Harnessing the potential of Singapore's people

AMID the wave of patriotism stirred by the run-up to the 50th anniversary of Singapore's independence - pithily branded "SG50" - is a concurrent wave of reflection on the nation's meteoric journey, coloured by curiosity about what the next 50 years will have in store. Victor Hugo is credited with saying that "40 is the old age of youth; 50 is the youth of old age". As Singapore matures as one of the few existing city-states, taking a closer look at the zeitgeist is useful in drawing lessons from Singapore's past to project the challenges and opportunities in its future.

The Singapore government's formula of meritocratic pragmatism arises from the "hard truths" of the country's situation, including its limited land area, diverse population and powerful neighbours. The local popularity of this governing approach was reaffirmed when more than a million people braved sweltering heat and torrential rain to pay their respects to the late Lee Kuan Yew. Since 1976, Singapore's GDP growth has averaged 6.8 per cent per annum, and the country's financial reserves - though they are kept deliberately vague - don't appear to be in danger of drying up soon. Though the country's population has more than doubled from just over two million in 1970 to 5.47 million in 2014, its unemployment is 2 per cent, and the economy is virtually at full employment. Singapore's national well-being is the highest it has been since the global financial downturn: 43 per cent of respondents in 2014 rated their lives highly enough to be…