Singapore revisited
Sir: Mr Burgess's statement (6 June) that 'democracy is a big joke' in Singapore ap- pears to be unwarranted and unjustifiable. Although the People's Action party rules Singapore unopposed, it gains its seats in parliament through free elections, and not by appointment of the Governor, as in the time of Mr Burgess's 'freer British Colony'. I would add that the election was contested by several other candidates. In Singapore, op- position parties are not outlawed as is the case in numerous 'democracies' of today.
Try as I may, I can find no evidence of the racial tension that Mr Burgess writes about. There was one racial incident in neighbour- ing Malaysia—I do not, by any means, de- fend her official policy of racial discrimina- tion--but this is hardly justification for the Fweeping statement that Malays and Chinese killing each other has become a permanent fixture of Malaysian life. The racial harmony which Singapore has achieved should well be the envy of many, perhaps otherwise more advanced, nations. Singapore is not Chinese, Indian, Malay or European, any more than America is English, Irish, Italian, etc. The people of Singapore are Singaporean. and we have recognised this, even if some foreigners have not.
If Singapore is to be judged after five short years of nationhood, should her achievements not also be taken into con- sideration? By last year, some 60,000 people were housed in modern low-cost homes, which are being built at the rate of one unit every forty-five minutes. 99 per cent of the children of school-age attend school. With our population standiqg at a mere two we have seventeen hospitals with some 8,000 beds. In addition, there are more
than fifty-seven maternal and child welfare clinics, and numerous dental clinics, all established and maintained by the state. From an unhealthy mangrove swamp, Singapore has built a multi-million-dollar industrial complex. She now has the largest and best equipped shipyards between western Europe and Japan. Foreign investors have shown their confidence—forty new hotels are under construction, financed to a large extent by external funds. The investment in the industrial complex stands at some NZ $200 million. The GNP per person is now the highest in Asia after Japan.
That particular brand of democracy which is advertised in western Europe is not, at the present time, suitable for consumption in Asia. If people like some of Britain's more ambitious politicians (or Mr Burgess?) are set loose in our part of the world, the results may be more than heated debates. However, above all else, Singapore has 'got things done. It's built a clean, proud, prosperous c-mmunity; And I, like many other Singaporeans, am proud of it.
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