<B>By Nicholas RAINER</B>

One of the most oft-cited role models political leaders is their ambition to emulate Singapore?s peerless success. Many similarities already exist between the two countries. A scarcity of land, lack of natural resources, economic and political stability are but a few characteristics shared by Mauritius and Singapore. It?s no secret though that former has a lot of catching up to do if it hopes to one day catch up with the latter. Is this gap bridgeable though?

In an interview accorded to Newsweek?s Fareed Zakaria last week, the architect of Singapore?s stratospheric transformation from underdeveloped to highly developed country, Lee Kuan Yew, explained some of the policies. "What is it I?m trying to do? I am trying to create, in a Third World situation, a First World oasis. I am not following any prescription given me by a theoretician on democracy or whatever. I work from first principles, what will get me there ? social peace and stability within the country, no fight between the races, between religions, whatever, fair shares for all, everybody is a homeowner. I want investments. I?ve got nothing except skilled manpower, infrastructure. I build up infrastructure, I educate the people".

The recipe to Singapore?s success thus consists of equal parts stability, infrastructure and education. Thanks to a constant juggling act and countless political concessions, many of which are rather questionable, Mauritius has achieved the sort of long-lasting political stability that is the envy of many of our more democratically-challenged neighbours. In terms of infrastructure, the country is not quite there yet, although are buildings seem to be going up like mushrooms after the rain, even if this urbanization is often to the detriment of the environment. So far so good.

This brings us to the last ingredient: education. Despite boasting a dizzyingly high literacy rate, the national education system continues to exclude an intolerable number of students every year. According to the state statistician, the pass rate for the Certificate of Primary Education (CPE) last year was a middling 66%. In 2007, the School Certificate (SC) pass rate was 76.7% in 2007, compared to 78.6% in 2006. The same trend applies to Higher School Certificate (HSC). Although these drops hardly qualify as a decline, one has to wonder why the pass rates are going down rather than up. More importantly, the current administration?s failure to create a more inclusive educational system does not bode well for future generations.

For his part, Lee Kuan Yew could not overstate the importance of education. ?We have the best educated workforce anywhere in Asia, and I would say, within another 10 years, anywhere in the world. They?re all educated in English, which is our working language, and they keep their mother tongue, whether it?s Chinese, Malay or Tamil, Urdu, or whatever. These are my choices. I go by what is good governance. What are things I aim to do? A healthy society that gives everybody a chance to achieve his maximum.?

Well, two out of three isn?t bad.