On 9th March 2026, Lentune Probus Club were treated to a really fascinating and informative talk by Nick French on The Singapore Success Story. Nick originated from Zimbabwe, but had worked for SASOL in South Africa, before transferring to Singapore in 1995 as SASOL manager for the area, where he remained until relatively recently.

Singapore evolved from a trading post when Sir Stamford Raffles arrived in 1819, to a major naval base, before the Japanese invasion in 1941. After liberation in 1945, independence came in 1959. After a brief integration with Malaysia in the early 1960's, Singapore has been proudly independent, led initially by Lee Kuan Yew, who created a system sometimes referred to as "benevolent dictatorship", which has managed to create one of the wealthiest, cleverest and healthiest nations on earth.

Although 2.5 times smaller than Greater London, the population is 6 million, with ethnic Chinese 74.3%, Malay 13.6%, Indian 9.0% being the principal racial groups. In 2022, it was the world's most expensive city (for expatriates) outweighed by being top for global education and 2nd for life expectancy. An unfortunate side effect of the emphasis on education is that 85% of young people are myopic.

Benevolent dictatorship means, inter alia, in public, no vaping, no chewing gum, and on the MRT no smoking, no eating or drinking, no durian (a pungent fruit). Alcohol cannot be imported from Malaysia, because it is much cheaper there.

Nick also covered the relationships with housemaids and senior citizens, emphasising the rise in percentage of older people, which of course puts a strain on health services , which are not NHS style, but private, albeit with compulsory medical insurance paid 50/50 by employee/employer.

Overall, an outstanding talk.