Lee Kuan Yew pretty explicitly saw multiculturalism as a problem to be managed, rather than something to be celebrated. That's probably why they have been relatively successful, compared to the UK at least, but would probably be even more successful if they were near-monocultural, as Lee suggested on some occasions.
Although, to be fair, in that counterfactual then Singapore may have worse relations with its neighbours, and become more dependent on China, which would bring its own challenges. So perhaps it all worked out quite well.
The UK's problems seem to be mainly self-inflicted, however. Though one could argue at some level multiculturalism here was at some level (perhaps subconscious) not really about making the country richer as a whole, but rather strengthening the power of the elite relative to the public and labour force.
Lee Kuan Yew pretty explicitly saw multiculturalism as a problem to be managed, rather than something to be celebrated. That's probably why they have been relatively successful, compared to the UK at least, but would probably be even more successful if they were near-monocultural, as Lee suggested on some occasions.
Although, to be fair, in that counterfactual then Singapore may have worse relations with its neighbours, and become more dependent on China, which would bring its own challenges. So perhaps it all worked out quite well.
The UK's problems seem to be mainly self-inflicted, however. Though one could argue at some level multiculturalism here was at some level (perhaps subconscious) not really about making the country richer as a whole, but rather strengthening the power of the elite relative to the public and labour force.