Cause or Effect?

i know this has been posted on Mr Brown show for some time already.
but i am posting this here again, i think its very thought provoking.

i am not claiming Taiwan is better than Singapore or vice versa. i think that's not the point here, nor were the commentators talking about that in the clip too. the whole thesis really is, do we care more about the cause or the effect?

i think it would be hard to argue that singapore is a worse place to live in than taiwan. our infrastructure, tax, yada yada, are all superior to taiwan, whatever measures one chooses. but how was this achieved?

the commentators mentioned a very poignant point. much of what singapore achieved was due to superior and absolute leadership. once this leadership passes on, can singapore maintain its achievements?