The visual content above unravels the miraculous success story of Singapore’s development, focusing on its zero-corruption policy established by the nation’s founding father, Lee Kuan Yew. It lists down some excerpts from Lee Kuan Yew speeches that emphasized the importance of eradicating corruption to lift Singapore from a low-income country to a high income country.
Singapore: The Least Corrupt and Wealthiest Country
Singapore is one of my favorite countries. Not only the spectacular view of its luxurious ultramodern bay area, but also its cleanliness fascinate me. Some may not have realized how wealthy Singapore has become, recalling old photos from 70s or 80s. Believe or not, it now has the highest Gross National Income per capita (GNI) in Asia. In 2020, GNI of Singapore was US$54,920, which is US$1,190 higher than that of Australia and US$13,340 higher than that of Japan.
Singapore is not only wealthy, but also clean both physically and politically. In fact, Singapore has been continuously holding one of the top positions in the rankings of Corruption Perception Index (CPI). In 2020, Singapore was the third least corrupt country, along with Finland, Sweden, and Switzerland, just after Denmark and New Zealand.
Noticeable Correlation Between Economic Growth and Corruption
The visual content above plots relationship between the income level of a country and CPI. Consequently it is noticeable that the higher the income, the less corrupt. In other words, corruption can be one of the factors that affects economic progress of any country.
Lee Kuan Yew repeatedly emphasized the importance of putting an end to corruption in his speeches throughout his career as a political leader in Singapore. Indeed, he was a visionary leader of the young nation, Singapore. In one of Lee Kuan Yew speeches, he stated:
Leaders must have the sense of trusteeship… Corruption, which we regarded as a cancer, must be eradicated as soon as detected.
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