Conversely the USA has a much higher percentage of its population sitting in prison. I suspect many of those people would prefer a caning over the loss of many productive years of their life.
Same. I'm not sure whether capital punishment should still be a thing, but anyone given a life sentence should have the option to choose death instead. Life in a supermax prison is deeply inhumane.
I see no downsides.
"if there is a freak result [and the opposition wins], within two or three years, the army would have to come in and stop it” http://leewatch.info/quotes/
That date is not far off: Singapore's next general election must be held by January 2017, and the opposition is all but guaranteed to take a sizable portion of seats. Thanks to Singapore's first-past-the-post politics, if they grow from the current 40% to tip over 50%, they'll suddenly have an unassailable majority... and what then?
I'll give the final word to Lee's last standing arch-enemy, Chee Soon Juan:
“Why is he still so afraid? I honestly think that through the years he has accumulated enough skeletons in his closet that he knows that when he is gone, his son [Lee Hsien Loong, the current Prime Minister] and the generations after him will have a price to pay. If we had parliamentary debates where the opposition could pry and ask questions, I think he is actually afraid of something like that. ...
Mr Lee Kuan Yew fights all his demons within himself to try to shore up his reputation. In the process, however, he destroys the very legacy that he so desperately desires to establish.”
– Chee Soon Juan, Secretary-General of the Singapore Democratic Party
In addition, the idea that it was some sort of backwater place before LKY is something of a myth, along with the "no natural advantage" canard. Its strong economy grew in large part due to its strategically positioned port, which has existed since 1819. Can't really take credit for that.
That isn't to say that the country couldn't have been run into the ground in the 1960s, but they had a far larger head start than the ruling party likes to admit.
Interestingly, probably one of their most successful economic policies is one that is stridently ignored by the rest of the world:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_housing_in_Singapore
San Francisco in particular could afford to take a leaf out of this book.
There are times when you unfortunately will get stuck with down votes - but most times, there will be plenty of people who will read your comment even if it's grayed out - and then vote it up.
Here are a few thoughts:
- your understanding of the Lees in Singapore have no historical context. You cannot view his leadership in a vacuum. You cannot look at Singapore politics and say it needs a dash of 'Western liberalism & democracy' and proclaim Chee Soon Juan one of its administrators. LKY, and the Singapore of his time, was a product of the times. There is no other place like it.
- No other place like it: that at the point of independence, we could have become "either a Palestine or a Switzerland". He was prescient on that. Few other small states are sandwiched between two giants (India and China), few other small states are at the best spot of an important shipping route, and in that sense he — and Singapore — had a leg up
- The most successful opposition party in Singapore is the Worker's Party, a party which is nearly as old as the ruling party. They are just as organized, if not more, and they are gaining momentum and strength. Like Lee's party, they have no overwhelming 'ideology', it is about 'what works for Singapore'. Voters like that. Voters don't like SDP, and they don't like Chee. Singapore voters don't trust loose cannons, and I as someone who has been in the 'opposition' most of my life would rather vote for the PAP if it presented a better candidate than the opposition, which is usually the case.
- Odds are stacked against the opposition, that is true; but the odds are lowered now, Lee Hsien Loong is not his father and the media is not nearly as powerful now. I would say that other than the Worker's Party, every single opposition candidate and party is unelectable. God help us if they do. Personality cults and horrible politics. No ability to execute. Voters will not give them the benefit of the doubt; we do not see the 'ability to govern' in them, and that counts more than 'what party one is from'
- Throughout the land there is a profound sense of mourning. Even among the ones who have spent their lives on the fringes of Lee's Singapore. He was a lion, and Singapore will not be the same without him.
- It will not descend into chaos, it will not swing the popular vote for the opposition. My read is that the PAP will still be in majority power for then next two elections.
- In the meantime, the work that has to be done is about how we ensure that we are ready for a post-PAP future. The reality of post-LKY is upon us today, and that changes things. Rapid destruction of our institutions isn't the answer. The building of our capacity with our people, institutions and processes may be.
- In many ways, we are more ready than the world thinks for that future
- You'd think that well-educated well-travelled Singaporeans who have the world at their feet (can live and travel and work anywhere, pretty much) would immediately switch allegiances and vote in 'democratic figureheads'. We will not.
- That doesn't come from conservatism. It comes from a practical belief that these figureheads, like Chee, will be the end of Singapore as we know it — and that's not from believing the propaganda of the state. It comes from knowing that the Singapore model works, but needs tweaking; and that the situation you have described above isn't going to end well.
- After working on the ground for the opposition in the last elections, I believe Singapore voters are rational and no longer afraid.
- The odds are good, but the goods are odd. That's the Singaporean opposition right now.
[Source: I'm Singaporean]
Somehow, LKY planted all his family members in powerful roles of the government and the government run companies.
Government linked corporations (GLC) controll 60 percent of the singapore Economy. Tamasek holdings is one such. The CEO of Tamasek is the wife of the current prime minister, who is the son of LKY.
Another benevolent dictator in the making? Maybe, the elections can tell.
My friend's brother went to Singapore from India as an electrician in 2010. He was making S$550 per month, and was living in a shack somewhere in Singapore. Cheap labor imported from Malaysia, Indian, China, Thai, Burma, Phils help the government linked companies make profits. And this explains why Singapore does not have minimum wage.
Singapore was a backwater country with no natural resources when he came to power. It's since evolved into one of the primary economic hubs in Asia, with a higher per-capita GDP than her former colonizers, Great Britain.
To transform a country in such short a time is nothing short of remarkable.
"Every time we look back on this moment when we signed this agreement which severed Singapore from Malaysia, it will be a moment of anguish. For me it is a moment of anguish because all my life ... you see, the whole of my adult life ... I have believed in merger and the unity of these two territories. You know that we, as a people are connected by geography, economics, by ties of kinship..."
Quote taken from transcript of a press conference given by LKY on August 9th, 1965 [1]
[1] http://web.archive.org/web/20140809182331/http://www.nas.gov...
Circa 2001 their GDP per capita was 1/3 lower than Japan, and about 1/5 lower than Hong Kong. They suffered a decade of stagnation from the early 1990s until 2003. They've been on a tear ever since, with GDP per capita now 45% higher than Japan and Hong Kong. Quite a jump in just 13 or 14 years.
Likely within another few years they'll pass Malaysia in GDP, with Malaysia having six times the population.
Also, Singapore is very much like Switzerland: they have to import many/most of their workers, except whereas Switzerland focuses on the high end, they focus on both (importing Chinese bus drivers and American programmers). Its a weird mix that isn't sustainable (also, they should stop using cheap construction for everything, concrete shouldn't be used so much in a modern city!).
We have a good education system, and I would not trade our healthcare system for what you're likely used to; as a gay Singaporean, I have no curtailing of my social freedoms. I cannot marry or adopt legally yet, but that's the conversation that we're soon going to have (and which the "West" has only just recently gotten). The civil service is good. More can be done for the low income, and that's happening at the moment. The roads are clean and everything gets fixed. I walk around the city at any time of day and night with no fear, in any neighbourhood. Which ways are up for debate?
D'oh! I've been wondering how Singapore's low-taxing government accumulated all the capital that it invested, and that answer is so obvious: they took it from people somewhere else. Would you mind pointing me to a book that fills in the details?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VexrmTacOAA
Once in awhile, I watch that footage of Meet the Press to remind myself what a sharp political leader he was. RIP the benevolent dictator.
Yes Singapore has it's own set of societal problems, but I'd rather have that than the numerous problems that is deeply entrenched in Philippine society nowadays.
Rest in peace Mr LKY. Your accomplishments are legendary.
Bribery as a matter of course for accomplishing mandated tasks is its own kind of servitude.
Three of Four Asian Tigers (Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea) are more democratic/free and equal in prosperity comparing with Singapore.
IMHO, a great strategic port and super effective government are probably key reasons that power the its great achievements. I hope people don't consider quasi-dictatorship style of governing the cause of economic miracle.
China did this too, later.
