Singapore calling

Singapore has managed its pluralism, giving each mix unbridled space to flourish and yet weld into an organic whole.

It was a hop on the metro rail from the east coast of Singapore to the downtown area. A walk to the metro station in sultry weather had exhausted me well before I got on the train. My parched throat made me uneasy as I fiddled with a water bottle. My son nudged me with a whisper that drinking and eating was forbidden on the metro. His caution worked for a while.

It is nearly two weeks since I have been in Singapore. I have yet to see a policeman at a public place. He is not even around the traffic crossings. An expatriate, who is an authority in mandarin affairs, solved the riddle. I could not see the police but the police could see me wherever I was. One just had to cross the line and witness the state reprisal. The city state is under the constant gaze of CCTV cameras. Singapore, as of today, is a success story of human ingenuity, starting from nothing in the backyard of the Malaysian peninsula, 50 years ago.

While looking through the window of the thirteenth floor apartment where I was staying, I could see water bodies simmering under the sun amid lush green expanses all around. This is a very common sight. Singapore consists of community living with gated precincts in high-rise apartments. Close to these habitats, hawker centres, where people drink, dine and spend their time, buzz with life. Orchard Road, in the downtown area, is considered the Champs-Elysees of the East. It boasts of brands and malls, with people thronging the cafes and bars on the walkways. As evening sets in, musicians and acrobats set the stage to delight the pedestrians.

The city state has made the best use of its location as a shipping hub and a site for oil refineries. It has turned human resource into a productive asset and over a period of time, has emerged as the safest and most promising destination for foreign investments. It now has a world class banking system, integrated with the global market.

A well-motivated and incentivised civil service has been the catalyst for change. It laid the foundation for a sound physical infrastructure and an industrial base, and provided the enabling operating framework to private entrepreneurs. The civil service was given a big helping hand by the ruling People’s Action Party, which has been at the helm since independence. Such a long spell, more often than not, breeds cronyism. The leadership has, however, realised that political longevity and corruption is a dangerous mix and has continually wielded a big stick against derelicts.

Singapore has managed its pluralism in an exemplary manner, giving each mix unbridled space to flourish and yet weld into an organic whole. One of the most important offices in the country, that of the speaker of parliament, is occupied by a hijab-wearing Muslim lady, Halimah Yacob, a lawyer by profession, who is known to be a tenacious trade unionist and experienced parliamentarian. She comes from a humble background and has preferred to live in a housing development board apartment even after her elevation to the position of speaker. While places like China Town and Little India showcase two distinct ethnic streams, resonance of the muezzin’s call from the Al-Sultan mosque, and a host of other places, continues to remind the Malays of their proud Muslim heritage. These assorted images fit into a fascinating tapestry of tolerance and mutual respect.

Singapore may not be the right bill to fit in our case. There are issues specific to scale and of divergent driving forces. Our security paradigm has been far too inexorable to give us breathing space and enough leeway. This has also affected our responses, apart from skewing our priorities. However, some inferences can still be drawn at a mundane level. Queuing up at public places and waiting for one’s turn is part of Singapore’s culture. Everyone is aware that they will not miss the deal by waiting in a queue. To inculcate such a culture, there must have been state sanction to begin with. Over a period of time, this has turned into a behavioural response. This reminds me of the grand feasts hosted by our political brass where tables were turned upside down well before the food was laid out.

Perhaps, our television talk shows should spare us some of the agony that they regularly spew and devote some time to civic education with a view to cultivating some basic tenets of collective living. Pakistan may perhaps, then, become a different place to live in.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 22^nd, 2013.