Singapore is the future of China in urban order
Invited to deliver the graduation speech at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, I was floored by the number of Chinese students in the graduating class. But nothing surprised me more than my stopover in Singapore. I can say that I've seen China's future, and it's called Singapore.
No, I am not comparing the systems of government in China with its 1.35 billion souls and Singapore that is home to a mere 5.3 million people. I am not saying the Singapore model might one day be applicable to China either.
It's shocking to go to Singapore and compare it to almost any other place on the planet. It's so clean and traffic there generally moves smoothly, even at rush hour. And the crime rate is even lower than in China. These are not incidental facts but the result of strictly enforced, some say draconian, laws and punishments.
