In Singapore you turn on a light switch by flipping it down. We've lived in Manila for a long time, but have seen very little of the rest of Asia. So this trip was a good insight into how diverse a continent Asia really is.

Singapore is definitely not like the Philippines. We were struck by the differences in the way politicians relate to their constituents. While we were there they were announcing an increase in the GST. The prime minister invited representatives from different lifestyles to talk with him on a TV show about the changes.

There was an air of confidence and openness. I have lived in the Philippines for a long time, but I've never heard politicians here speak with such genuine concern for the poorer of their constituents. It's what Mencius calls an 'unbearing heart.'

The current prime minister's father, Lee Kuan Yew, who was prime minister from 1965 to 1990, writes in his memiors about feeling downhearted, driving past a school as children came streaming out, 'wondering how to find jobs for them when they left school.'

Small wonder that he was able almost single handedly to bring his country from the third world to the first in such a short span of time.