LEE Kuan Yew (LKY as he was fondly called) is credited for being the visionary leader that built Singapore from a poor nascent state to a bustling developed country that serves as the undisputed economic capital of Southeast Asia. It is an incredible feat achieved in just a generation. However, nation-building requires not only a team of dreamers. It also demands the teamwork of effective individuals with multiple sets of skills in the pursuit of those dreams. In the context of Singapore politics, this generation of Singaporean leaders who founded the nation and built it brick by brick are called “the pioneers.”
The leaders who built the government institutions of Singapore are well known in global politics. There is one leader who was known, though, albeit in the smaller circles of global city planners and builders that rings loud as the “builder of Singapore,” literally. Last week, this bright light, whose life was dedicated to build the physical space of this world to be better for humanity, decided to drop his working tools and join the Great Architect of the Universe to be one of the shining stars in the heavens.
His name is Dr. Liu Thai Ker — the man considered to be the “Architect of Modern Singapore” and its first master planner.
LKY, the prime minister, was a lawyer by profession. While he knew to be an architect of a nation, he lacked the technical skills of an urban planner, architect and engineer to put into flesh the vision that he had for the physical infrastructures required to build the houses, roads, ports, utilities and infrastructures needed by a community of people with diverse ethnicity in a period rife with racism and prone to ethnic violence. Threatened by hostile neighboring states and left on their own without land and natural resources to sustain its population, the “pioneers with LKY at the helm” demonstrated a leadership made of iron and steel with the heart to embrace everyone and the intellect to discern friends from foes and steady hands to steer the nation along a safe path among the many dangerous roads ahead. It was a time when leading meant also living dangerously. Yet, they persevered. And Dr. Thai Ker was one of them.
Among the key successes for Singapore in its founding was the creation of the Housing and Development Board (HDB) and the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). Both under the Ministry of National Development, these offices in Tanjong Pagar are my favorite places to visit in all of my travels in that country. Entrusted by LKY, Dr. Thai Ker was the brain and the hands behind the establishment of these vital institutions that built Singapore from a poor marshland into one of the best cities in the world. Soft-spoken and humble as he was, he would be the first to say that it was not his sole doing but rather a united effort and the work of all Singaporeans. But everyone will agree it was Dr. Thai Ker who led and made it all happen.
I had the honor of having interacted with Dr. Thai Ker when he visited me in my office in the Bonifacio Global City during my term as BCDA president and CEO. He was excited to hear about our plan to build a smart and green metropolis in the idle lands of the former Clark Air Base. I used to bring the core BCDA team and toured them in the URA office to understand the vision and the work needed to create a master plan and how to execute it over the years. For my colleagues to understand the theory, I required them to do “platoon runs” in the early mornings to feel how the physical space of the city impacts human behavior and interaction. I am a staunch believer in learning by doing. Hence, personal experience is indispensable in understanding the concepts and principles in urban planning and design. Aesthetic beauty is important but it is not the driver of human-centered urban designs. These visits had a deep influence and impact on the masterplan for the New Clark City (formerly known as Clark Green City).
Dr. Thai Ker’s visit to BCDA led to more engagements and mentoring. The Temasek Group, through its then-rising leader, Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara, expressed interest in what we were doing and we had a number of meetings both in Manila and in Singapore. Through the support of then-ambassador Kok Li Peng, the Temasek Foundation and BCDA entered into a technical agreement where the Temasek Foundation generously granted 100 scholarship grants to Filipino leaders engaged in urban planning. Through this scholarship, the BCDA was able to send 50 of its senior and mid-level executives as well as 50 local government leaders such as mayors and planners in Central Luzon and some officials from the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA). These executives, including the current BCDA president and CEO, Jake Bingcang, studied under the city planning and governance program created by the Nanyang Technological University (NTU). The graduates of this program are now the driving force in their respective cities, towns and agencies to embrace smart and green city planning and development. Since then, the movement for smart and green cities in the Philippines has gained traction among our government and business leaders. Aside from the founding of the New Clark City, this development of Filipino human capital is one of the BCDA legacies I am quite proud of.
My experience and work, both as a legal professional and a trained urban planner, led me to places around the world to promote and advocate smart and green city planning. Even after my term in BCDA, Temasek continued to engage with me whenever they would need insights from the Philippines. I have since then become active in the Center for Liveable Cities led by another exemplary master planner and fellow Harvard alum, Limin Hee. I witnessed the birth and transformation of the Surbana Jurong master-planning firm from the merger of Surbana International Consultants and Jurong Town Corp. (JTC) as the lead master-planning corporation of this nation-state. The Surbana Jurong campus in Cleantech Loop in Jurong embodies the modernity and innovative spirit of Singapore.
The fingerprint and footprint of Dr. Thai Ker are clearly imprinted not only in Singapore but across the world. For those who interacted with this kind, mild-mannered, and gifted master planner, we cannot escape his deep influence. Because more than the technical knowledge that he was so willing to share, Dr. Thai Ker is more than anything a humanist. His love for better cities is driven by his deepest desire to create the spaces that will uphold human dignity and aspirations.
This is a man Singapore has been so blessed to have. And in the Philippines, we also express our gratitude.