Singapore is a small island with few natural resources and little room for mistakes. From the day it became independent, it learned that survival would depend not on size or power, but on discipline, flexibility, and a clear understanding of the world around it. This lesson from the uncertain 1960s still guides the country today as rivalry between the United States and China grows stronger, pushing Singapore to use the same approach to stay important without choosing sides while keeping control over its own decisions.
A Fight for Survival After Independence
When Singapore became fully independent in the 1960s, its future was far from certain. The island had just emerged from British rule and gone through a bitter separation from Malaysia in 1965. What followed was the challenge of building a new state almost from scratch, in a tense region and at the height of the Cold War.
In its early decades, Singapore was led with a firm hand. Discipline was seen as essential,
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