If you can recall last year (through the thick sentimental fog that is SG50), the rhetoric that Singapore was a small fishing village in 1965 gets thrown around a lot.
Though untrue, it does fit better in an engineered narrative designed to invoke stronger feelings of patriotism. The "50 years ago, Singapore was just a fishing village until Lee Kuan Yew liberated the nation" spiel sounds inspiring of course, and the impression may have stuck — especially among young Singaporeans who don't know better.