Confessions of an American Media Man author Tom Plate offers praise for Singapore when those who interview him about his new book have actually read the book! Of course he couldn’t get through the article without the requisite words: ultra, cold, calculated, and nanny. Still, it’s over at Channelnewsasia.com

… if you have tracked the growth of this tiny little city-state over the past decade or so, you’d have to admit that Singapore has indeed been heading onward and forward.

Until recently, though, I was not exactly sure why.

Plausible factors include the high literacy and education rate.

Practically all Singaporeans get post-secondary school education, whether they want it or not, and virtually all Singaporeans will graduate from what we would call high school, whether they like it or not.

The ultra-competent “nanny state”, as the Government is called, does not program for failure or permit its people to admit defeat early in life.

Lots of other factors could be advanced, as well, but it wasn’t until this trip that I finally understood why this place hums and why it is the envy (polite word) of its neighbours for its high standard of living and relative modernity.

The reason Singapore works, I have finally figured out, is because its women work so well.

Let me explain.

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Decades ago, you see, the “nanny” Government here made the cold and calculated economic decision to promote equal rights for women not because it was obviously the right thing to do, but because, with an adult population of a few million, it needed to double the size of the work force – fast.

Including both genders gives you double your money.