for 31 years. During his tenure, Singapore in just a few decades has transformed from a relatively underdeveloped and impoverished agrarian society into Asia's most developed nation and one of the wealthiest, as a center of aviation, international banking, business, tourism and shipping. Subsequently, Singapore has also been dubbed as one of the Four Asian Tigers and continues to experience stable growth, with a higher GDP per capita far above the other Asian Tigers of Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan, as well as the Asia-Pacific in general, including Japan. This has led many Singaporeans to look upon favourably on Lee and his legacy, which in turn tends to garner support for the party which he had founded even long after he had stepped down. When Lee died in 2015, the general elections held later that year gave the PAP almost 70% of the popular vote and 83 out of 89 parliamentary seats, a landslide. Cultural policy The country's first pre-tertiary arts school, School of the Arts, stands along the country's prominent Orchard Road. The school aims to provide an environment for nurturing young artists aged between 13 and 18 years. There has been much public rhetoric about liberalisation and its association with the development of a creative economy in Singapore. The response from artists, academics, public intellectuals, and civil society activists has ranged from strongly optimistic to deeply pessimistic, as reflected in the chapters written for edited book Renaissance Singapore: Economy, Culture, and Politics. The difference between what is "culture" and what makes up "the arts" has been a matter of some debate in Singapore. Meritocracy "The system of meritocracy in Singapore ensures that the best and brightest, regardless of race, religion and socio-economic background, are encouraged to develop to their fullest potential. Everyone has access to education, which equips them with skills and knowledge to earn a better living." Indeed, the Education in Singapore ensures that primary education is compulsory for all children of age 7 to 16. Parents have to apply for exemptions from the Ministry of Education in Singapore to excuse their children under this compulsory rule with valid reasonings. Singapore's education system has been described as "world-leading". According to PISA, an influential worldwide study on educational systems, Singapore has the highest performance in international education and tops in global rankings. In January 2020, Singapore students made up half of the perfect scorers in the IB