How Did Singapore Become So Rich?

How can a country go from having the worst slums in world, to being one of the most prosperous nations on earth in just a span of 30 years? Singapore along with three other Asian countries have been growing so fast in the last decades, that economists around the world have been taking notice and trying to replicate their success stories. These group of high growing countries are Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea, and together they are known as the Four Asian Tigers.
As can be seen with this graph, the Growth in per capita GDP in the tiger economies between 1960 and 2014 has been unbelievable. With an average growth rate above 7% per year they have surpassed countries with a much richer history and impact in world economy in the 20th century and this video will focus on Singapore’s success story and how they managed to become one of the richest countries in the world, so subscribe if you want to know more about the other Asian tigers and even the so called Asian cubs!
There is evidence that suggests that a significant trading settlement existed on the Island of Singapore all the way back in the 14th century right around the time when the Europeans started exploring this part of the world, but for world economy, Singapore wasn’t more than just a small fishing village.
This all started to change, when in 1819, British sailor Sir Thomas Raffles, bought a small portion land in the now south of Malaysia, hoping to open a route into China, and impede the expansion of the Dutch in the area.
The strategic position of this island and the installation of a free port in the name of the British Empire, made Singapore an important trading centre, which attracted a large number of Chinese immigrants, who quickly outnumbered the Malay population present in the region.
As a stop on the journey from the Indian to the Pacific oceans, and on the way to Hong Kong, Japan, and Indochina, its commercial importance grew, becoming the world centre of the rubber trade. Its importance and status only grew further with the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 and naval traffic in the area rising exponentially.
Although the future started to appear brighter for the newly arrived people of Singapore, the Japanese invasion in World War 2 along with it becoming a British colony and later on having conflicts with the Malay Federation brought this small nation full of potential to its knees.
Only in 1965 was Singapore able to gain full independence and thus becoming a sovereign state. From this point on, Singapore was finally able to start working on itself and figure out the best way to bring its population out of poverty. You see, back in 1965, right after independence 1.3 out of 1.6 million people in country lived in slums and squatter houses, with no running water, electricity or even sewage systems. Merely 50 years ago, illnesses like Tuberculosis, Cholera and Malaria were common in the state, which isn’t surprising when taking into account the living conditions of 80% of the population.
Facing severe unemployment and a housing crisis partially caused by the infamous Bukit Ho Swee fire, which destroyed more than 2,800 houses and left around 16,000 people homeless, the government had to intervene to avoid chaos. That’s when Singapore embarked on a modernisation programme beginning in the late 1960s through the 1970s that focused on establishing a manufacturing industry, developing large public housing estates, and investing heavily in public education and infrastructure.
Within a single generation, the landscape of housing in Singapore was changed. The government provided affordable housing to the majority of the population, going from 9 to 80% of the people now living in public housing with high modern flats now defining the landscape.
To reduce the number of labour strikes, the government introduced more employer rights and it worked, seeing that today strikes are extremely rare. But these efforts, although crucial were just focused on solving internal problems, how would the country boost its economy and reduce poverty among its people?
It’s simple actually, just play with your strengths. Singapore didn’t have natural resources like other countries that could quickly boost its economy, but it had something money can’t buy, location. Although this part of the world, is full of islands that could easily match Singapore’s location advantage, they didn’t have a key ingredient, a good relationship with Britain.
You see, after Singapore gained independence from the UK in 1965 it didn’t follow the tradition of cutting ties with the evil colonizers that once ruled their land. Instead, it saw this as an opportunity to expand their influence and flourish the good relationships it had with the western world.

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