urban planning:5 years

5 Years all it takes to ruin SingaporeThursday, 26 June 2008 06:15am©The Straits Times, Singapore (Used by permission)by Lydia Lim, Senior Political Correspondent'I know how we got here and I know how we can unscramble it,' he saysONE freak election result is all it will take to wipe out Singapore'ssuccess in building up the city state, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew warnedlast night.This could happen if voters became bored and decided to give the 'vociferousopposition' a chance - out of 'light-heartedness, fickleness or sheermadness'.'In five years, you can ruin this place and it's very difficult to pick upthe pieces,' he told 650 participants of a dinner forum at the Shangri-LaHotel.Mr Lee was responding to a Bangladesh delegate who asked if Singapore wouldcontinue to thrive in his absence. The delegate also expressed sorrow at thenews of Mrs Lee's illness, and Mr Lee thanked him.In his reply, Mr Lee returned to themes he has spoken on often - the needfor a system to ensure good leaders emerge, and the danger that votersplumping for more opposition MPs might end up with an unintended change ofgovernment.Larger countries rich in resources can survive such a freak outcome, but notSingapore, he said.'When you're Singapore and your existence depends on performance -extraordinary performance, better than your competitors - when thatperformance disappears because the system on which it's been based becomeseroded, then you've lost everything,' he said.'I try to tell the younger generation that and they say the old man isplaying the same record, we've heard it all before. I happen to know how wegot here and I know how we can unscramble it.'He said a country needed three elements to succeed.First, a government that people have confidence in and will trust when toughdecisions need to be taken.Second, leaders who are above board, who make decisions based on necessity,not how they will personally benefit. He said Singaporeans know they havesuch leaders because, over the years, 'we have not got richer, Singaporehas'.Third and most importantly, a country needs able men in charge.The problem with popular democracy, he said, is that during elections,candidates are not judged on how well they can govern, but on theirpersuasive power.The forum, chaired by Mr Kishore Mahbubani, dean of the Lee Kuan Yew Schoolof Public Policy, was a highlight of the first World Cities Summit andInternational Water Week.In his opening remarks, Mr Lee spoke for 20 minutes off the cuff, recountinghis 40 years of striving to build up Singapore's independent water supply.He was determined because as long as Singapore was totally reliant on itsneighbours for water, it would remain a 'satellite'.During a 30-minute question-and- answer session, participants from around theworld probed him about water management and political leadership.He also presented the first Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize to Dr Andrew Benedek, apioneer in the field of membrane technology for water treatment.A key outcome of several sessions held yesterday was the setting up of aninformal network of 16 countries - comprising the Asean 10, China, Japan,South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand - to share ideas and expertiseon how to go about pursuing sustainable development.And the World Bank announced plans to set up in Singapore a regional hub fortraining urban planners, which will draw on the Republic's success in citydevelopment.