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In his later years, Lee Kuan Yew said frankly in an interview with reporters: Although Singapore is a Chinese country, it will not return to China, let alone return to China. Singapore is located at the southernmost tip of the South China Sea of the motherland, and it has a strong Chinese atmosphere, so isn't it justifiable to return to the motherland? Why did Lee Kuan Yew say this, and see below······
Muslim-Chinese country
As we all know, Singapore is independent from Malaysia and was once a federal state of Malaysia, which is a country with Islam as its state religion, which is also known as a Muslim country. Singapore sought independence precisely because it was disgusted with Malaysia's strong religious atmosphere.
However, instead of getting rid of the influence of Muslims, Singapore has become a Muslim-Chinese country with a blend of Chinese and Muslim cultures, which is very different from the atheistic motherland, which is the core reason why Lee Kuan Yew is firmly opposed to the return.
Singapore's economic boom and Muslim identity
The basic meaning of Muslim national identity is: the recognition and approval of the Muslim group with the country and its culture and values, and thus the sense of belonging and the formation of the group identity of the country where it is located. The dimensions of national identity include: political identity and cultural psychological identity.
The factors influencing national identity include: first, ethnic factors, second, economic factors, the core idea of which is to mobilize Muslims' national identity by improving people's living standards through economic well-being, and third, cultural value guidance, which focuses on the influence of traditional cultural and political values and their manifestations on national identity.
Islam was introduced to the Malay world from the Arabian Peninsula to Southeast Asia in the 13th century through trade and other means. Later, Singapore developed into a commercial seaport, and the number of Muslims gradually increased as Malay, Arab, and Indian merchants from the surrounding area moved in.
The huge problem that Singapore faced after its independence was that its economy was in ruins. Lee Kuan Yew reluctantly told the truth that after leaving Malaysia and surviving independently, Singapore actually did not have the ability to stand on its own feet, which made Lee Kuan Yew and the Singaporean people live in pain.
With almost no industry in the area that can create enough jobs for the growing population, unemployment among Singaporeans, including Muslims, is extremely high. In this social environment, the Singapore government has adopted employment-oriented economic incentives to promote Muslim national identity.
Under the leadership of Lee Kuan Yew, in order to solve the existential crisis faced by Singapore in the early years of the founding of the country, Singapore carried out economic reforms and implemented a development strategy centered on industrialization and oriented to an export-oriented economy. This industry undoubtedly provided a large number of employment opportunities in Singapore at that time.
Stable income and work have instilled confidence in workers, including Muslims, and strengthened their sense of national identity, belonging, and purpose as "Singaporeans" in the process. The participation of Muslims in economic life enables Muslims to concretely and tangibly feel the guidance of the state for economic development.
The Muslim community has a growing sense of "us" and a sense of being "Singaporean", which has strengthened their sense of identity with the country. In other words, employment-oriented initiatives are to strengthen Muslim national identity through economic incentives.
It has brought the relationship between the country and the people closer, thus establishing a sense of patriotism and strengthening the identity of the country.
After Singapore's second industrial revolution, Singapore's industrial structure was upgraded again, and it became an emerging industrial country in Asia. In other words, the immediate issue of survival has been resolved, and the living standards of Singaporeans, including Muslims, have improved significantly.
At this stage, the government strengthened its identity as a Muslim country by improving the social security system and proposing "shared values" with patriotism at its core. Singapore has built a well-established social security system that strikes a balance between fairness and efficiency.
The government allows Singaporean Muslims to follow Sharia rules in personal matters such as marriage. The government also supports the religious activities of Muslims. The gradual improvement of people's quality of life has greatly affected the confidence, perception and judgment of Singaporean people, including Muslim groups, in the country, and thus enhanced the people's national identity.
Singapore's China policy
The history of Singapore's public diplomacy with China can be traced back to the founding of Singapore. From trying to reach out to Singapore openly siding with the United States in 2011, Singapore and China have developed a form of diplomacy that is economically cooperative and politically neutral.
After the establishment of Singapore's independence, Singapore was committed to domestic stability and economic development, while China believed that the Singapore government suppressed and exploited the Singaporean people. Thus having a sense of aggression against Singapore. At this time, the relationship between China and Singapore was like that of an elephant and a flea.
During the Lee Kuan Yew administration, Singapore politically followed the decisions of the United States and never had any formal substantive contacts with China politically, but it also did not express unfavorable views on China in the international community. Lee Kuan Yew also visited China more often in a private capacity, conducting economic exchanges with China in informal settings.
Singapore is a small country with a small population and a small market size, and a lack of natural resources makes commodities scarce. Therefore, if Singapore wants to develop its economy, it needs to build an economy with vast potential, and Singapore must seek new sources of goods and new markets.
As a result, Singapore has been cautious in its political engagement with China, but the government still has a significant deal with China economically. Even though there is an ideological gap, Singapore has signed a large number of economic agreements with China in order to better develop its economy.
Judging from the data, Singapore has a pragmatic mindset in terms of economy. Even at this time, the theory of the China threat was already very loud. However, Singapore is still getting closer to China for the sake of economic development and market development.
The so-called indirect balance is that Singapore does not directly confront China head-on while guiding major powers or other forces to check and balance China. Singapore believes that there are two pillars to safeguarding national security, one is political diplomacy and the other is military deterrence.
Singapore's military policy toward China has shown an attitude of both preparedness and cooperation. In the early stage, the main focus was on defense, and whether it was military cooperation with Taiwan or the United States, it was all for the purpose of guarding against China. In the later period, it gradually launched military deployments with China, showing an informal military cooperation alliance.
Singapore believes that guiding and reshaping an international order to which all countries adhere will contribute to the survival and development of small States. Singapore will combine the two at the right time to guide other military forces into the Indo-Pacific region, so that it can compete and contend with China, and Singapore itself is not directly involved in the competition.
Singapore remains politically neutral and in a state of distancing itself from China, maintaining political stability in Southeast Asia, continuing Singapore's successful economic development model economically, and continuing to strengthen and deepen economic exchanges with China, so that Singapore's economy can develop with the rise of China.
Singapore's economy takes precedence. In order to be able to develop its economy, Singapore is willing to put aside ideological differences and political positions. Singapore's sustained economic growth is also dependent on international trade and overseas investment, which makes Singapore vulnerable to cyclical fluctuations in the world economy, and sometimes even affects the country's security.
Therefore, Singapore's economic security must depend on global and regional stability, and any minor turmoil may affect the effective functioning of Singapore's national economic interest chain. Singapore is firmly committed to maintaining regional balance. The positive development of Singapore-China relations during this period was largely based on Singapore's consideration of the regional political environment.
The United States and Japan continue to have strong influence in Southeast Asia, and Singapore opposes the existence of American power, believing that China can play an important role in containing the United States and Japan as an important party in the balance of great powers. Therefore, we have actively adjusted our China policy and opposed the West's argument of containing China.
During this period, Singapore maintained a politically neutral stance on its China policy, did not take the initiative to make friends with China, nor did it take the initiative to make enemies with China, but showed an attitude of welcoming China economically. Singapore has actively put the balance of power policy into diplomatic practice.
Epilogue:
Wei Zheng, a famous minister of the Tang Dynasty, once said: "If the Han enters the Han Dynasty, it will be razed, and if it enters the Han Dynasty, it will be the Han." It can be seen that cultural exchanges and integration between various ethnic groups have been quite common throughout the ages, and the Chinese have maintained their lifestyle and traditional Xi from the Central Plains on the small island of Singapore, thousands of miles away, but have also accepted the Islamic faith of the indigenous Malays, and have become what Lee Kuan Yew called "Chinese Muslim country".
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