NEXT month Singapore will be throwing the biggest party in its short history, to mark the 50th anniversary of its independence. The tiny island-state has every reason to celebrate. In 1965, when it was expelled from a federation with Malaysia, its very survival seemed uncertain. Now it is one of the world’s richest countries, admired for its clean government, orderliness and efficiency. It combines low taxes with good public services, and regularly leads global rankings of the ease of doing business. Yet it also faces problems, such as a rapidly ageing population that is insufficiently creative and startlingly reluctant to have babies (see our special report in this issue). To address them, it will need fresh thinking.
Singapore’s success came despite long odds. This month an interviewer reminded the prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, that his father, Singapore’s founding leader, Lee Kuan Yew, had once called the notion of an independent Singapore “a political, economic and geographic...
from The Economist: Leaders http://ift.tt/1e2wGDD
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