Learn the Facts, Not Gossip, from Reading Lee Kuan Yew's "From Third World to First"

The Straits Times

I could remember ordering the book From Third World to First (sometime after electricity and Internet connection got restored) in January. I wanted a copy of the book but it's that hard to secure. So, I used Shoppee to order the book shipped from Indonesia. There's so much misinformation that I read on Facebook about Singapore. No, I'm not just talking about using the late Flor Contemplacion as an excuse. Instead, it's all about Singapore's development. I felt that my best "Christmas Gift" (it was bought with my savings, not given) was having a copy of this book. It was written by none other than the great statesman, the late Lee Kuan Yew, the father of Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. 

There are a lot of misconceptions about Singapore's progress. Some people have written on Facebook gossip about Singapore's progress. These are the following gossips I could read on Facebook such as:

1. Singapore only opened to foreign direct investment (FDI) because it was a country with no natural resources.
2. Singapore used protectionism to strengthen itself. It was only after it became a first-world country that it opened to FDI. 
3. FDI didn't play a big part in Singapore's development from going from third-world to first-world.
4. The Philippines can't learn from Singapore because of the latter's small size.

Those are but a few of the many gossip spreaders who can be called a MARITES. MARITES (though there's a real name for a woman called Marites) has become an acronym for Masters in Arts in Relaying Information Through Exaggerated Storytelling. It's also been a shortcut for the Tagalog phrase, "Mare, ito ang latest" (Translation: Mam, this is the latest). The stories about how Singapore flourished can be as tainted as the so-called innocence of the late Flor Contemplacion. 

The book itself is rather thick. There are two parts. The first part has Lee Kuan Yew discussing "Getting the Basics Right". The second part is "In Search of Space--Regional and International". Lee was a man who once tried protectionism, only to discover that if they needed jobs, they needed to open up the economy. That would put the very claim that Singapore used protectionism to power itself up is proven false. Lee Kuan Yew even stated that would have they waited for their businesses to boom then Singapore would've starved.

I had a lot of fun reading about the views of economists on that day. Just reading the common school of thought that multinational corporations (MNCs) are supposedly exploiters. Lee Kuan Yew and Go Kweng See weren't impressed by the idea. After trying and testing, they both realized protectionism wasn't going to work. Instead, they decided to open the Singaporean economy to FDI. Lee Kuan Yew defied all odds also by hiring the help of Dutch economist, Albert Winsemius. The whole stage was set when Lee Kuan Yew adopted the FDI model to help Singapore. 

It was also fun reading about greening up Singapore. I went to Singapore very impressed at how the place is so clean. At first, I felt that the Philippines should be disciplined to develop another Singapore. Lee Kuan Yew did say that Filipinos need more discipline than democracy in the same book. However, it's important to take the whole book into its context. Just reading from the second part of the book in Chapter 18 was enlightening. It talked about the Philippines. The Philippines really does need more discipline than democracy. However, can the Philippines have democracy without economic development? I wanted to achieve a green Philippines but it seems a modified model for the Philippines will do.

The idea that the Philippines can't imitate Singapore in any way is just dumb. The book featured other countries. The book also features bigger countries that emulated Singapore. Vietnam is a country rich in natural resources. Vietnam was still poorer than Singapore until the late Nguyen Duy Cong aka Do Muoi (who died a centenarian) followed the Singaporean model. We also have much-bigger China under Deng Xiaoping. Lee Kuan Yew later praised Deng Xiaoping as a great man. The two communist nations finally saw the foolishness of the old model. Instead, free markets have allowed Vietnam and China to rise above the likes of North Korea. Interestingly, Lee Kuan Yew called himself a socialist but he was for free markets and was against the welfare state idea. Vietnam still considers itself a socialist state while being for free markets. 

It would also talk about the Lee Political Dynasty. It's often said that political dynasties are always bad. It's not the case if the family members are good. If one thinks about Lee's family, Lee Hsien Loong has become the prime minister for more than 10 years. Lee Hsien Loong had to prove himself, unlike political dynasties in a presidential system. That's why I'm going to be vocal about the Philippines going for a parliamentary system. Without a parliamentary system, there will be no Lee Kuan Yew and no Mahathir Mohamad. 

I believe that this book needs to be made more accessible. The Philippines really needs to learn from this book pretty badly. I believe that the Philippines can become an economic power. It has the potential to rise above the ASEAN. However, it has been hindered by issues like the Filipino First Policy. This book can help become a better guide. It helped Vietnam, it helped China, it helped India, and I don't see any reason why it couldn't help the Philippines.