August 7. 2004

Singapore waits to see if son leads like father

Eric Ellis

SINGAPORE'S national flags are out, so it must be nearing National Day, when the four million people of this disinfected city-state publicly wear patriotism on their sleeves -or draped over the balconies of their state assisted apartments, as the case may be.

It is all part of the service that Singapore's hypertechnocratic Government provides. It sends letters reminding people that it is time for communal celebration - yet another entry by a nanny-knows-best administration into virtually every aspect of Singaporean life. A famous headline in the state-controlled press once exhorted people to "have spontaneous fun".

On Monday, however, there is a special reason to mark Singapore's 39th national birthday. Three days later, Lee Hsien Loong, 52, will be sworn in as Prime Minister, only the third since independence from Britain was gained.

But new is not how Singaporeans describe the Cambridge and Harvard-educated Mr Lee. The eldest son of Singapore's sainted leader, Lee Kuan Yew, Singaporeans have long known that Mr Lee fils will be their leader, ever since pere stepped down in 1990 after 25 years as Prime Minister.

Indeed, the term of office of the man-in-the-middle, the amiable Goh Chok Tong, was punctuated by assurances that he was a transitional figure. But Mr Lee Jr, at 52 and confronted by a pathetic opposition neutered by Singapore's defamation courts, could well outserve his father.

The prime ministerial salary is five times that offered the US President, despite running a government that presents as a mid-sized city council: the only shopping mall with a seat in the UN, say critics. And there is not much politicking to do. There are elections - with pre-determined results - but capitalist Singapore has a political record bested only by Chinese, North Korean and Cuban Communism; an effective one-party state that the Lee family-dominated People's Action Party has ruled uninterrupted for 45 years.

There is barely any aspect of Singapore with which Mr Lee is not connected. He is Deputy Prime Minister, Finance Minister and central bank chief. His wife, Ho Ching, is the chief executive of Temasek Holdings, the state investment company owned by Mr Lee's Finance Ministry that dominates the economy, controlling its biggest companies. Mr Lee and his father run the biggest government investment agency, whose accounts are not made public.

The press has fawned over Mr Lee junior's carefully managed public image, his formidable intellect, his government record and his love of family. But given a didactic manner and fierce reputation, many Singaporeans view a long stretch of PM Lee Mark 2 with some trepidation. Under Mr Goh's relative liberalism, they have enjoyed the fruits of no-nonsense nation-building that has made Singapore one of the world's richest states.

But with the rise of internet, and democracy arriving in the regional superpower, Indonesia, Mr Lee's challenge will be how far he is willing to extend the reforms. Mr Lee has suggested he will be "user-friendly", but his main aim will be to secure his predecessors' steady-as-she-goes role. Singaporeans often accept the tight controls and lack of plurality in return for prosperity, which mostly has been delivered. Singapore is Asia's richest country outside Japan.

The brain drain worries social engineers, and competition from cheaper regional business centres concerns economists. So Singapore has lightened up, casting itself as Asia's arts centre. The censor, who excised Kate Winslet's breasts from Titanic, has a lighter hand. People can now bungee-jump, draw graffiti, debate politics in a designated park and, with a prescription, even chew gum.