China's economic model has been extraordinarily successful. But the Asian giant didn't create it out of thin air. It had a role model. A generation before China began to take off, another smaller country - also dominated by an ethnic Chinese populace - demonstrated how rapid growth could be combined with political stability. I'm talking, of course, about Singapore. Last week, Singapore demonstrated yet again that it might well have the answer to some of China's current problems. The Asian island city-state said its economy grew at an annualized rate of 32% in the first quarter - and then revalued its currency in order to prevent the Singapore economy from overheating. As investors, we need to look at the mentor, as well as at the pupil. To see what China has learned from its much smaller mentor, please read on ...