How did coal miners become businessmen? How did people so divided (the Hakka and Cantonese fought not only in Guangdong province, but in Malaysia) become united? How did Singapore develop so fast from being 'one of the worst slums in Asia' (British report from the 40's) to one of the most developed countries in the world? Why have the other SE Asian communities and states not progressed as fast, despite having liberal economic policies all this time?
Singapore developed so fast because of its government. Singapore is basically the hub by which all trade in the region can pass through due to its natural deep-water ports that allow heavy shipping in the area. Historically you can see that ancient Malays used the area as a trading post due to its ideal location.
Singapore in the 1940s was a horrible place due to the insane levels of immigration (100 thousand or more a year iirc) which pushed the city to the limits creating massive slums). In the 1960s the PAP came to power and declined a merge with Malaysia due to economic and social differences (Singapore is predominately Chinese while Malaysia is Malay).
The PAP understood how crucial trade was to the continued growth and survival of Singapore and geared their social policies to better prepare its citizens for an international future. In doing so they transitioned to a very socialist society that was based on capitalism. Whilst being very open to businesses setting up show as well as investments, they have a huge control of the social sphere i.e. heavy taxes on alchohol, gambling prohibition (the new resorts are an exception) and the regulation of beggars on the streets.
The PAP also commissioned apartment complexes which improved the standard of living as well as regulating food (the reason why there are so many foodcourts in proximity of each other while being dirt cheap). In doing this they decentralized the city center while at the same time developing an extremely efficient transport system to reduce cars on the roads.
Economic policy was also implemented in a way that made Singapore more competitive in global trade i.e. degrading their currency to make it more advantageous for foreign investors.
In the 1960s it can be seen that around 40% of the worlds petroleum passed through Singapore en-route to the rest of the world. This and other factors made Singapore heavily emphasize mechanical schools so that students can get jobs in the newly created Petroleum enrichment facilities.
The reason why such control over the economy is feasible is due to the political stability of the nation. The PAP has never once lost power and of the 3 presidents, 2 are father and son. So along with political stability there is also a long vision by which the Singaporean government sees and plans the future of Singapore.
EDIT: Sources:
Economic Development in China, India and East Asia. Published by Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012. Author: Kartik C. Roy, Hans C Blomqvist; Cal Clark
The History of Singapore: Jean Abshire, 2011. Publisher: Santa Barbara
Perhaps an interesting topic you can investigate and research would be the Peranakans in South-East Asia. They are also commonly known as Straits Chinese. Unlike the majority of the Chinese population, they migrated there in the 1600s (someone please correct me if I'm wrong). They were known to be the party that helped the Chinese negotiate business with the Malays, Chinese and the British and British with the Malays. This is because the Peranakans married the indigenous population (Malays and Indonesians) and adopted some of the Malay culture whilst retaining their Chinese culture. Thus, they were well prepared for negotiations, as they could speak Chinese, Malay and in the future, I believe they strived to learn English too.
Edit: This helped them be a very powerful force in SEA, as they managed businesses (from what I have gathered)