Strategic lessons from Beijing and Singapore

The selection of proper leadership and meritocracy is inevitable. Otherwise, the social and economic development will just be a fantasy, lacking the reality.

Mohammad Zafar Wassan

Currently, Pakistan is confronting the worst crisis for politics, governance and economy. The government has lost his way guided by the book of law. It is an agreed fact that Political governments has delivered nothing for their ineptness to understand the governance for a better service delivery systems. China and Singapore were suffering from the same deficiencies in their political and governance systems. How they recovered from the same deficiencies it is described as under:

It is earnestly required that we should learn from China and Singapore. China is leading on Global Economic landscape. Likewise, the Singapore’s per capita income touching the heights of 176000 US Dollars. It ranks her to be second on Global Index. It is a small country with an area of 743 Square Kilometers. Comparatively Pakistan encompasses over an area of around 8819 Million Square kilometers. Likewise, the average income of each Pakistani is around 1840 US Dollars per person.

These startling contrasts compels to think about these significant disparities. It raises some questions and anomalies in mind. Is the larger area with larger population is our weakness to get lesser income? No, it is not so, if it is so, China is ranked highest for population digits. China’s political boundaries are delineated for polygon measuring the area of 9.6 Million Square kilometers. The average income is 32000 US Dollars per person. Therefore the area, and population is not a bar for the economic development. It is the problem of Governance, Leadership and Political Systems.

It is was the leadership of lee kuan yew who turned the Singapore from mud swamps to a modern country of world. He was having an ability to govern and stretch the people of his country from bottom illuminating on global economic arena. When he took over, the country was suffering from the ills of bad governance and political gaps, arising from the identity crises. These crises were related to different ethnic schisms. The governance was not getting its proper place. The whole system was entangled with corruption and inefficiency. As he took over, he simultaneously worked to fill the gaps which were obstructing the pathway to the destination of real development. At the first instance, he worked to develop a Singaporean Nation beyond any other identity. He worked to develop a harmony in the Singaporean who were having origins from China, South India and Malaysia. He made some settlement laws to develop a mix culture of Singapore originating from the China, South India and Malaysia. It developed a patriotic loyalty with Singapore for solidarity of the nation. It was not possible without a good governance mechanism. First of all he introduced the doctrine of meritocracy in the country. The merit was the sole criteria to decide about the governance affairs. He increased the salaries of public functionaries to the levels of developed countries. On the other hand, the penalty for corruption was death. This carrot and stick policy significantly improved the efficiency of public functionaries. It is undeniable fact, that, efficiency of Public offices is a leading line to grow the economy. Eventually, improved efficiency harmonized the residents of the country. It eliminated the misapprehensions of different ethnic groups. It proves that good governance with the principles of merit delivers. It delivers the harmony among different ethnic identities. It leads to solidarity of nation. It develops the loyalty and patriotism for the country.

Likewise, the development of China is coincided with the good governance. They run the governance under the principles of meritocracy. The meritocracy is panacea for all evils. It is evident from the pages of history that meritocracy is ingrained in Chinese Governance culture. It date back to thousands years, since the Han Rule. In present times, the legacy of past lead their path to the destination of unbeatable global economy.

Now, It is the proper time to learn from China and Singapore for the development of our country. First of we shall get rid of present political culture which is subservient to feudalistic norms, subjective mentality and conqueror’s mindset. The visionary, pragmatic and honest leadership should avail the slot to run the governance. It is a bitter reality, there is no room for honest and efficient leadership. The present democratic system, based on the adult franchise electorate is not delivering like European countries. In our situation, the political leadership should be selected through a strict criteria based on the qualifications, experience, track record of honesty and integrity. Furthermore, the leaders should have a clear vision about the all the ills, which impaired the governance systems. The vision should be incorporated with an action plan for the betterment of the people and uplift of country in economic and social sectors. Specifically, it is suggested as under:

1) The meritocracy should be the sole criteria to run the affairs of government.

2) The rule of law should have an edge over the governance related decisions and actions.

3) Foolproof systems should be introduced for the service delivery system. These systems ensure the collective good for the whole country and inhabitants.

4) The economic decisions should be on territorial merit, doing away with the racial, linguistic, sectarian or religious or any identity meant to divide the nation.

5) The accountability mechanism should be set on run to improve the efficiency of governance systems for a better delivery.

6) The state should regularly work to develop a nationalistic mindset for the solidarity and unity of nation. The corrosive and atrocious means should be avoided. it should be argumentative and convincing narrative for the unity of nation.

In view of above analysis, the selection of proper leadership and meritocracy is inevitable. Otherwise, the social and economic development will just be a fantasy, lacking the reality.

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Hailing from Sanghar district of Sindh, the author is a freelance writer. He writes for different newspapers on the subjects of Governance, Climate Change, Current Affairs and Natural Resources Management.