How Did Singapore Become One of Today´s Richest Countries? The Meritocratic Foundations of Singapore's Economic Culture

Master's Thesis from the year 2019 in the subject Social Studies (General), grade: B, CEVRO Institute, language: English, abstract: This Master s thesis is concerned with the question of how the meritocratic style of governance and culture fostered Singapore s way to becoming one of the world s richest countries. Singapore is one of the richest countries in the world today. Its economic development has been looked at as an exemplary case study for the ideal developmental process. The objective of this thesis is to study the role of culture in this economic development story. This thesis looks at the primacy of the prevailing ideas and cultural ethos that underlies Singapore's developmental growth after gaining independence. It is attempted to provide an explanation for Singapore's economic success from a cultural viewpoint by exploring the dominant cultural patterns and themes in Singapore society that shaped the "spirit" of modern Singaporean capitalism. The argument in this thesis however is isolated to one such cultural explanation. The contention is this: there is a strong market-friendly meritocratic culture that underscores Singapore's economic development after gaining independence. These attitudes are prominent in Singaporean cultural media products and the general rhetoric of the state, as will be shown. The modern government has to a large extent reinforced this culture of meritocracy that can be traced back to Singapore's institutional beginnings in its colonial history.