template by many city officials eager to manage their own cities well. This symbiotic relationship probably started after what the same article called the “Second Wave” of Singapore “fever” after the late Deng Xiao Peng praised Singapore in the early 1990s.

There was the Suzhou-Singapore Industrial Park project that saw some hiccups a few years into its incarnation and then there is the program at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University that according to the ST article, has trained some 16,000 Chinese city officials.

Singapore’s appeal, however, is not just restricted to China alone. The person who is seen to have helmed this economic miracle, Lee Kuan Yew (Singapore’s first Prime Minister) is seen by many aspiring developing states as their superhero. Many smaller Middle Eastern countries, eager to replicate the success of the Southeast Asian city-state, have sent officials to study the Singapore model. In fact, I dare say the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at my alma mater, was institutionalized to spread the Singapore way.

But the economic crisis has presented several challenges to the incumbent People’s Action Party government, in uninterrupted power since 1959. Singapore is one of the worst affected countries, with its manufacturing and growth rates plunging rapidly in the last few quarters. More pertinently, Singapore’s economic success was achieved at an immense political and social cost. Not many draw attention to the events of the 1960s, when many of Lee’s political opponents were arrested and imprisoned for up to 23 years without trial.

On the other hand, while it is not exactly “right” to say that PAP do not have the mandate of Singaporeans, consider this: there are only two non-PAP members of the Singapore national parliament and members of the opposition are regularly arrested under public nuisance and illegal gathering laws.

Is Singapore’s model of development the way to go?

XXX

‘Singapore fever’ rages on in China
Interest drive by Chinese officials; many books on the Republic’s experiences published
By Peh Shing Huei
ST, June 24, 2009

SHENZHEN: A fresh wave of books on Singapore is hitting China, as scholars here add to the growing Chinese literature on the experiences and stories of the island nation.

At least five titles will be published in the later half of this year, with most focused on learning from the experiences of Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party (PAP).

Journal articles discussing the party’s five decades in power are also lined up, timed to coincide with the PAP’s 50th anniversary in governance this year.

The current interest, said analysts, is driven by Chinese officials who have been flocking to Singapore for training.

“There is an elite push behind this,” said Henan Normal University’s Professor Sun Jingfeng, whose book studying the PAP’s longevity in power is being printed now.

“More and more officials have been to Singapore for training. When they return to China, they want to share what they have learnt. That creates interest in books on Singapore among the party cadres,” he added.

Since 1996, Singapore has trained more than 16,000 Chinese officials, with the Nanyang Technological University’s two Masters programmes – dubbed shi zhang ban, or “mayors’ programme” – among the most well-known and popular.

Besides Prof Sun’s publication, other new books on Singapore include Sichuan province cadre Li Shaojian’s Enhance International Cooperations with Singapore. Mr Li also wrote a book two years ago on Singapore’s harmonious society.

Professor Li Luqu of Shanghai’s East China University of Political Science and Law will publish a book on East Asian comparative politics, drawing heavily on Singapore’s experiences in maintaining a stable and clean political system.

And Shenzhen University’s Professor Lu Yuanli is planning a revised edition to his two-volume Why Can Singapore Do It?, which has sold nearly 30,000 copies.

The book, which was launched mid-2007 and carries a foreword by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien loong, has gone through eight print runs.

It has also topped numerous best-selling lists in various Chinese citities, with the most recent being Guangdong province’s Zhuhai two months back.

There is another unmistakable sign of the interest in the Singapore experience: piracy. Some titles have been scanned and uploaded online, Prof Lu told The Straits Times in an interview at Shenzhen University’s Centre for Singapore Studies.

“The interest is largely driven by party cadres. They are more practical. They want to see what works. The Singapore experience speaks their language,” he said, adding that he was invited by the Chinese Communist Party’s school in Pudong, Shanghai, to give a talk about Singapore in April.

This new level of interest can be seen as a continuation of the third stage of the “Singapore fever” in China.

The first came after 1979, when the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping visited Singapore for the first time. The second was after 1992, when Deng praised Singapore as an orderly and well-managed country during his famous Southern Tour of China’s most prosperous provinces, and said China must not only learn from Singapore but also surpass it.

The current wave is believed to have started in 2007 when southern leaders like Guangdong province party secretary Qiu He publicly pushed cadres to learn about and surpass Singapore.

“After reading my bok, Qiu He told all the Kunming officials that they have to read it and he would test their understanding of it,” said Prof Lu.

“The Singapore model of development before democracy is something which suits China,” he said.