THE ROLE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL LEADER – What I have learned from Lee Kwan Yew

More than once we all have felt compelled with the attributes of a great leader. We, human beings have a deep desire to improve things around and make our life better. But none of the advances and improvements in our world could have been done if no one has had an idea or a dream, has shared it with the world, and engaging others to take actions. 

So, what role plays an Environmental leader?  

This question has been going around in my head for a long time. Fortunately, the answer started coming to me with the marvellous history of Singapore, both from my research on books and my first-hand experience in the Garden City. Although you can find around 60 million of results and evidence of this transformation in Google, I will focus the attention of this article on the three key elements with which Mr. Lee Kwan Yew transformed the lives of the people and the environment of Singapore: Vision, Action, and Collaboration.

“I’m very determined. If I decide that something is worth doing, then I’ll put my heart and soul to it. The whole ground can be against me. But if I know it´s right, I´ll do it. That´s the business of a leader” Lee Kwan Yew.

A leader who knows the way – Vision

A Courageous Visionary leader, in this case, an “Environmental Leader”, is one who possesses a good amount of PPD: Patience, Persistence, and Discipline.

Mr. Lee´s vision was to transform Singapore into a Garden City and guarantee a clean water supply for its inhabitants. After their separation from Malaysia in 1965, the water supply became top priority requiring a careful planification and practical steps to address the problem. He even set a ten-year target to clean up the rivers starting in 1977 and lead a plan to become self-sufficient in terms of water resources, despite the agreements with Malaysia.

Patience leads to strategic thinking and right decisions 

Long term plans assured the success of Mr. Lee´s vision. In 1958, the first Master Plan of Singapore was released. That was the time for thoughtful planification made by the State and City Planning project and a meticulous organisation of the structure that would lead and execute the plans for the Island in terms of economic development, adequate housing and improving living conditions. The following Conceptual Plans from 1971 (CP1971) and 1991 (CP1991) were the response of a reflection from the former plan and focused on urban development with conservation and environmental protection.

Right now, in Singapore, two-thirds of the land is used for water catchment including rivers, reservoirs and green catchment areas. The rain water is collected in 17 reservoirs and rivers like Singapore and Kallang river that once were open sewages, and now they are all clean.

Source: PUB - Rainwater catchment area and collection system

Moreover, with the advance of the technology, a 100 percent of the wastewater generated is recycled using Microfiltration, Reverse Osmosis, and UV Disinfection, which produces the so-called NEWater which is an ultra-clean water that has passed more than 30,000 scientific tests and exceeds the WHO´s requirements for safe drinking water.

Many countries worldwide are still facing water pollution issues, despite the advances in environmental technology and the successful experiences such as Singapore. Chiefly, due to a constant change in government that many countries/companies experience that does give neither relevance nor continuity to the vision and planification of the previous legacy.

Persistence is the tenacity and determination to achieve a settled goal 

Some of the biggest challenges that Singapore experienced were related with the quality of the environment. Mr. Lee knew he needed to tackle flooding and pollution problems, while cleaning the streets and the waterways. In spite of the serious problems of unemployment; lack of housing, health, and education that the government were facing in the sixties; Mr. Lee pushed forward his environmental agenda towards a Garden City until successful accomplishment.

Today, with the greenery represented in parks, gardens and green spaces, the temperature in the island had decreased by two degrees Celsius when compared to the 1960´s.

Discipline is ownership & commitment

Mr. Lee once said, “There´s a definite plan and we stuck with the plan. There´s no corruption and nobody can deviate from the plans”. With that in mind, all the agencies were aligned with the vision and worked together. Specialization occurred along the way in the former governmental structures to meet the needs. For instance, the Public Utilities Board (PUB) is an autonomous agency of the Ministry of Environment and Water responsible for ensuring an efficient and sustainable water supply. PUB regulates and supervise the Singapore´s water supply system comprised by the water catchment systems, water reclamation plants and sewage systems.

A leader takes action by serving the community

The case of Singapore is the reflection of how his leader, worked relentlessly to give to his people a better place to live, a better air to breath, gardens, and nature to admire and recreate, clean rivers and furthermore, to provide them the best water to drink. 

Transforming the island into a Garden City was the way Mr. Lee contributed to the quality of life of his people, the city has now 1,763 hectares of open spaces, parks, playgrounds and park connectors; 3,326 hectares of natural reserves and 4,200 hectares of road greenery and vacant state land. 

It only took him ten years to bring back to life the dead Rivers in Singapore. He enforced the law on land use and environmental management, a task that seems almost impossible in other countries facing the same issues. He started by removing all the activities that were discharging to the river such as pig and duck farms, the shipments and the backyards. And later dam the clean rivers to create a water reservoir for the country needs.

A leader collaborates with others and bring people together

A leader shares his vision and inspire others, starting from a local to a regional scale, and then moving forward to a global scale.

Start small – think big

For more than 20 years Singapore focused on his own reality, facing the challenges of being poor and undeveloped. Years of hard work, learning from positive and negative examples around the globe, aided by experts in different fields such as water quality, land reclamation, gardening, and housing development, led to a harmonious ecosystem in the island enjoyed today by its inhabitants.

Help your neighbours so it can also benefit you

After many years of hostilities with its neighbours, Malaysia and Indonesia; Singapore never doubted to collaborate with them in order to help them to mitigate their environmental problems that were affecting the quality of life of Singaporeans. Just to mention few examples, the haze caused by the forest fires in Indonesia and suffered by their close neighbours; the water quality of Johor Bahru’s river streams; and the problematic of air pollution caused by solid waste incinerator in Johor.

Global endeavours

Singapore along the years had made collaboration as well as multilateral efforts with other countries. In 2011, they participated in the United Nations Climate Change conference in Dubai and signed the agreement on emission reductions, and later on in 2018, Singapore agreed upon a new collaboration with the UK on Climate Change.

After Singapore´s proven success, in 2008 the Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC) was created as a generous way to document and share with the next generations, and with the world, this remarkable experience along with the key principles behind its transformation. Among other initiatives, Singapore administration has created different incentives such as the Lee Kwan Yew Water Prize, and the Lee Kwan Yew Public Policy, both to promote technology innovation and increase the number and the quality of environmental professionals and policy makers.

Last thoughts

Singapore has taught the world that an environmentally friendly approach is possible. We just need to remember the VAC principles (Vision, Action, and Collaboration). 

Singapore is a great example of how in a heterogeneous society – Chinese, Malay, Indian and others – a nation can live in peace and in harmony. One of the ways that Mr. Lee achieved this purpose was by generating a sense of belonging and equality with decent housing for more people, while providing a safe and clean environment for everyone to enjoy.

Lina M. Rodríguez