# Singapore (1965): a new system that brought prosperity

> Singapore (1965) built a system with no predecessor and became prosperous by riding a wave the world already backed.

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Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

- **The wave:** Western manufacturers moving factories offshore.
- **What was new:** a state built to win foreign factories (Economic Development Board), compulsory savings (CPF), and public housing on state-owned land.
- **How it united people:** English as the shared working language; mixed public housing for every community.
- **Result:** GDP per person went from about $516 in 1965 to about $107,760 in 2026.

- [Wikipedia: Economy of Singapore](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Singapore)


## How it stood up government on day one

Singapore was pushed out of Malaysia and had to become a country overnight. It had no army, no hinterland and 10 to 12% unemployment. It focused on jobs, homes and defence first. [History of the Republic of Singapore](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Republic_of_Singapore)

**Why it matters:** a state that had to exist overnight put jobs, homes and defence first.

- **Day one:** independence on 9 August 1965.
- **Foreign affairs:** joined the UN on 21 September 1965, six weeks later, with help from Malaysia, the Republic of China and India. Joined the Commonwealth in October 1965.
- **Defence:** national service from 1967. Men at 18 train full time for about two and a half years, then serve as reservists. Singapore used advisers from Israel and West Germany. British forces left in September 1971.
- **Jobs:** the Economic Development Board, set up in 1961 before independence, built industrial estates at Jurong and gave investors 5 to 10 year tax holidays. Unemployment fell to about 3% in the 1980s.
- **Housing:** the Housing Development Board built 25,000 flats in its first two years. Within a decade most people lived in its flats. From 1968 people could use their pension savings (CPF) to buy them.
- **Language:** English became the language of all schools, to serve foreign employers and partners.
- **Results:** real growth averaged about 8% a year from the 1980s to 1999.

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