Singapore Leads the Good Life Under a Benevolent DictatorSingapore has achieved the American dream, but not in the American way. It is a prosperous, clean city, with imposing skyscrapers and glittering shopping centers. The multinational corporations of the world are welcome here; you can buy any brand name you've ever heard of. The highways are lined with tropical flowers and crowded with BMWs. And at the head of this thriving free-market state is a clever, socialist dictator.
Just forty years ago Singapore was a war-battered British port on an island off the southern tip of Malaysia. It had a rapidly growing, poor, uneducated population living mostly in slums and houseboats. Singapore struggled along until 1965, when it became an independent nation with Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in firm control.
In the next twenty years Singapore's economy grew eightfold. Average income per capita rose more than fourfold. The percentage of families living in poverty dropped to 0.3% (in the U.S. it is near 20%). Singaporeans' average life expectancy is now 71 years. No one is homeless. Population has stabilized. Virtually everyone has a job. The place runs like a Swiss watch.
Lee Kuan Yew would appreciate that analogy. Switzerland is his model. Singapore Airlines aims to outdo Swissair. Singapore likes to list its statistics alongside Switzerland's (its divorce rate is one-third that of Switzerland, its per capita calorie supply is equal, its movie attendance rate is six times higher). Lee's chief economic goal is to reach the per capita GNP of Switzerland, which will happen in one more economic doubling -- about 10 years, if past growth rates continue.
http://www.sustainer.org/dhm_archive/index.php?display_article=vn210singaporeed Lee Kuan YewLee Kuan Yew, GCMG, CH (English name: Harry, Chinese: 李光耀; pinyin: Lǐ Guāngyào; POJ: Lí Kong-iāu; born 16 September 1923; also Lee Kwan-Yew) is a Singaporean statesman.<2><3><4><5> He was the first Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore, governing for three decades. By the time he chose to step down to enable a stable leadership renewal, he had become the world's longest-serving Prime Minister.<6>
As the co-founder and first secretary-general of the People's Action Party (PAP), he led the party to eight victories from 1959 to 1990, and oversaw the separation of Singapore from Malaysia in 1965 and its subsequent transformation from a relatively underdeveloped colonial outpost with no natural resources into a "First World" Asian Tiger. He has remained one of the most influential political figures in South-East Asia.<7>
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Legacy
During the three decades in which Lee held office, Singapore grew from being a developing country to one of the most developed nations in Asia, despite its small population, limited land space and lack of natural resources. Lee has often stated that Singapore's only natural resources are its people and their strong work ethic. He is widely respected by many Singaporeans, particularly the older generation, who remember his inspiring leadership during independence and the separation from Malaysia.
On the other hand, many Singaporeans have criticized Lee as being authoritarian and intolerant of dissent, citing his numerous mostly successful attempts to sue political opponents and newspapers who express an unfavorable opinion. International media watchdog Reporters Without Borders has asked Lee, and other senior Singaporean officials, to stop taking libel actions against journalists <29>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Kuan_Yew#Legacy Of course, you could argue that since Singapore has a population of only 5.1 million, it doesn't qualify as a large country. However it is one of the four Asain tigers.
The Four Asian Tigers or Asian Dragons are the highly developed economies of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan (Republic of China) . These regions were the first newly industrialized countries, noted for maintaining exceptionally high growth rates and rapid industrialization between the early 1960s and 1990s. In the 21st century, all four regions have since graduated into advanced economies and high-income economies. However, attention has increasingly shifted to other Asian economies which are now experiencing faster economic transformation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Asian_Tigers 
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