When it started life as an independent, separate country in 1965, Singapore's prospects did not look good. Tiny and underdeveloped, it had no natural resources and a population of relatively recent immigrants with little shared history. The country's first prime minister, the late Lee Kuan Yew is credited with transforming it. He called one volume of his memoirs, "From Third World to First".

Why did Singapore become an economic success?

More videos