article_snippet: (CNN)The death of the founding father of Singapore last Monday is an appropriate occasion to reflect on nation building.
article_snippet: As it prepares to mark it 50th anniversary as a nation, Singapore is today an ultra-modern metropolis of almost six million people with higher per capita GDP than the United States, according to the World Bank.
article_snippet: Some say Singapore's story is sui generis:
article_snippet: But, Lee Kuan Yew asked, how many people from Singapore sought to leave it for the Philippines?
article_snippet: Many people in the Philippines, Lee Kuan Yew noted, wanted to move to Singapore.