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So what lessons are the Chinese learning? There is an odd imbalance between the things that Singapore and others make so much noise about and the reasons why the place works. In particular, the “Asian values” bits of Singapore—its authoritarianism and its industrial policy—that the Chinese seem to find especially congenial are less vital to its success than two more humdrum virtues: a good civil service and a competitively small state.

那么，中国人是在学什么呢？在新加坡和其他国家高声抱怨的事情同新加坡运转良好的原因之间有着奇怪的不平衡。特别是，新加坡的“亚洲价值观”部分——它的权力主义和产业政策——中国似乎认为尤为调和的部分，对于其成功并不及其余两平淡无奇的长处重要：良好的行政机构，规模小得有竞争力的国家。

The island that Lee built李氏岛

Singapore is certainly a fairly stern place. It has been run by the People’s Action Party for half a century. The older Mr Lee, a Cambridge-educated lawyer who was originally seen as a bit of a left-winger, set up a parliamentary system in which it has proved curiously difficult for the opposition to do well. From 1966 to 1981 Mr Lee’s PAP won all the seats. It has opened up a bit, and in the most recent election in 2006 it won only 66% of the votes and 82 of the 84 seats. The media, and particularly the internet, have also got a little freer.

新加坡当然是个法治相当严厉的国家。已经由人民行动党执政半个世纪了。老李（李光耀），作为一名剑桥毕业的律师，原本被认为有点左倾，建立的议会体系使得反对派办事异常艰难。自1966年至1981年，李光耀领导的人民行动党一直赢得国会所有席位。现已开放了一点，在最近的2006年大选里，它只赢得了选票的66%和国会议席84个中的82个。媒体，特别是互联网，也自由了一些。

The Singaporeans argue that they have the perfect compromise between accountability and efficiency. Their politicians are regularly tested in elections and have to make themselves available to their constituents; but since the government knows it is likely to win, it can take a long view. Fixing things like ITE takes time. “Our strength is that we are able to think strategically and look ahead,” says the prime minister. “If the government changed every five years it would be harder.”

新加坡人称他们在责任与效率之间达成了最好的折衷。政客定期受到选举的检验，对选民来说必须随叫随到；但因为政府已经知道自己很可能连任，它的目光也看得长远了。调整一些东西，像工艺教育学院，就需要时间。“我们的长处就是我们能够从战略角度思考，从长远角度出发，”总理这样说道。“如果一个政府每五年就换一次，这可就不容易了。”

There is more truth in this than Western liberals would like to admit. Not many people in Washington are thinking beyond the 2012 presidential election. It is sometimes argued that an American administration operates strategically for only around six months, at the beginning of its second year—after it has got its staff confirmed by the Senate and before the mid-terms campaign begins.

这其中蕴含的真理比西方自由主义者承认的更多。在华盛顿，没有什么人想的能超过2012的总统大选。人们有时说一届美国政府只战略性地运行了大概6个月，从它的第二年算起——自其成员受到参议院的批准后再到中期选举宣传开始。

Yet even assuming that voters are happy to swap a little more efficiency for less democracy, Singapore still seems a difficult model to follow. Not only is it manageably small, but balancing authoritarianism and accountability comes down largely to personal skills (and even the opposition admits that the two Lees have been extremely good at it). More generally, Singapore’s success as a planning state has a lot to do with the sort of people who run it.

即使假设选民愿意用少一点民主换来效率高一点，新加坡仍然是一个十分难模仿的对象。它不仅小得好统治，平衡权力主义和责任大部分是靠个人技巧（即使反对派也承认二李都极其有技巧）。再大体上说来，新加坡作为一个有规划的国家的成功是与统治管理者们有很大的关系。