Confucianism and Singapore

It is interesting to see how others view Singapore (pictured - isn't the blue sky kind of artificial?).

Recently I caught a documentary about Confucianism on the KBS overseas channel. The documentary tried to highlight how Confucianism is manifested in modern Asian societies. Apart from Korea, the documentary also featured Japan, Vietnam, China and Singapore.

In the case of Singapore, two examples were raised to highlight how Singapore "practices" Confucianism.

The first is the Singapore government's policy of offering scholarships to mainly Southeast Asian students to come and study in the island-state.

The second is how Singapore is used as a medical hub by others in the region.

The two examples, according to the documentary, highlighted Singapore's philosophy of giving something useful to its regional neighbors, so that "my neighbors will have a stake in my survival", and how one's success should be used in a way that those around it could also enjoy the benefits.

All in line with the Confucian philosophy, apparently.

But did Singapore policymakers have these Confucian principles in mind when they came up with these policies? I think not. To Singapore, the policies are mainly economic and long term imperatives of a small island-nation constrained by size, lack of resources and the need to keep all options open.