IN GOVERNING Singapore, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew sees no need to follow anyone's prescription on democracy.
Instead, his focus is on what works.
Speaking last Sunday on the CNN programme Global Public Square, Mr Lee said his goal is to keep Singapore a first-world oasis in a third-world situation.
'I am not following any prescription given me by any theoretician on democracy. I work from first principles, what will get me there - social peace and stability within the country, no fight between the races, between religions, fair shares for all, everybody is a homeowner,' he said.
Host Fareed Zakaria, editor of Newsweek International, said Mr Lee had achieved remarkable success for Singapore in his lifetime.
But he also noted the criticisms that Mr Lee had exercised too tight a control over the country, leading to 'too domineering and coercive a state'.
Mr Lee, Singapore's first Prime Minister from 1959 to 1990, replied that Singaporeans can choose which government they want to have through the vote.
'Nobody has ever alleged any chicanery - no bribery, no coercion, no nothing. We have never won less than... two-thirds of the vote,' he said.
Singapore also has the best-educated work force anywhere in Asia. Within another 10 years, it might become the best educated 'anywhere in the world', he added.
He hopes Singapore will follow America's lead in areas such as inventiveness and creativity, but not its inability to control either drug or gun problems.
'These are my choices. I go by what is good governance.
'What are the things I aim to do? A healthy society that gives everybody a chance to achieve his maximum,' he said.
Asked about the difficulties that opposition political parties face in Singapore, he maintained that it was not the Government's business to enable the opposition to overturn it.
On the United States' efforts to spread democracy around the world, Mr Lee expressed his doubts that they would succeed.
'I don't think it's do-able,' he said, adding that he was a 'social Darwinist' who believed that only the need to survive pushed societies to change.
Instead, his focus is on what works.
Speaking last Sunday on the CNN programme Global Public Square, Mr Lee said his goal is to keep Singapore a first-world oasis in a third-world situation.
'I am not following any prescription given me by any theoretician on democracy. I work from first principles, what will get me there - social peace and stability within the country, no fight between the races, between religions, fair shares for all, everybody is a homeowner,' he said.
Host Fareed Zakaria, editor of Newsweek International, said Mr Lee had achieved remarkable success for Singapore in his lifetime.
But he also noted the criticisms that Mr Lee had exercised too tight a control over the country, leading to 'too domineering and coercive a state'.
Mr Lee, Singapore's first Prime Minister from 1959 to 1990, replied that Singaporeans can choose which government they want to have through the vote.
'Nobody has ever alleged any chicanery - no bribery, no coercion, no nothing. We have never won less than... two-thirds of the vote,' he said.
Singapore also has the best-educated work force anywhere in Asia. Within another 10 years, it might become the best educated 'anywhere in the world', he added.
He hopes Singapore will follow America's lead in areas such as inventiveness and creativity, but not its inability to control either drug or gun problems.
'These are my choices. I go by what is good governance.
'What are the things I aim to do? A healthy society that gives everybody a chance to achieve his maximum,' he said.
Asked about the difficulties that opposition political parties face in Singapore, he maintained that it was not the Government's business to enable the opposition to overturn it.
On the United States' efforts to spread democracy around the world, Mr Lee expressed his doubts that they would succeed.
'I don't think it's do-able,' he said, adding that he was a 'social Darwinist' who believed that only the need to survive pushed societies to change.
