The Chinese have always had a good impression of Singapore and held the republic in high regard - ever since the late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping proposed the idea of learning from Singapore's experience during his whirlwind tour of south China in 1992.

　　Chinese officials have been coming to Singapore on learning trips in droves. Ordinary Chinese are also fascinated by Singapore as a tourist spot.

　　There have been numerous publications that make observations or heap praises on Singapore penned by some of the visitors. Some Chinese cities have even looked to Singapore as a model and embarked on a process of “cloning”. In the eyes of many Chinese, Singapore is a near-perfect Garden City.

　　But with deeper insights into Singapore and more frequent exchange programmes between officials of the two sides, something has changed - Singapore has begun to lose its attraction to bigger Chinese cities.

　　The Economic Observer, a newspaper in China, recently published an article comparing developments of the north-eastern coastal city of Dalian and the eastern coastal city of Qingdao.

　　Dalian is one of the early special zones that were opened to foreign investment.

　　It is a city that combines Hong Kong's economic model, European-style architecture and Singapore's expertise in city planning programmes. Qingdao began copying Dalian's growth strategies as early as seven years ago. Its economy has now taken off and its total economic output has surpassed Dalian.

　　Interestingly, while tapping Dalian's experience, Qingdao has begun to raise doubts about Dalian's “model” - Singapore. A Qingdao official, for instance, has said that the Confucian values Dalian has been learning from Singapore have become irrelevant in the information age. Besides, the authoritative style of government in both Dalian and Singapore which bears the imprint of a strong leader, is also deemed unsuitable. According to the official, Singapore's set of uniform values is not compatible with Qingdao's business culture.

　　At different stages of competition between Dalian and Qingdao, there have been subtle changes in the role and image of Singapore as a growth model. To many Chinese cities, the Singapore model has become increasingly less attractive.

　　The mild criticisms of Singapore by Guangzhou mayor Lin Shusen some months ago are still fresh in my mind. In an interview with China Central Television, he made an unusual comment on Singapore's policy on city planning. “Singapore is basically a man-made city with a man-made environment,” he said. He also added that Guangzhou would not model its city management on Singapore because “man-made cities are bound to degenerate after some years”.

　　Dissenting views on Singapore's political system have also been expressed. “Du Shu”, a Beijing magazine which has considerable influence over the intellectuals, has carried a critical three-part commentary on Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew and Singapore's political model.

　　The sudden change in attitude by some Chinese cities - from “an overwhelming interest to learn” to “open criticisms” - has taken many by surprise. Some Singaporeans even find it hard to accept. Yet, looking at the transformation of China since the policy of reform and opening, the change seems inevitable.

　　During these years when Singapore is hailed as a model, the changes that have taken place in China are nothing but phenomenal. While learning from Singapore's success story, China has also cast its net wider to include the United States, Japan, European nations as countries which offer valuable experience to shorten the learning curve. For China, to draw as many useful lessons from as many countries as possible is, of course, far better than to rely on the Singapore model alone. As China benefits from more international experience and exposure, it will naturally see beyond the Singapore experience.

　　Ironically, what China sees as lacking in Singapore's example of perfectionism is a consequence of its own rapid development. This is not to suggest that Singapore has stagnated, but China is simply growing so fast that it has changed its view of the outside world. About six months ago, I wrote to suggest that Singapore should give some thought to developing a subject on “China studies”. What I've just discussed is an example that can come under it.

　　This reconsideration of Singapore as a model for growth is for the time being confined to major and medium-sized Chinese cities. But when Shanghai outshines well-established cities like Hong Kong, Taipei and even Singapore, and when the Singapore “brand name” loses its lure to the more developed areas in China, Singaporeans will have to start thinking: apart from the easy availability of funds, what measures are needed to maintain Singapore's unique charm and advantage?

　　(The writer is a Senior Sub-editor of Lianhe Zaobao.Translated by Yap Gee Poh.)

　　自从中国元老邓小平1992年南巡时提出向新加坡学习以来，新加坡一直在中国人心目中享有很高的地位和极佳的国家形象。

大连港。

　　政府官员不断前来学习访问，民间访客流连忘返。中国访客回国后，所出版的对这座花园城市的考察著作或赞美之辞，更是多不胜数。不少城市更以新加坡为发展楷模，进行“克隆”。在不少中国人的眼中，新加坡已成为几近完美的国家。

　　随着中国对新加坡了解的日益加深，人员交流的日益频密，一个值得人们关注的现象出现了。在中国一些大中城市眼中，新加坡的光环似乎正出现褪色的趋向。

　　中国《经济观察报》最近刊登一篇文章，比较大连和青岛这两座城市的发展。大连是中国早期开放的特区之一，其功能定位学香港、建筑风格学欧洲、城市管理学新加坡。早在7年前，青岛就向大连学习，克隆其发展战略。近年来迅速崛起，经济总量已超越大连。

　　颇具玩味意义的是，青岛在向大连再学习的过程中，开始质疑大连的“老师”新加坡。该市一位政府官员就认为，大连学习的新加坡儒家价值观在信息时代已经过时。由新加坡而大连，其所带有的深刻个人印痕的权威主义——如新加坡的整齐划一的价值观，并不适用于青岛的商业文明。

　　在这两个城市竞争的不同阶段，新加坡的角色和形象已前后迥异。新加坡在中国大中城市发展中航标的地位，已悄悄地处在改变的轨道之中。

　　广州市长林树森几个月前对新加坡的微词言犹在耳。他在中央电视台的访谈节目中，罕见地对新加坡的城市规划作出尖锐批评，认为“新加坡太过新加坡了，基本上都是人工环境”。广州不会以新加坡作为城市战略规划的仿效模式，因为“人工打造出来的城市几年后势必老化”。

　　对于新加坡的政治模式，中国也开始出现另一种声音。在知识界影响甚大的北京《读书》杂志，今年以来用连续三期的篇幅，刊载《成者王侯》的评论文章，对李光耀和新加坡的政治制度提出批评。

　　由“蜂涌而至的学习访问”到“不留情面的批评”，中国一些城市的突然转弯，让人颇觉意外，更让一些新加坡人难以接受。但纵观中国开放的格局演变，这一转变似乎又具必然因素。

　　新加坡被视为中国学习对象以来的这些年，中国发生的一切可以用“巨变”来形容。在学习新加坡的同时，中国也瞄上了美国、日本、欧洲等学习对象。对中国而言，“拿来主义”是博采众长，不会完全照搬新加坡的模式，见多识广之后，自然是水涨船高。

　　新加坡完美主义形象的“缺角”，正成为中国开放发展的见证。这并非因为新加坡停滞不前，而是中国发展太快，改变了对外部世界的看法。笔者曾在半年前提出新加坡应重视发展“中国学”，此亦应属其中范畴。

　　虽然重新勾勒新加坡的形象还只是集中在中国一些大中城市，但当上海的锋芒开始超越香港、台北甚至新加坡等亚太城市时，当新加坡“商标”对中国一些先进地区的吸引力逐渐下降时，人们就需要深思，除了资金之外，怎么样来继续保持岛国的独特魅力和优势？

　　（作者是《联合早报》高级新闻编辑）

《联合早报》

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