The city-state upheld Asian characteristics but also shared Western ideologies. It paid special attention to socialism in development but also succeeded in establishing a capitalist society. The willpower of Lee Kuan Yew is regarded as the crucial factor that has helped realize Singapore’s success story. He is also the cause for which Singapore does not only appeal to the world by positive things. Prosperity, however, has overshadowed the less humanitarian aspects of Singapore’s development, concealing and erasing the “dark spots” in history. | Singapore: The Development Paradox Singapore: The Development Paradox Ho Si Quy * Abstract: Singapore is known as the 20th century miracle of the world. Following three decades of perseverance and determination of the leader, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, the poor town of Singapore has risen to become the “capitalist heaven”. A prosperous society. A healthy environment. A government of integrity. The whole world wants to imitate Singapore but there are things that cannot be copied and things that no country would want to replicate. Singapore developed under inexplicable paradoxes, the biggest one being the fact that the country “took off” and “turned into dragon” in a relatively authoritarian environment. Freedom and democracy were under heavy scrutiny. The market economy was vibrant, but its “invisible hand” was manipulated by the state. The city-state upheld Asian characteristics but also shared Western ideologies. It paid special attention to socialism in development but also succeeded in establishing a capitalist society. The willpower of Lee Kuan Yew is regarded as the crucial factor that has helped realize Singapore’s success story. He is also the cause for which Singapore does not only appeal to the world by positive things. Prosperity, however, has overshadowed the less humanitarian aspects of Singapore’s development, concealing and erasing the “dark spots” in history. Key words: Singapore, development paradox, Lee Kuan Yew, democracy, development, dictatorship. When Lee Kuan Yew passed away in March 2015, the whole world talked about him, about the way he had transformed Singapore from a poverty-stricken fishing village in the 1960s into the busiest trading port 30 years after, an island country worthy as “the jewel of prosperity”. Besides the countless praises that seem to go beyond words, the “founding father of Singapore” was also subjected to criticism, from mild to violent. All over the world, especially in developing countries, controversies over Lee Kuan Yew
