THINGS THAT MATTER: Leadership, leadership, leadership
Both the wider world and the whole Caribbean are suffering from a crisis of leadership – The Americas from North to South and from Argentina to Venezuela; Britain, the middle East, Korea and much of Africa. World news and Caribbean news items provide a daily diet of crises, corruption or alleged corruption, and confusing claims. Where does the world turn for solutions or role models?
Every November and again in April we in Barbados reflect at length on our own past leaders – specifically our National Heroes. There’s no doubt that Prescod, O’Neal and others led from in front with courage and conviction, and moved Barbados towards a fairer society, while Prime Minister Errol Barrow, followed by an equally visionary Prime Minister Tom Adams, advanced our country to the impressive borderline position between developed and developing countries at around number 30 on many global indices. There is still no serious comparative analysis that I have seen of their success and the reasons for it, compared with other prime ministers here or across our sister CARICOM countries.
Good leadership requires many gifts and skills – not just courage and conviction, or indeed charisma, which works so well at the polls. Michael Manley, known as Joshua, virtually mesmerised most Jamaicans with his charisma, yet his miscalculations and actions seriously damaged the country. And his father Norman Manley, one of the most brilliant political leaders of the last century, was outplayed by the more successful emotional appeal of Bustamante in the 1962 election, with an outcome similar to that of Brexit. And that was the end of the West Indies Federation.
I was delighted to see in the Advocate on Wednesday that the Caribbean Leadership Project, funded by our Canadian partners and operating out of the University of the West Indies, is still going strong. My impression, however, is that the project tends to cater chiefly to middle grade government employees, who may have little chance, even if they reach the top government posts of permanent secretary (PS), of influencing government policy. Our constitution endows Ministers of Government with a perception of omniscience and omnipotence, that in my 33 years of working with government in many professional areas is only rarely tempered by the wisdom of a PS. How does one find or create a leader like Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore?
I’ve just completed the autobiography of Lee Kuan Yew (1923 – 2015) - From Third World to First - borrowed from my friend and senatorial colleague Alwin Adams. It’s a magnum opus and what a story! The almost miraculous transformation of Singapore into the world’s model modern state under the leadership of Lee Kuan Yew is now a 20th century legend, and this extraordinary autobiography helps to explain it. It should be essential reading for anyone wanting to play a major role in the development – as politician or developer – in his or her country, and it can teach all of us many lessons.
Lee Kuan Yew prepared himself well for leadership. Born in Singapore of an old Chinese family, he studied at the London School of Economics and then Cambridge, earning his law degree with honours. He returned to Singapore and worked as a trade union legal adviser, then forming his own Political Action Party (PAP) in 1955 and entering parliament in that year’s election. He helped negotiate self-government within the British Commonwealth. In elections under Singapore’s new constitution in 1959, he campaigned on an anti-colonial and anti-communist platform, and called for social reforms and union with Malaya - he believed passionately in the multi-racial ideal. Although the PAP won a decisive victory, the Malay Federation did not last and Singapore became independent alone. But unlike the consequences of independence alone in the West Indies, Singapore transmuted into the world’s greatest social and economic success story.
My friend and fellow Advocate columnist Dr. Basil Springer has written frequently about the remarkable successes of Singapore, and the insights and skills of Lee Kuan Yew. Here is a quote from one of his columns:
“Like Barbados, Singapore is a small island state, bereft of resources apart from its people. Unlike Barbados in 1960, Singapore was described as a “sleepy fishing village, faced with the threat of communism” whereas Barbados was a buoyant sugar, rum and molasses economy with internal self-government.
The following GDP/per capita statistics are worthy of note:
In 1960: Singapore GDP/capita US$875; Barbados GDP/capita US$2 290. Barbados was ahead of Singapore.
In 1970: Singapore GDP/capita US$905; Barbados GDP/capita US$4 282… Barbados was ahead of Singapore.
In 2006: Singapore GDP/capita US$30 804, growth rate 8 per cent; Barbados GDP/capita US$12 000, growth rate 3 per cent.”
These astonishing statistics MUST make us sit up and ask “what has Singapore done right and Barbados done wrong?” In the 36 years between 1970 and 2006, the GDP per capita in Barbados increased less than three-fold, a far cry from the increase in the cost of living or the cost of real estate, which have multiplied more than ten-fold. Meanwhile the GDP per capita in Singapore increased more than thirty-fold. I submit that this dramatic, exponential increase in GDP per capita, associated with a phenomenal transition of every kind, is the result of several factors but chiefly to just one very big factor – the brilliant, effective leadership of Lee Kuan Yew. And Singapore is certainly MUCH, MUCH more than an economy!
Lee Kuan Yew achieved this extraordinary development by a combination of the most valuable qualities of leadership, including a clear vision, a brilliant mind, a firm hand and superb communication skills. He has been credited with creating spectacular prosperity “at the cost of a mildly authoritarian style of government that sometimes infringed on civil liberties”, with press censorship in his fight against communism. Indeed, he might even have been called a mildly benevolent dictator, because he had such a firm hand, determined to fulfil a vision of the greatest good for the greatest number. Would that other countries should have such a benignly capable leader!
In reading his extraordinarily frank and detailed autobiography I have been impressed by his brilliance, his objectivity, and his attention to detail. He must have spent some time every night with a detailed personal diary, recording the day’s events and conversations. His commitment to the betterment of the people; his vision, common sense and strategic planning of the industrialisation of this former collection of fishing village communities was single minded, and it succeeded beyond perhaps even his own wildest dreams.
His autobiography details his dreams, his visions, his challenges and his many successes against the odds. He cleaned up the city and abolished littering. He provided decent wages and decent housing. He “greened” Singapore, transforming the landscape into a green-scape that inspired residents and visitors alike. He cleaned up the rivers, built reservoirs, reduced pollution, built parks and bird parks. He educated the people, he educated the country. He set up a Preservation of Monuments Board to identify and preserve buildings of historic, traditional, archaeological, architectural or artistic interest, and civic, cultural and commercial buildings significant in Singapore’s history. And unlike our own approach, he provided funds and did the job.
His successor Prime Minister Goh actually successfully banned chewing of gum in public places! But his biggest success of all was the virtual elimination of corruption in the public arena.
The Lee Kuan Yew story is an extraordinary one. He sums up with the words: “We must be part of the knowledge-based world. We stand a better chance of not failing if we abide by the basic principles that have helped us progress: social cohesion through sharing the benefits of progress, equal opportunities for all, and meritocracy, with the best man or woman for the job, especially as leaders in government.”
It leaves us with the question: “What are the qualities for effective and good leadership?” I plan to suggest some answers next Sunday.
Bouquet: To the superlative tennis star Roger Federer, for winning the Australian Open to achieve 20 grand slams. Many fans and sports commentators now consider this amazing man a match for Australian Rod Laver, regarded for decades as the greatest tennis player of all time. Federer is the supreme role model of a sporting champion.
And to this year’s Laff-it-Off 2018 “Size ‘Roun’” and especially to the impressive new star Kyle Cozier, described as “the baby of this year’s cast”. Don’t miss it. And don’t miss the Barbados National Trust’s fund-raising Open House on Wednesday, at Fustic House in St. Lucy. This beautiful house is the piece de resistance of the famous British designer / architect Oliver Messel, and the extensive gardens are fabulous.
(Professor Fraser is Past Dean of Medical Sciences, UWI and Professor Emeritus of Medicine and Clinical Pharmacology. Website: profhenryfraser.com)