It is always a pleasure to see a leading Singaporean politician in top form.

See this elegant and ideas-rich speech to the Asia Society on 11 November by Singapore Senior Minister Mr Goh Chok Tong.

Several lively judgements:

For the last two hundred years or so, the international system has largely been shaped and dominated by the West. Non-western countries were largely the objects of international relations or arenas of international tussles rather than full participants …

… there is a common source of discomfort: in East Asia, capitalism flourishes without western style liberal democracy. This challenges the preferred historical narrative of the West in a fundamental way. And it is worth noting that unlike Meiji Japan whose ambition was to ‘leave Asia’ and ‘join the West’, India and even more so, China, have no such ambition.

… If authoritarian systems were the answer to growth, North Korea and Myanmar would be among the richest countries in the world. So would Zimbabwe. And if liberal democracies were always right, Iceland would not have gone bankrupt. Nor is Iceland’s insolvency an aberration. In 1976, the UK was forced to apply for an IMF loan and in return had to accept measures imposed by the IMF.

Ha!

He suggests four attributes of successful political systems:

First, there must be accountability and transparency. For long-term political stability, governments must govern with the consent of the governed, expressed through the ballot box or otherwise. While temporary political stability can sometimes be achieved through repression, force cannot sustain economic growth over long periods since growth requires the liberation that comes with competition and the support of the people…

Second, governments must have the capacity for long-term planning and execution. It is important that government policies can withstand populist pressures. While politicians must be responsive to their peoples, the first duty of all leaders is to lead. Far too many elected leaders nowadays govern according to what the polls say…

A third attribute is social justice and harmony. By this, I refer to the need for governments to provide every citizen with an equal opportunity to compete and succeed. Equality of opportunity does not mean equality of outcome, and it is inevitable that some would fare better than others in any competitive system … A political system which provides for an inclusive society and is capable of delivering social justice will enjoy wide support from the people.

The fourth attribute is a culture of identifying and grooming talent for public service, whether in the political arena, bureaucracy or private sector. A meritocratic system of administration picks out the best through a fair and just selection process and provides a competitive environment for the brightest brains to join and work in the government.

All this sounds remarkably like the recipe for Singapore’s success, of course. Singapore has achieved outstanding results, even if the consent of the governed in Singapore tends to be expressed not through the ballot box but ‘otherwise’ as Mr Goh Chok Tong coyly describes it.

Still, let’s remind ourselves of the fact that fifty years ago Cuba was doing better then Singapore, and now is largely a wreck. Had Cuba adopted the Four Attributes and maintained an open society, it could have developed a successful practical ideological alternative to USA-style capitalism.

NB also the unbending meritocratic part of the Singaporean message. This is a not a society which dumbs down exam standards to avoid hurting underperforming students’ feelings by giving them low marks.

All that said, maybe Mr Goh Chok Tong is not in fact completely right.

The deep basis for the sustained success of Western-style liberal democracy is not so much the Western political system but the Western legal system which underpins it.

It is this which ensures that Rules Matter. And which produces the graceful transfer of power now under way in Washington.

Asiam-style capitalism benefits directly from this, as no doubt many of its key business transactions are run through Western law firms, with the independent courts in the USA or UK acting as the ultimate font of fair decision in case of dispute.

And without creating honest legal process based on the profound idea of the Separation of Powers, Asia will never be as free of Western philosophy and influence as it might like – and claim – to be?