Development over politics - the Singapore way

As I was growing up, Lee Kuan Yew's "Singapore story" was my favourite bedtime read.

- NARA LOKESH

I remember being fascinated by how LKY combined steely resolve and a firm commitment to reform for transforming a sleepy harbour into one of the world's most advanced city states. He believed that only the quality and vision of its leaders would make a country great. His life and journey have shaped my own ideas of leadership and reform.

Singapore today wields significant clout in the world order as a model for urban development and social harmony, and as one of the leading sovereign investors. Singapore also holds a special place for our family. In the 1990s, my father and reformer Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu studied the urban planning model of Singapore to evolve the basic building blocks of new Hyderabad. As a young CM, Mr Naidu walked the streets of Singapore in the early hours of the morning, observing garbage disposal, and personally took notes to replicate it for Hyderabad. Hyderabad today still follows this blueprint and is among the cleanest cities in India. Over the years, I have travelled extensively to Singapore, my wife Brahmani has worked here, and our son Devansh admires Singapore as some sort of a futuristic wonderland!