Why can Singapore become the cleanest country in Asia?

A report released by Lausanne, Switzerland also shows that Singapore is the most corrupt country in Asia. The reason why Singapore has been able to control corruption and win global praise is indispensable to former Prime Minister and current Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew's effective anti-corruption efforts during his administration. Lee Kuan Yew served as Prime Minister of Singapore for 31 years (1959-1990) and was determined to rule the country by law. He has his own "four basic principles" for anti-corruption, namely, everyone is equal before the law, everyone is free within the law, there is no democracy outside the law, and there is no authority above the law. Lee Kuan Yew said many times that as the Prime Minister of the government, I can create many millionaires and billionaires, but I can never become a rich man myself. Lee Kuan Yew said: "Unless you take action, you cannot maintain this kind of society." Lee Kuan Yew said that he may be the poorest prime minister in the world. This presumably means relying solely on salary, without any "benefits" or benefits other than salary. Lee Kuan Yew did not have his own official car. He bought the car with his own money. It was a standard "private car for public use". If he could afford a horse, he would also be able to afford a saddle. All expenses such as petrol, maintenance, cleaning fees, etc. were all paid out of his own pocket. own pocket. Housing must be purchased with your own money. There are no official "public houses" for officials to use. How big you want to live is determined by how much money you have to spend, not the size of the official position. Lee Kuan Yew takes the lead in living in his own private house, so no one has the nerve to occupy public housing for use. The official residence. For some social activities, you can't just eat as much as you want. Everything has limits. State activities or participation in international conferences require traveling abroad, and there are strict regulations on expenses. The parties concerned can only receive the minimum allowance. There is no possibility of making excuses to reimburse them randomly as long as they can get invoices. It is impossible to take advantage of the opportunity to make a profit. Bundle. The expenses for domestic receptions, conferences, celebrations, and accompanying visiting foreign heads of state or delegations are also frugal, and there is a strict and open financial system, so no one can take advantage of it. In all celebrations, the etiquette should be simple and clear. There should be no extravagance or red tape. Officials should never be allowed to write inscriptions or cut ribbons everywhere, and they are not allowed to accept red envelopes on this basis. Officials are not allowed to "borrow money" from lower-level units or enterprises under their jurisdiction, nor can they imply that they are short of anything or need something, nor can they ask for money from lower-level units in any way. Lee Kuan Yew carries his own briefcase to and from get off work. He usually likes white shirts and white trousers. This is not because Singapore is too hot, but because white symbolizes purity. This is also his consistent strict requirement for Singaporean civil servants: integrity. He said: "If we allow you to put your hands into the drawers where other people keep their money, then we are all doomed." At the beginning of Lee Kuan Yew's administration, he summoned his relatives to a meeting and warned them not to have the idea of ????taking advantage of someone else's money, " From now on, you should not expect special care from me, you should treat yourself exactly like ordinary people." He himself still lives in his parents' old mansion, and his official residence is only used for government entertainment. Only by upholding integrity can we suppress downfalls. Lee Kuan Yew's punishment of corruption was severe. Some high-ranking officials, such as Singapore's former Minister of State for Defense and former President Tiffany, etc., have broken their heads in front of the iron wall of clean government and lost their positions. Lee Kuan Yew's crackdown on corruption is based on rooting out the motives and excuses for corruption. This means that the basis for conviction focuses on quality rather than quantity. The main basis is "whether corruption or bribery has been accepted" rather than "how much corruption or bribery has been accepted." Many countries in the world often use "quantity" as the criterion for judging whether corruption or bribery is accepted. This blurs the boundaries between the crime of bribery and general bribery, bribery and general gifts, corruption and eating more and taking more, allowing many people to find excuses to get away with it. As a result, in the absence of a clear definition, corruption and embezzlement flourish and grow without a way to root it out. Since the beginning of his political career, Lee Kuan Yew has been determined to eradicate the "cancer of Southeast Asia" in Singapore and will never allow corrupt elements to run rampant in Singapore and prey on the people. Regarding corruption, the main basis is not "the amount" but "whether there is such behavior." Lee Kuan Yew supports one point, that is, all those who hold public office, especially officials with power, must not accept even a small amount of money or property that does not belong to them, otherwise they will violate the law. Therefore, "trivial" things such as accepting a pack of cigarettes as a bribe or accepting a tip of a few dollars from a housewife are subject to incredibly severe sanctions in Singapore. Regarding bribery and bribery, Lee Kuan Yew believed that the first person who should be severely punished is the bribe taker. This cannot put the cart before the horse. The main subjects of corruption are those in power in society. Only when they have power or are in a position of being "requested" do they have the conditions and possibility for corruption. Once they ignore the constitution and the law or "cannot punish the officials" and they are indulged and sheltered, corruption will inevitably breed and spread in the country's political, economic and social life. As for those who give bribes and those who provide conditions for the corrupt, although they are also unforgivable crimes, they are not the main aspect of corruption. If the officials are honest, corruption will not breed. As the saying goes, flies cannot bite perfect eggs. Therefore, to punish corruption, we must first govern officials, govern them according to the law, prepare for severe punishment, and take precautions first. In the second year after the founding of Singapore, Parliament passed the Anti-Corruption Act, which increased the power of the Corruption Investigation Bureau, which was established in 1952. The Bureau is directly subordinate to and accountable to the Prime Minister.

The Director of the Corruption Investigation Bureau and the Special Investigator may arrest any person suspected of corruption without a warrant, and may arrest any person accused or suspected of violating the Anti-Corruption Law without an order from the Public Prosecutor, using the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code The special powers conferred by the police are to exercise the power of special investigation by the police. They have the right to enter and search houses and confiscate any money or items considered to be stolen money or stolen goods. They have the right to enter various departments and institutions and require anyone to provide required internal information. The suspect has the right to require the suspect to explain the source of the property. If the suspect cannot explain the source, it can be submitted to the court for trial. Regarding group crimes, Lee Kuan Yew showed no mercy and adopted a "one-in-one" approach. From 1970 to 1971, traffic police collectively accepted bribes from transportation companies and regularly accepted money from transportation companies. The power-money transaction was purposeful. When transportation companies violated traffic regulations, the traffic police opened their eyes and closed their eyes. Let it go. After the traffic police received the bribe money, they divided it equally and enriched their own pockets. After the Corruption Investigation Bureau took over the case, it severely punished all the criminals and uprooted the corruption syndicate. The Singaporean government is determined, flexible and strict in investigating and punishing corruption cases. As soon as any corruption cases arise, they will be swiftly attacked. In more than 30 years, no major group-related cases have occurred in Singapore. A very common aspect of the transaction of power and money is reflected in the corruption of employees, that is, spending money to buy officials. This is the most abhorrent form of corruption. Singapore's civil servants cannot be left to one boss who has the final say and whoever he wants to be promoted. Instead, there is a strict selection and appointment system. Everyone who wants to become a civil servant must pass strict examinations and physical examinations, and there is no back door. Singapore places special emphasis on the moral character of civil servants. Their private lives are strictly managed, including the people they interact with daily, family situations, personal interests and hobbies, and whether they have any bad habits, such as drug abuse, prostitution, etc. This kind of review is not formalistic, but watertight. Lee Kuan Yew believed that when people with bad habits enter the civil service, they will not only affect the government's image, but once they are qualified, they will develop corruption and easily go astray. Therefore, the "first level" of strict scrutiny must be done well. This is an effective way to prevent corruption. Civil servants must be transparent. Another unique feature of Singapore is the moral assessment system for civil servants. "Press closely to keep an eye on people" and implement supervision every second. The government issues a diary to civil servants every year. The diary is printed with the page number and year, month and day. On each page, the civil servant himself writes an affidavit in front of the official in charge, guaranteeing that the contents recorded are facts and there is no If there are false or untrue records, you are willing to be severely punished. Civil servants must carry a diary with them at all times. They must not lose it or leave it lying around, and record their activities at any time. During office hours, if family members or friends come to visit, the name of the visitor and the reason for the visit must be recorded in detail. The diary is inspected regularly. When civil servants go to work every Monday, the diary must be submitted to the official in charge for signature and inspection, and returned after completion. If the official in charge thinks that the diary is suspicious, the diary must be sent to the Corruption Investigation Bureau for review and verification. . If the Corruption Investigation Bureau learns through other channels and believes that the person has committed corruption, the official in charge will be punished for failing to report the information and lax investigation. There is also a whereabouts tracking system for public servants. It is implemented with the cooperation of the National Corruption Investigation Bureau and other units as well as the general public. All civil servants, regardless of their position, especially those who are new to public office, are secretly followed by people to conduct overt and covert inspections of their daily actions to see what their private lives are like. ? Whether there are prostitution and gambling activities, whether they go to bars, and whether they secretly associate with illegal gangs. If any bad deeds are discovered, someone will be sent to secretly take photos immediately. The parties involved will be caught in the face of the facts and await punishment. The behavior tracking system is a very deterrent anti-corruption system. For anyone who wants to commit corruption, there are visiting cameras and dragnets everywhere. The reason why corrupt elements are rampant is because the gap between their salary income and the huge amount of stolen money makes them dare to take risks and go all out. Especially if you get a lot of money before retirement, you have the right to do so without expiration, which is the "59-year-old phenomenon". Lee Kuan Yew wanted to use positive methods to make people dare not "go all out", and the provident fund system was his clever trick. 40% of the monthly salary of serving public servants is provided as provident fund, which can be deposited in the bank and can only be withdrawn after retirement. This 40% only deducts 22% from their wages, and the remaining 18% is subsidized by the state. That is to say, in addition to paying monthly wages, the state also subsidizes 18% of the total wages in the provident fund. If a civil servant starts working in his 20s, he will have a huge provident fund that can be withdrawn when he retires, ranging from hundreds of thousands to more than 100,000, which is enough to ensure a life without worries about food and clothing. Life. The Central Provident Fund is a solid and reliable guarantee. It is both a welfare and a kind of integrity mortgage. For those who dare to be corrupt and bend the law, the Provident Fund is a bargaining chip for punishment. After a corrupt person is sentenced by law, all his Provident Fund will be confiscated and turned over. Treasury. Lee Kuan Yew did not engage in spiritualism or materialism. He was able to get the material and spiritual aspects just right, forming Singapore's active anti-corruption measures.

The government compiles the salary scales of private enterprises and government departments every year, and then balances them to prevent the average salary level of government departments from being lower than that of private enterprises. The salary level of government departments is among the highest in the entire Singaporean society. The monthly salary of senior civil servants It is more than 10 times the general level of society. Compared with some elite sectors of society, such as business, lawyers, medical, etc., the absolute value of wages is still incomparable. Therefore, while Lee Kuan Yew was running high salaries, he still emphasized dedication and advocated that those who hold public office should make some sacrifices. The former Minister of Justice, Buck, was a private lawyer, and his monthly income was three times what he made as a minister. At that time, civil servants' salaries were still relatively low, and he found it difficult to support his family and send his children to school. Therefore, he had to submit his resignation to Lee Kuan Yew and wanted to return to his old profession. Lee Kuan Yew did not agree, had in-depth talks with him, and then doubled his salary, so Buck was able to stay in office. Today's most senior leaders in Singapore, Ong Teng Cheong and Hao Chok Tong, were senior employees of private organizations before taking public office. They earned huge incomes, but their current salaries are not the same. Lee Kuan Yew often asked civil servants to be "selfless" and to "make great contributions to the great cause of tomorrow in a simple living environment."

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