Diverging Destinies: Why Jamaica and Singapore Took Vastly Different Economic Paths Post-Decolonization
Political Leadership: Farsighted Leadership As Opposed To Clientelism
Lack of vision in their ruling elites at independence was one of significant reasons why Jamaica compared poorly with Singapore. Lee Kuan Yew who was the first president played a key role in determining the long term economic success of Singapore through his visionary approach. He realized that meritocracy, political stability, absence of corruption have to be promoted. This way, there will be sustainable development. Consequently, his government centered on meritocracy, fighting against corruption over time as well as planning for future terms encompassing good public administration which created an enabling environment for a thriving Singapore.
His People’s Action Party (PAP) encouraged unity, discipline and modernization of the economy. Industrialization was promoted by Lee due to the fact that Singapore had no natural resources hence industrialization and foreign investments were promoted through foreign trade. Consequently, he turned it into a global commercial, finance and manufacturing center.
Nevertheless, the Lee Kuan Yew regime pursued authoritarianism combined with free market economic policies. Focused deterrence as well as efficiency were the emphasis points of governance which he employed in this regard. Finally, by attracting multinational corporations through strict legal enforcement Singapore managed to become wealthy over a short period.
However, this was not the case with Jamaica as it lacked strategic vision at independence. Starting from the era of Alexander Bustamante and Norman Manley, early political leadership in Jamaica was marked by populism and clientelism with eminent emphasis on winning elections over developmental planning. Though, initially persuasive post-colonial visionaries such as the first leaders chose to give democracy and social justice a chance in their country but soon after independence the entire political system became characterized by political patronage and party politics.
Jamaica’s political terrain became more polarized with ensuing change of guard between labor party and national party governance cycles as a result of elections. Thus, it was this polarization that created political instability hence lack of consecutive consistent economic policies leading to premature deaths before reaching maturity. Furthermore, in terms of productiveness there was corruption within government agencies; lack of action programmes meant they could never fulfill their potential under colonial rule.
Economic Strategy: Export-Oriented Development Approach versus Import Substitution Policy (ISI)
Furthermore, the differences in economic strategies followed by Jamaica and Singapore contributed significantly to their economic divergence. The government of Singapore decided to implement an economy that was based on export-led industrialization whereas Jamaica chose import substitution industrialization (ISI). These choices led to two extremely different outcomes.
Singaporean leader, Lee Kuan Yew, adopted a market model which was based on its incorporation into global markets through export led growth strategies. The country’s administration thus managed to advocate for direct foreign investments and open free trade zones with tax exemptions among other things aimed at making it more attractive to multinational corporations. This way, she managed to specialize in chemicals, electronics as well as precision engineering in her manufacturing and industrial sectors quickly. As a small impoverished nation relying on very few resources; opening up herself to the world markets gave signals to success in her situation. The state invested heavily in infrastructure such as ports, airports and telecommunications facilities to serve her role as a global trading center.
Moreover, the government intervention was proactive in Singaporean economy making. There were state-owned enterprises in key sectors, although these operated on commercial principles of effectiveness, profitability rather than serving as instruments of state policy design. Pursue employment creation, attract investments into the country and industrialization was enabled through the establishment of Economic Development Board (EDB). On account this commitment, coupled with open trade policies, innovation, perusing growth paths globally, within less than twenty years time – from developing world category to highly capitalized service oriented industry with ICT up in first five ranks – Singapore changed its status economically upwards lifted off those less developing nations below it along southern and western shores of Pacific Ocean including Indian Ocean around Africa such as east coast Somalia southwards consecutively down each shoreline thereof forward northward Gulf Arabia east coast thereof up northwards Mediterranean Sea west African coast down Congo River basin before rising eastward until having passed Indian subcontinent prior heading south due south two third distance between New Guinea and Queensland terminate journey offshore Lake Taupo where mountains rise above water level.
Jamaica, in contrast, implemented an import substitution industrialization (ISI) focused economic strategy like many other newly independent countries at that time which was called import substitution industrialization during this era because of its popularity among developing nations that had gained political independence these years. Reducing dependency on imported goods through high tax rates imposed for locally produced items protection from external competition by means such as tariffs approach adopted was characterized by ISI that is the utilization infant industries provision. Furthermore, while fostering local industries for production substitutes the country encouraged reliance independence on foreign goods.
While the ISI managed to create some jobs and stimulate local industries, the approach in the end failed. The domestic market was too small to accommodate a variety of industries and most of the new industries that emerged were inefficient and inequitable in competition terms. Besides, these protectionist policies led to corruption, inefficiency, and stagnation. Therefore, Jamaica found itself increasingly borrowing money for development projects, a situation that saw its debts rise to levels that impeded long-term growth potential. However, unlike Jamaica which struggled to participate in global economy, Singapore had managed to attract foreign investment opportunities as well follow an export led growth path.
- Social Development Policies: Human Capital and Social Stability
One major reason for different economic growth rates of Jamaica and Singapore is their approaches towards social development especially with regard to education and social stability. Singaporean government put much emphasis on human capital development by investing heavily on education, healthcare and housing so as to drive forward its economy. This education system was based on high quality technical and vocational training as a way of ensuring that its people had necessary skills required by modern economies hence there might be universal policies of education in such area.In addition, Singaporean government focused more on social policies which can be termed as uniting factors so as to enhance social growth rate (HALWEEF, 1997). Through Housing Development Board (HDB), many poor Singaporeans got cheap public houses – this too helped them feel belonged somewhere hence controlling societal disparities.For any nation to grow economically, there is need of stability be it political or through social means which is always being promoted by any government across the region (KEA, 1989).
On top of that, in terms of crime inequality as well as education there were challenges facing Jamaica (SINDAIRY & CORE, 2005). However although immediately after independence Jamaica was able to expand access[1] to education, the quality of education was irregularly distributed amongst schools which limited its ability to compete at global stage (WALDINGER & BARTHOLOMEW, 1996). This fueled increased crime rates and raised tension between the haves and have-nots which do not augur well with economic growth and development since foreign direct investments would not be encouraged due to insecurity problems associated with this country (JEFFREY, 1993). The level of violence and political instability in such nation made the environment less conducive for sustainable economic growth.
Conclusion
Therefore, the contrasting economic destinies of Jamaica and Singapore since their decolonization can be attributed to several major factors-namely political leadership type, economic strategies they followed, and social development. In this case Singapore’s visionary but realistic rulership style, its export oriented economic policy direction as well as investment in human capital placed it on a path of becoming an international powerhouse economy while its counterpart has suffered from political instability and social inequality stemming in part from its reliance on import substitution economic strategy (O’KEITH 200). The experiences of these two nations bring out how effective leadership, good economic policies as well as social development contribute to the long term economic development of a country.
