My sister and her retired husband have benefited from forms of support that would be unimaginable in many countries. Assistance with household tasks, social support, and allied health services can help older people and people with disabilities remain at home and maintain a degree of independence.
Australia's aged-care system formally includes services such as social work and physiotherapy among the forms of support that can be provided in home and community settings.
Australia's relatively high wages are another part of this social model. As of July 2026, the national minimum wage is A$26.44 an hour, or A$1,004.90 for a 38-hour week,
Singapore: Education, merit, and leadership
Singapore provides another fascinating example.
I spent a couple of weeks there and was struck by what highly educated, pragmatic, and institutionally minded leadership can accomplish when it is combined with administrative competence and a long-term vision.
I visited a school whose principal had become something of a legendary figure. He had grown up poor and had been supported by teachers from religious communities different from his own. His life story was therefore a personal testament to the possibilities of education and merit.
He also played an important role in promoting the recognition of South Asian languages in Singapore's educational system.
Singapore's mother-tongue policy is particularly interesting in this respect. Alongside the country's four official mother tongues -- English, Mandarin Chinese, Malay, and Tamil -- students who meet the relevant criteria can study non-Tamil Indian languages, including Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu.
The principal told me about an encounter he had with Lee Kuan Yew. He explained that he had argued for the importance of allowing children to maintain a connection with their mother tongue. Lee understood the argument and gave his support.
The principal proudly showed me a copy of the letter, now framed and displayed on the wall of his office.
The episode stayed with me because it illustrated something larger than language policy. A country's development is not simply a matter of GDP, technology, or infrastructure. It is also about whether its leaders understand the importance of education, culture, language, and human dignity.
What travel teaches us
Travel in the global age may no longer give us the same sense of discovering an unknown world that it once did.
Before the internet, arriving in a distant country could mean entering a world about which we knew very little. Today, Google, YouTube, social media, and satellite television have brought much of the world into our living rooms.
But travel has not become irrelevant. Quite the opposite.
Travel allows us to test what we think we know against what actually exists. It introduces us to people whose lives cannot be reduced to statistics.
It allows us to see institutions at work rather than merely read about them. And occasionally, it offers an insight that is difficult to obtain from books or screens.
In Zadar, the sea itself became an orchestra.
In Croatia, I saw how a small country takes education and sport seriously.
Among Bangladeshi migrants, I was reminded of the distance that can exist between a country's citizens and the people who govern them.
In Australia, I saw how democratic institutions and a welfare state can become part of everyday life.
And in Singapore, I was reminded of the transformative possibilities of education and leadership.
Perhaps, then, the real purpose of travel is not to see places. It is to see societies.
The importance of leadership
These experiences have left me with one broader thought.
Countries do not develop simply because they possess natural resources, favourable geography, or large populations.
Nor does economic growth automatically produce a just, prosperous, or cohesive society.
Institutions have to be built, maintained, and protected. Schools must function. Public officials must do their jobs. Governments must think beyond the next election. And leaders must understand that public office is a responsibility, not a private entitlement.
Education matters enormously because educated leaders are more likely to understand the complexity of modern societies, appreciate evidence, learn from experience, and recognize the importance of institutions.
But education by itself is not enough. An educated person without integrity can become more dangerous, not less.
Knowledge must be accompanied by honesty, competence, humility, and a commitment to the public good.
The examples I encountered on the road -- from Croatia to Australia to Singapore -- are obviously very different, and none should be romanticized. Every society has its contradictions, inequalities, and failures.
Yet they illustrate a common principle: Development depends not only on resources and policies but on the quality of institutions and the people entrusted with them.
A country needs leaders who are educated enough to understand the world, honest enough to resist corruption, competent enough to turn ideas into institutions, and humble enough to listen to ordinary citizens.
Perhaps that is the most important lesson of travel.
The distance between countries is no longer very great. We can cross it in hours.
But the distance between good governance and bad governance, between competent leadership and incompetence, between public service and self-service, can determine the fate of an entire generation.
And that distance is not measured in kilometres.
Habibul Haque Khondker is a sociologist and columnist.