Welcome Prime Minister Goh

What makes Singapore run? This is one of the relevant questions that Indonesians could ask themselves as they welcome Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong today. Singapore has long been this region's modern economic hub. And even with most of Southeast Asia flattened by economic and political crises, Singapore has been practically the only country left in this region to have remained almost totally unscathed by the turmoil.

Of course, a number of circumstances can be mentioned in this respect that are in Singapore's favor. First, it is obviously a good deal easier to manage the welfare of some 3 million people, such as Singapore has, than Indonesia's 200 million population.

Similarly, it must clearly be easier to govern a city-state of about 240 square miles rather than a sprawling archipelago of more than 17,000 islands with a size more than 3,000 times that of Singapore. Furthermore, Singapore's strategic location on one of the world's busiest trade routes gives it an advantage that other, bigger countries might envy.

Though Singapore, like Indonesia, is multi-racial as well as multi-cultural, the division of its population into three major population groups -- Chinese, Malay and Indian -- makes it much easier to manage than Indonesia, with its hundreds of ethnic communities and its religious and cultural diversity.

Nevertheless, size, strategic location and relative homogeneity alone do not necessarily guarantee success. Without the good political and economic management that only a clean and credible government can deliver, the capability of any country, big or small, to attain the kind of position that Singapore currently enjoys in the world remains unlikely.

At the same time, Indonesians in this era of democratic reform might well question the wisdom of their close neighbor's maintaining its current reputedly authoritarian, or at least restrictive, system of government. Indonesia, after all, has twice experimented with such as system -- first under Sukarno's Guided Democracy, then under Soeharto's Pancasila Democracy -- and failed.

The question that tempts to be asked is: Wouldn't it be for the good of Singapore to start making a gradual shift towards greater democracy? Or would Indonesia be better off adopting a government that in certain aspects resembles that practiced in Singapore? The answer to this question may not be as simple as it may look. Various factors that are intrinsic to both countries would have to be carefully considered before a conclusion can be reached.

As many observers here seem to see it, however, the key to Singapore's success appears to be that the system is accepted as legitimate by its people. The reason is obvious. Ever since its founding as an independent state in 1965 under Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore has had a succession of clean governments who have managed to deliver the goods for the people, making the island-state one of the most prosperous countries in the world. Despite the continued dominance of the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) and its leaders' iron-fisted rule of the country, general elections have been fair and free of rigging -- all of which help to make opposition charges of autocracy sound a bit irrelevant.

All in all, there is much that Indonesians can learn from the Singapore experience. Under present circumstances, though, it is a welcome sign that leaders in both countries, Singapore and Indonesia, seem to realize that the most important aspect of relations that must be promoted is economic cooperation, hence the inclusion of some 60 businessmen from the U.S., Europe and Singapore in Prime Minister Goh's entourage.

In welcoming him and his delegation, we wish the Singaporean Prime Minister and his Indonesian counterparts all the success in their efforts to promote good relations in the coming days.