Singapore: A model worth emulating

Since the passing on of former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, I have seen a lot of analysis in the Kenyan media comparing and contrasting the two nations especially on politics and economic development.

The long and short of it is Kenya lost the plot a long time ago and perfected the missteps over time. I have had the privilege of visiting that Asian tiger nation and can confidently confirm we are simply worlds apart.

Even now, I can confidently say we are not pulling at the same pace.

The biggest undoing for Kenya has been corruption, which is anathema to the Asian nation.

Whereas our approach to leadership has been one of self-enrichment and misuse of power, in Singapore, the modus operandi has been strictly to ensure that they all live well.

Every society has its own shortcomings but looking at what could bedevil Singapore is nothing compared to Kenya.

Part of our biggest challenge is our culture towards work and service to people. What is notable about the citizens of south-east Asian countries is discipline and dedication to work.

I would not advocate tyrannical leadership to solve Kenya’s problem as we have seen it does not work. In fact, many African countries have experienced it for long periods, and some still have it, but there is nothing to write home about that style of leadership.

A look at Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan reveals what a well-educated and thoroughly disciplined work force in the public and private sectors can achieve. Similarly, their leadership has had a focus on the global market.

Whereas our politics encourages a narrow view of things, Singaporean leaders and politics had a focus on growing their economy. Yes, politics can be tricky, but where there is an acute fusion of negative ethnicity and corruption, growth is stunted.

Meritocracy has suffered over the years and many have resigned themselves to the fate of the rotten culture of corruption and tribalism. There are too many Kenyans who are inward looking and missing the bigger picture.

This is not because we lack the brains. Unfortunately, the thinking behind enterprise is short-sighted in many respects despite there being an effort by part of the leadership to set up new models and tap into friendships beyond the traditional.

That is why we are now looking East. Such leaders have great vision.

A few years ago I was on a plane seated next to a rich Australian businessman with huge investments in agriculture. We had a long chat on the state of the economy. This is what surprised me - he supported President Mwai Kibaki’s notion of looking to the East.

Despite coming from a country that is Western in all its ideals and stature, he said relying on Western prescriptions and partnerships alone would not take Kenya anywhere. He mentioned that the global trade was very skewed against us.

To crack this, we need to broaden our partnerships and adopt new ways of thinking.

The long and short of it is that countries like Singapore discovered how to place themselves strongly in the global market place a long time ago.

At the same time, it managed its internal affairs well. Could we possibly emulate this?