Effective government means and implies authoritarian government firmly based on the Law and within the time-honoured framework of ancient governance to which we are temperamentally accustomed—no more, no less. We can also learn from the several examples presented. This is addressed to those passionate levers of the Motherland able and willing to think for themselves.

Nobody needs to feel that this is something extraordinary for every corporate venture in the Public as well as the Private Sector is run on authoritarian lines where duties and responsibilities are clearly demarcated. We all want very much a more rigid discipline as the cornerstone. Then, punctuality will become a norm and the other ideal qualities mentioned in Part I would follow.

Therefore, the second example is:

Korea: After liberation and division, South Korea was established in 1948 [the same year as Sri Lanka] as a democracy. Following the Korean War, the South Korean economy grew significantly, transforming the country into a major global economy. This is known as the Miracle on the Han River and the country became one of the Four Asian Tigers.

South Korea is a developed country and a full democracy. It is a High-income OECD member, having the fourth largest economy in Asia and the 15th largest in the world. South Korea is the world leader in innovation among major economies and a leader in technologically advanced goods such as electronics, automobiles, ships, machinery, petrochemicals and robotics, headed by Samsung, LG and Hyundai-Kia. It is a member of the United Nations, WTO, OECD and G-20 major economies. It is also a founding member of APEC and the East Asia Summit. In the 21st century, there has been increased interest in Korean culture throughout the world, also known as the Korean Wave.

Like many democracies, South Korea’s government is divided into three branches: executive, judicial, and legislative. The executive and legislative branches operate primarily at the national level, although various ministries in the executive branch also carry out local functions. Local governments are semi-autonomous, and contain executive and legislative bodies of their own. The judicial branch operates at both the national and local levels. South Korea is a constitutional democracy.

The history of South Korea formally begins with the establishment of South Korea on 15 August 1948 while Syngman Rhee declared the establishment in Seoul on 13 August 1948.

South Korea’s history is marked by discontinuous periods of democratic and autocratic rule. Civilian governments are conventionally numbered from the First Republic of Syngman Rhee to the contemporary Sixth Republic. With the Sixth Republic, the country has gradually stabilized into a liberal democracy.

Since its inception, South Korea has seen substantial development in education, economy, and culture. Since the 1960s, the country has developed from one of Asia’s poorest to one of the world’s wealthiest nations. Education, particularly at the tertiary level, has expanded dramatically. It is one of the "Four Tigers" of rising South Asian states along with Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

Rhee introduced a rigid discipline to reconstruct the country after the devastation of World War II where Korea was a colony of Japan and after the end of the Korean War in 1953 with 15-hour, six-days-a-week work. Rhee sought to modernize the country and make it strong economically and militarily in order to resist aggression from the North. Following the armistice, the South Korean government returned to Seoul on the symbolic date of August 15, 1953. Throughout his rule, Rhee sought to take additional steps to cement his control of government. These began in 1952, when the government was still based in Busan due to the ongoing war. In May of that year, Rhee pushed through constitutional amendments which made the presidency a directly-elected position. To do this, he declared martial law and jailed the members of parliament whom he expected to vote against it. Rhee was subsequently elected by a wide margin.

Every youth was conscripted into the military at age 18 and put through a punishing military training that also included a civilian vocation or course of practical professional training that enabled the country’s corporate sector to employ them overseas from two to six years. This provided valuable experience and expertise to the individual and earned the country millions of dollars in valuable foreign exchange. Outplacement on return was handled by government providing each returnee with a home and workshop in the urban setting or a home and wet-land plus highland in the rural setting—allowing for productive integration into the national socio-economic fabric. Pragmatism, born of trials endured provided the needed impetus.

Korea has gone through the crucible of fire to emerge as an economically strong, independent and modern nation. It is a very good example for us in Sri Lanka.

Our third example is the more familiar Singapore:

Singapore: During the Second World War, the British colony was occupied by the Japanese after the Battle of Singapore, which Winston Churchill called "Britain’s greatest defeat".[9] Singapore reverted to British rule in 1945, immediately after the war. Eighteen years later, in 1963, the City, having achieved independence from Britain, merged with Malaya, Sabah, and Sarawak to form Malaysia. However, the merger proved unsuccessful, and, less than two years later, it seceded from the federation and became an independent republic within the Commonwealth of Nations on August 9, 1965. Singapore was admitted to the United Nations on September 21 of that year.

Since independence, Singapore’s standard of living has risen dramatically. Foreign direct investment and a state-led drive to industrialization based on plans drawn up by the Dutch economist Albert Winsemius have created a modern economy focused on industry, education and urban planning. Singapore is the fifth wealthiest country in the world in terms of GDP (PPP) per capita. In December 2008, the foreign exchange reserves of this small island nation stood at around US$174.2 billion. The Singapore government, with approval from the President, announced in March 2009 that it would tap into her official reserves for the first time ever, and withdraw some S$4.9 billion. The funds were then used as part of the S$20.5 billion resilience package unveiled by Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam on 5 February 2009. As of January 2009, Singapore’s official reserves stands at US$170.3 billion.

In 2009, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Singapore the tenth most expensive city in the world in which to live—the third in Asia, after Tokyo and Osaka. The 2009 Cost of Living survey, by consultancy firm Mercer, has ranked Singapore similarly as the tenth most expensive city for expatriates to live in.

The population of Singapore is approximately 4.86 million. Singapore is highly cosmopolitan and diverse with Chinese people forming an ethnic majority with large populations of Malay, Indian and other people. English, Malay, Tamil, and Chinese are the official languages.

As a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious, and multi-cultural country Singapore is a parliamentary republic, and the Constitution of Singapore establishes representative democracy as the nation’s political system.[16] The People’s Action Party (PAP) dominates the political process and has won control of Parliament in every election since self-government in 1959.

Singapore is a parliamentary democracy with a Westminster system of unicameral parliamentary government representing different constituencies.

The elected Members of Parliament act as a bridge between the community and the Government by ensuring that the concerns of their constituents are heard in the Parliament. The present Parliament has 94 Members of Parliament consisting of 84 elected Members of Parliament, one NCMP and nine Nominated members of Parliament. People’s Action Party (PAP) has been the ruling party in Singapore since self-government was attained. There are several opposition parties in Singapore, the most notable being the Workers’ Party of Singapore, the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) and the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA). The Economist Intelligence Unit describes Singapore as a "hybrid regime" of democratic and authoritarian elements.[35] Freedom House ranks the country as "partly free".[36] General elections are free from irregularities and vote rigging, Singapore has a successful and transparent market economy. Government-linked companies are dominant in various sectors of the local economy, such as media, utilities, and public transport. Singapore has consistently been rated as the least corrupt country in Asia and among the world’s ten most free from corruption by Transparency International.

Although Singapore’s laws are inherited from English and British Indian laws, and includes many elements of English common law, the government has also chosen not to follow some elements of liberal democratic values. There are no jury trials and there are laws restricting the freedom of speech that may breed ill will or cause disharmony within Singapore’s multi-ethnic, mult-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural society. Criminal activity is often punished with heavy penalties including heavy fines or caning and there are laws which allow capital punishment in Singapore for first-degree murder and drug trafficking. The Singapore government argues that Singapore has the sovereign right to determine its own judicial system and impose what it sees as an appropriate punishment, including capital punishment for the most serious crimes.