[crdoconnor]

I haven't lived here for as long as you, but I reached similar conclusions.

In addition, the idea that it was some sort of backwater place before LKY is something of a myth, along with the "no natural advantage" canard. Its strong economy grew in large part due to its strategically positioned port, which has existed since 1819. Can't really take credit for that.

That isn't to say that the country couldn't have been run into the ground in the 1960s, but they had a far larger head start than the ruling party likes to admit.

Interestingly, probably one of their most successful economic policies is one that is stridently ignored by the rest of the world:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_housing_in_Singapore

San Francisco in particular could afford to take a leaf out of this book.