CC BY
11
УДК: 07.00.03
Ziyotova K.
History teacher at the first specialized secondary school of Samarkand region TRANSFORMATION OF SINGAPORE FROM THE LAGGED TO THE
ADVANCED STATE
Abstract: The article discusses the process of transforming Singapore from the poorest, backward state into the world leader in economic and technological development. The personality of the "architect" of the Singapore reforms, Lee Kuan Yew, is assessed, and the reforms themselves and their results are analyzed. The article also discusses the prospects for the development of Singapore in modern times, the country's experience and the possibility of borrowing it, albeit partially, by our state.
Key words: Singapore; reforms; technology; Lee Kuan Yew; corruption; investment; education
Most people, even those far from politics and history, have heard of a state like Singapore. This is not surprising, because over the past few decades, this state has made an incredible economic and technological breakthrough. How was this small city-state able to achieve such successes, and is it possible to apply the experience of Singapore to the development of our country?
In an era of universal globalization and the massive development of IT technologies, Singapore has shown itself to be a leader and an example for many states in these areas. Singapore made it clear to everyone that now the main resources are not minerals and natural resources, but human capital and the potential of people to create something new, to move progress. The relevance of this topic is what you need to understand: Singapore is an exception to the rule, or vice versa, a guide and a good example of how to make a state of world significance from the poorest small territory.
Singapore is an absolutely unique, incredible state. To describe all the reforms carried out in this country, there will not be enough 10 scientific papers. However, this city-state was not always so developed and modern, for example, in 1965, when Singapore gained independence from Malaysia, this territory was covered with slums, per capita income was at the level of African states, and the level of education was extremely low. On average, a Singaporean had only 3 years of education at that time! Singapore's problems of the 1960s were traditional for Asia: incredible corruption, poor education (there were no major universities in the country), and technical backwardness from advanced countries. Along with the traditional ones, Singapore had its own unique difficulties, namely, the complete lack of natural resources, the absence of an army, and a difficult demographic situation. The national problem also affected, 70% of the island's population were Chinese and 14% were Malays, there were obvious contradictions between them. Also, do not forget about the geographical position of Singapore - it borders on two conflicting countries - Malaysia and Indonesia. The main income for Singapore in the 1960s is
the payment of Great Britain for finding a naval base here. The country imported not only natural resources familiar to everyone, but also fresh water and sand, which indicates the country's critical situation in the initial period of independent history. Everything began to change from the moment when Lee Kuan Yu took over as prime minister. Lee Kuan Yu was born into a poor Chinese family on September 16, 1923 in Singapore. He had a penchant for learning, received a brilliant Western education, graduated from Cambridge University, and was well versed in the law and structure of modern capitalist states. Returning to his homeland in 1949, Lee Kuan Yew began working in the law office, and then began to provide legal support to the trade union movements of Singapore. Thanks to his activity and perseverance, he managed to create his own party in 1954 under the name "Party of Popular Action". It was this party that won the country's first free elections, which took place in the Legislative Assembly in 1958. As party general secretary, Lee became prime minister of Singapore. The victory of the party Lee Kuan Yew was due to its program, which was based on independence, decolonization and decommunization, although there were many supporters of the communist trend in the country. However, people who wanted to improve their living standards voted for the future reformer. Lee Kuan Yew relied on market relations, on the fierce fight against corruption, on a high level of education and on attracting foreign investment - these principles became the basis of Singapore's prosperity. All Singapore government reforms have stretched for more than 6 decades, but the most incredible breakthrough was made in the period 1965-1990. It is worth comparing the main economic and social indicators of Singapore now and in the 1960s and everything will fall into place. For example, the most important indicator of per capita domestic product in Singapore in 1960 was $ 400, while in 2018 it amounted to $ 57,000 thousand! (IMF data for 2018) The level of education in Singapore in the 1960s was 83 %, that is, 17% of the population were illiterate. Now the percentage of illiteracy is less than 1.5%, and Singapore's secondary mathematical and technical education is considered the best in the world (report of the Director of Education of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Andreas Schleicher for 2017). In the late 60s and early 70s, there was no currency market in Singapore, now the Singapore Stock Exchange has a capitalization of more than $ 1 trillion and the number of companies operating on the exchange is approaching 800. For comparison, the capitalization of the Moscow Exchange is only $ 200 billion. that is 5 times less. For all other economic, financial and educational indicators, Singapore is, if not in 1st place, then in the top ten most developed countries. Consider the main reforms that fundamentally changed the lives of Singaporeans and the country's progress.
The fight against corruption and large-scale reform in education require tremendous effort, and most importantly - financial resources. That is why the most important task was to attract foreign companies, banks, tourists, and entrepreneurs to the country. Singapore has created a comfortable tax regime, a huge number of benefits for those who want to invest in the country and create jobs. For example, a measure is applied to entrepreneurs, according to which the first 100 thousand
dollars of entrepreneur's income are not taxed. You can also note duty-free (with the exception of several groups of goods) the import of goods into the country. Singapore relied on tourism, in 2014, a small country was visited by 14 million people, which is three times the local population. It is worth saying that 73% of Singapore's budget is the service sector and 27% is industry. Of great importance to Singapore are the port and stock exchange, opened in 1999. The Singapore port ranks second in the world in terms of cargo turnover (second only to the port of Shanghai) and is of global importance in trade. This port is the pride of the country and operates on the basis of the latest automated control system. However, it is obvious that the development of maritime transit trade in Singapore is associated with the country's unique geopolitical position - it is in Singapore that the Indian and Pacific Ocean, many sea routes connect. The Singapore Stock Exchange is also one of the seven largest exchanges in the world and ranks second in Asia. It is also worth mentioning the unemployment rate in Singapore, which for 2018 is only 2%, which is incredibly small. This indicator was achieved thanks, firstly, to the huge number of companies, entrepreneurs and investors that create jobs and shape the country's labor market. Secondly, thanks to the reform of education, which provided a high level of qualification of the working-age population, which allows satisfying the needs of the market for intellectual labor.
Do not forget about the everyday life of citizens, the quality of which, of course, is a priority for the authorities. Thanks to strict anti-corruption policies, as well as the introduction of strict measures in the field of order, life in Singapore is one of the safest in the world. According to Numbeo (the largest database in the world specializing in statistics of cities and countries), Singapore ranks third in the list of the safest countries in the world with the least crime. If we talk about the order on the streets, roads, then everything here is also at the highest level. Life-giving gum is banned in the country, which is prescribed in exceptional cases, on the recommendation of doctors, there is a speed limit of 80 km / h, incredible fines for violations, albeit small ones, of public order are set. The small area and concentration of all infrastructure and government in one place only contributes to this. Being one of the "greenest" cities in the world, Singapore firmly holds the primacy of the most "smart" city.
Thus, the small island state of Singapore, thanks to competent and tough leadership, decisive actions to eradicate corruption in society, was able to make a breakthrough from the "Third World to the First" - this is the name of the famous book Lee Kuan Yew, in which he described the transformations and the fate of his country. The example of Singapore is unique, its experience will not be suitable for most countries of the world, however, the basic principles of development are always the same - trust, openness, legality and education. Modern Singapore is built on them - this is its development path.
References:
1. Vasilenko Irina Alekseevna "Singapore Miracle" in the focus of political analysis: the temptation and frustration in Asian high-tech utopia // Power. 2018. No.6.
2. Kravchenko N.A., Yusupova A.T. "Asian miracle" - Singapore (notes by travelers) // eco. 2012. No3 (453).
3. Romanov Dmitry Borisovich Lessons of recent history of Singapore // Problems of the development of the territory. 2015. No6 (80).
