Every time one visits Singapore, there is always a surprise, or surprises, waiting. The last time one saw a half-finished project, it has been completed today, and another has been begun. Indeed, the level of confidence is so high that public announcements are made for visitors to return in a few months' time to see a project completed. The statistical profile of such development always tends to be very impressive, specially if one happens to come from a developing Asian country. The question that always comes to mind is: why is it that what is possible in Singapore is not replicated back home?

And then the usual, comforting thoughts flit through the mind, such as: Singapore is such a small country that things are always under control, and more easily controllable, than is the case in India, “small” in the sense that there are fewer people to deal with and the geographical area is minuscule compared with our own vast mass; on top of this the social-political system is far more regimented than is the case back home, the result being that there are fewer obstacles to overcome in the planning and implementation of development projects.

Long, colourful history

Does this mean then that, if India were a smaller geographical proposition and with a less open political system, we too could have done all that the Singaporeans have been able to accomplish over the past four decades? Let us keep the answer open because such questions are not always easy to crack. They are not only too hypothetical, but the variables prevalent in the two different situations are too numerous and varied. The nagging thought, however, is that perhaps we in India are in a situation where we can never replicate what we see happening in Singapore in terms of physical and infrastructural development because of reasons beyond our control and which are deeply rooted in our long and colourful history.

This in fact was what was strongly hinted at on Monday by former Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, when he told the Future China Global Forum, at Singapore's Shangri-La Hotel: “You look at the construction industry (in India and China) and you will know the difference between (country) that gets things done, and another that does not get things done, but talks about things . . . . It is partly because India is such a diverse country — it is not one nation, it is 32 different nations speaking 330 different dialects. They became one nation under the British, but it hasn't changed the nature of the country”.

Oranges vs apples

Elaborating further the difference between China and India, the creator of modern Singapore said: “In China, it is 90 per cent Han Chinese all speaking the same language, with different accents, but reading the same script. If you stand up in Delhi and speak in English, out of . . . 1.2 billion people maybe 200 million will understand you”. Mr Lee said it was the same with Hindi or Tamil. There was, therefore, an “enormous difference between the two countries” and, as Mr Lee put it, you simply cannot compare oranges and apples: “They are different, and the taste is different”. So, is this also why we should not try to compare ourselves with the Singaporeans? And yet there must be a way to get things done as impressively as in Singapore, for that is the only way in which India can catch up with the developed world? What is it, and when shall we begin doing so?

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