In fact, these European and American scholars did not leave orthodox political science. Do not emphasize that the ultimate goal of politics is to realize the happy life of citizens in his work politics?
After the independence of Singapore, the success story of the success of a generation from the third world to the first world has been named. It has attracted countries that have attracted large and small countries for many years. It is no longer news.
What they want to imitate is mainly the "unit" or specific policies that constitute Singapore's success, such as economic development models, urban planning and housing construction, urban and transportation management, medical care systems, education and training systems, environment and greeningRemediation, the operation of water resources, fair distribution and poverty alleviation measures, social order and racial religion's harmony, etc.This is understandable, because this method of "module selection" required for each take is more practical and easy to operate. It does not cause "leaving the whole body" and must make a systematic change.
Of course, some countries will find that after in -depth study of Singapore, they will find that these wonderful units and policies are actually organic and complementary. It is part of the entire good governance system.Political system.However, the national conditions are different, and the political imitation is easy to talk about.
Even so, in recent years, some countries have begun to "learn" Singapore. Rwanda and Salvador in Central America are typical examples.What's even more surprising is that some European and American scholars also pay attention to the "Singapore model".
Rwanda broke out in 1994 to witness a horrible race killing.At that time, the population was about 7 million, and the number of ethnic groups that were slaughtered was 800,000, and there were more than 200,000 women raped, which was terrible.The Lwanda Patriotic Front, led by Paul Kagame, ended the massacre.
After Kagame has mastered the power, it takes resolute means to realize national reconciliation, and inspires the renewal of the country.The "Hero Hero", who is very respectful to the founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, learns Singapore with all his heart, imitates our concept of governing the country and development model, strives to maintain political stability, vigorously develops infrastructure, and actively create an environment that is favorable for economic growth.Today, this country that has stood up from the ruins of race cleaning has risen to 14 million. Not only is economic development very good, but various economic and social indicators are also among the best in Africa and enjoys the reputation of "Singapore in Africa".
It is not difficult to imagine that in the kind of desperation of the creatures of the creature and removal, he must take tough means to stop racial hatred and develop the economy to develop the economy.In this regard, it is unknown whether he deliberately imitates Li Guangyao's style, but while achieving excellent economic and social achievements, he has also caused Western criticism like Lee Kuan Yew, saying that he is not democratic, infringe on human rights, restricts political and freedom of speech.
These criticisms are familiar to us, and we seem to have known each other.Maybe this is the price that Singaporean politics must pay.
Another country who wants to learn Singapore is Salvador, Central America. The country's president Nayib Bukele is a charming leader. In 2019, he became the president of Salvador at the age of 37. He was only better than Lee Kuan Yaoyao.When he became the first prime minister in Singapore, he was one year old.
Like Lee Kuan Yew, Buckle strictly crack down on crimes and corruption as soon as he came to power. In less than five years, he successfully shattered the ubiquitous criminal gang and fell down the political opposition.His ruthless means have turned the country from one of the most violent countries in the world to the safest country in Latin America, at least in terms of per capita murder rate.
Bloomberg published a comment on March 22 this year: "Buckley's ultimate goal should be to turn Salvador into a Latin American version of Singapore.Paradise of Liberty -this model is exactly what the leader himself is vigorously promoted. "
Comments went on to point out that Buckley did not like freedom and democracy. He ignored the constitutional restrictions. He ran for the president again in February this year, and won an overwhelming victory with nearly 85%of the votes.At the same time, El Salvador also decided to cancel income tax for overseas investment and remittances (Congress supported 69-0 votes), which echoed the model of attracting investors.Singapore has adopted similar generous financial arrangements.
For this point, this comment continues to make an interesting comparison with Singapore: "The social contract outline here means that the Salvado people will exchange for political freedom at the expense of economic progress and social peace.In areas that are plagued by criminals, the impact of positive growth brought about by violence should not be underestimated.So that the voters finally ignored their constitution.
Unfortunately, due to the serious imbalance of the financial, Bucker's "Singapore Dream" cannot be realized.
Bloomberg pointed out in this comment entitled Buckle to destroy his Singaporean dream: "The country has not proposed a plan to resolve unsustainable fiscal imbalances.The fiscal deficit, including the pension gap, will reach 4.6%.
It is not unusual to learn Singapore in developing countries. What surprises people is that European and American countries have recently become interested in the so -called "Singapore model".
Scholars in developed countries call for learning Singapore
On May 29th, Emerging EUROPE, an independent political journal focused on the Central and Eastern European regions, published an article entitled by the Singapore Model: Central and Eastern Europe and the world.Our way of governing the country.
This article written by Radu Magdin, who once served as a political consultant in the Office of the Romanian Prime Minister's office and other international organizations, states: "The key to the success of Singapore lies in its visionary leadership, sound governance, strategic planningAnd a strong commitment to innovation and opening up.
He believes that by adapting to the elements of the Singapore model into its own situation, Central and Eastern European countries can achieve sustainable development, promote inclusive growth, and improve their citizen's well -being.
Central and Eastern Europe is a moderate developed region. To learn Singapore, it is also said, but in less than 10 days in this article, the heavyweight scholars of the two "democratic elder brothers" in the United States and the United Kingdom have also published comments.Calling for learning Singapore is really surprising!
First of all, "difficulty" is the famous American political scientist Graham Allison because he proposed the theory of "Xiu Xidde's Trap" theory. He also has a deep understanding of Singapore and Lee Kuan Yew.On the 5th, he published a long article entitled what the West could learn from Singapore in the Foreign Policy.
He quoted the results of a number of international public opinion surveys, and listed three transcripts about the well -being, governance and personal rights of citizens, and personal satisfaction with the government, showing that Singapore's first two results were far better than the United States and the United Kingdom., Even in the third item, the score of personal rights is better than Britain and the United StatesIt is much low, but the relevant polls show that most Singaporeans are satisfied with the democratic system of their country.
For such a result, Elison commented: "What is the role of the government? From a Western perspective, a more authoritarian country may be better than a more open democratic country. ThisThe situation is almost unimaginable.
Then he asked: "Americans and the British cherish freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of assembly, and freedom of freedom. However, if they let them choose, they will accept certain rights to be limited toEnjoy high -standard governance that Singaporeans are used to? "
Suddenly, he suddenly proposed a political experiment that "outsourcing" to Singapore to Singapore: "We may wish to consider an extreme hypothesis. Imagine that citizens in the United States and the United Kingdom were not worshiped in the US presidential candidate candidate for the US presidential candidate.Denghe Trump, or the Conservative Party and the Labor Party make a choice, but can vote for a substitute, that is, outsourcing the national governance work in the next four years to the Singaporean ruling party.Whether the party has governed for four years, or restores the current system, and make a choice among the candidates launched by the two parties.
Elison himself also knows that "this is a radical and obvious unrealistic assumption", but he believes that it should beHelp Western countries clearly consider the conditions for the government to play a role.
On the morning of June 28, watched the first live broadcast of Bayidon and Trump's first presidential election TV debate.I feel the same.
Britain needs epic -scale cultural transformation
AREST's article was published for two days. James Vitali, director of Political Economics, Policy Economics of the British leading think tank "Policy Exchange" (Policy Exchange "(Policy Exchange), at Engelsberg, June 7,Ideas) This online publication brought together the world's top thinkers' excellent articles, published an article entitled by The Singapore Way to discuss the revelation provided by Singapore as a successful national model, and Western countries can fromThings learned from middle school.
He stated his focus: "If Britain wants to respond to the current economic difficulties, it will need an epic -like cultural transformation at a time. Singapore's success in the 20th century may provide a guidance ... Singapore is not a democratic country, its transformation will be transformed.The background of the occurrence is very different from the situation that the developed economies must face today, but anyone who is interested in how to reverse the seemingly disastrous economic situation must refer to Singapore's example to seek inspiration ... In fact, British politicsPeople from the left and right factions talk about the "Singapore Model '"
He believes that to truly change a country, it must change its culture and make such a conclusion: "If the UK should deal with the current economic difficulties, it needs to be similar to Mrs. Sachel in the UK, and Lee Kuan Yew inThe cultural transformation implemented by Singapore.
Two important British and American scholars invariably discuss the success of Singapore, a "non -democratic" country, and even proposes whether to change political culture and sacrifice some personal rights for the sake of good governance and people's well -being.Big.Their moral courage is admirable, but does this helpless call also reflect that they feel that Western democracy is indeed overwhelming and irreversible in their hearts?
In fact, they did not leave orthodox political science. In his political science, the ancestor of Western Political Science Ancestor, Ancest, did not emphasize that the ultimate goal of politics was to achieve a happy life of citizens?
Developing countries or developed countries are of course welcoming from Singapore, but we only need to look at it with ordinary minds. There is no need to be complacent, and we should not continue to be fascinating like some groups.
As for ourselves, I remember that Lee Kuan Yew said that he would not follow any theorist's suggestions on democracy or other aspects. Instead, he started from basic principles to discuss how to achieve the goal.
Yes, we will not blindly follow the ideology of others, but we will only learn the strengths of others with an open mind.However, many years of practice proves that it is like a model that suits our little red dot "strange baby".Therefore, we must continue to find practical and feasible ways of survival and development from the experiment of good governance.
The author is the former editor -in -chief of Lianhe Morning Post
