Exemplary state, or...?

[airiefairie.livejournal.com]

We all know about the so called Four Asian Tigers. Fast, dynamic and open economies that have stunned the world with the speed and quality of their development. Singapore is maybe most often cited as the brightest pearl in the Asian crown. In just a generation it made a giant leap from a developing country to an industrialised economy. Like springing from a fairy tale, the previously semi-Medieval island nation was transformed literally within a few years. Its rulers turned it into a highly effective and transparent market economy, one that has stood comfotably even at the times of global economic crisis.

The Singaporean government is famed for its prudence, its honesty and incorruptibility. Various analysts constantly place Singapore in the top 10 in various positive rankings: least corruption, best investment climate, most stable financial system, most competitive economy, highest GDP per capita and income per capita. It seems the Confucian values, the strict laws and strict control, the almost zero corruption and maximum transparency of the economy has given birth to a prosperous society, which enjoys one of the lowest crime levels in the world.

Awesome!, you would say. I would love to live there! But... not so fast. Because all of the above comes at a price.

There are 5 million people living in Singapore. Mostly Chinese, who are famous for their discipline. Lee Kuan Yew had ruled the country between 1959 and 1990. He practically had unlimited power, which allowed him to create a state very similar to the Orwellian model. The island location of Singapore was also helpful in this respect.

Singapore consists of three zones: tourist, economic and accommodation zone. Each of them is clearly separated from the rest with a border, marked by a 5 km wide stretch of grass.

How does Singapore achieve its remarkable level of order? Well, any transgressions are severely punished. A $500 fine for spitting on the street. $500 for smoking at a public place. $500 for littering on the street, even if it's just a small paper. Even $500 for leaving a few drops of water at the bottom of the plates under the flower pots after watering the flowers - because it spreads mosquittos!

The number of cars on the Singapore streets is carefully controlled. In order to buy a car, first you would need to buy a car permit (and it only lasts for 10 years, then has to be renewed and paid again). The permit costs a few tens of thousands of dollars. Then you buy the car itself. The tax on a new car is 41% on top of its value. Then you pay a registration tax, 140% of its value. In the end, the purchase of a simple Toyota Corolla would cost minimum $100,000. As wealthy as the Singaporean citizens are overall, that is still a lot of money. And then, there is a certain quota of cars that could be driven on the streets of Singapore.

Further, if your dog barks at night, you have to cut his vocal cords. The procedure is called "debarking". Even some cats are "declawed".

Every car is supplied with an automatic horn, which blows your ears off whenever you exceed the 80kmh speed limit.

It is forbidden to travel alone in your car after 6 pm. You have to carpool with at least one colleague or more, when coming back home from work. If you are caught driving alone? You guessed right! A $500 fine!

Cars in Singapore are supplied with GPS tracking devices, so the police could follow their movement on their screens. If you have walked home, you have to inform the janitor about your surname. And there is always a janitor at every residence building. So your whereabouts are known most of the time. Besides, the city-state is flooded with CCTVs.

But Singapore is a democratic country. No, really it is. People are free to vote for whoever they want. If we disregard that there have been concerns and a serious debate about the fact that, as it turns out, in order to vote you might have to identify yourself openly on the ballot. Let's hope you will vote for the "right" person, then.

What about the more serious crimes? Theft, burglary, violence, drug trafficking and bribery are all punishable by death. No, not the syringe, or the electric chair, or the shooting squad. Death by hanging, like in the good old times. All manifestations of ethnic hatred are punished, even when it is done on the Internet. And there are plenty of Internet inspectors who lurk around the blogs and forums. By the way, these rules apply to foreign tourists as well. There have been 400 effective death penalties between 1991-2004, which is among the highest rates per capita in the world. But the crime rates are among the lowest, of course.

The press is censored. It is completely forbidden to report about sex or politics in the media.

Lee Kuan Yew also took measures for making his minions citizens smarter. His method? He stimulated the "wise choosing of the right life partner", which practically is a form of eugenics. Men who married women with a high education were rewarded. Women without high education who had two children or more, would be fined. Those of lower education were being "stimulated" to undergo sterilisation - with generous financial stimulae of course. There is the stick, but then there is the carrot as well.

And what is considered an "acceptable" family size? Two kids, no more. That's why the police would regularly knock at people's doors, especially in families with two children, and remind the parents of the necessity for using contraception and taking the pill.

Perhaps this is not exactly how Orwell described his dystopian society, and maybe some would see the awesome utopian signs in Singapore, stating that every good thing comes at a steep price, and peace and prosperity is not for free. Only the cheese in the mouse trap is for free. Anyway. So how would you like living in a place like Singapore?

Comments

[paft.livejournal.com]

My God. I had no idea it was that bad.

Thanks for posting this.

[kayjayuu.livejournal.com]

Coming soon to a California near you!

[paft.livejournal.com]

What upcoming legislation in California do you imagine leading to this?

[ddstory.livejournal.com]

I'd've already violated public order 5 times by the time I finished reading this post. I'd be caned (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caning_in_Singapore) on the afternoon of my first day in Singapore! No thanks!

[airiefairie.livejournal.com]

You are right. I can name 5 ways you could violate public order before I have taken a breath!

[ddstory.livejournal.com]

An open book. That's what I am to you!

Seriously... STOCKINGS!?

[airiefairie.livejournal.com]

I know! The horror!

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

I hope popcorn munching while chatting is not punished by flogging.

[abomvubuso.livejournal.com]

Btw Lee Kuan Yew has practically ruled the country up till last year, when he officially resigned from his post of Mentor Minister, which was preceded by Senior Minister, which he occupied after the 90s. Now he's too old to continue being the Vetinari of the Singaporean Ankh-Morpork, but he might have found a successor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Hsien_Loong).

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

His son. How predictable.

[airiefairie.livejournal.com]

He must have married the "right" woman who has given him a son as brilliant as him... At least that is what his eugenics policies have taught him. Or was it the other way around?

[peristaltor.livejournal.com]

You might have mentioned the roads (http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.11/singapore.html). I could live with their traffic control system (provided I could dump the car GPS).

But no, I probably couldn't live there. . . for very long.

[ddstory.livejournal.com]

I'm shocked that they haven't introduced the skymobile there yet.



Use the 3rd dimension!

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

And look, they still have some empty spaces on their island!



There was an old sci fi book written somewhere in the 70s which predicted that at the population growth rate they were having back then, Earth would be so densely populated by 2000 that people would be standing on top of each other.

That didn't happen. But if ever does, Singapore must be the first place where it will.

[rimpala.livejournal.com]

Ah Singapore

I'd be too much of a hooligan to live in Singapore.

I'd have a loud obnoxious dog and be all like

[dwer.livejournal.com]

wow.

[harry-beast.livejournal.com]

Many of the example of downside of Singapore's social and legal system are troubling. However, others seem reasonable and many are in place or are being contemplated in other parts of the world.

Many countries have laws against littering and smoking in public. No big deal. Spitting is unattractive, unhygienic and increases expenses for cleaning up public spaces. Good riddance! And mosquitoes? North America is seeing a resurgence of cases of the West Nile virus this year. Mosquitoes carry dengue fever and malaria as well. And, their bites hurt and itch. If people have to do their bit to control mosquito populations, it seems a small price to pay.

Now, cars. Controlling the number of cars, making car ownership expensive, enforcing speed limits, and encouraging car pooling ... these are all things that have, to varying degrees, been proposed or implemented in many parts of the world. These measures reduce congestion, air pollution, carbon footprints, consumption of finite fossil fuels, dependence on resources coming from unstable, undemocratic regions of the world, urban sprawl, etc. They promote sound practices of urban planning and the use of public transit. All in all, they could be called progressive policies, and they are probably more effective than voluntary measure implemented elsewhere. Take note, Al Gore!

Monitoring and punishment of speech on the internet isn't unique to Singapore either. The Canadian Human Rights Commission, for example, has monitored internet forums and posted hate speech on forums under phony identities to try to incite responses that could be used for prosecution. The broad based powers of the CHRC to restrict free speech have only recently been curtailed. And that's just Canada.

So how would you like living in a place like Singapore?
Clean, safe, prosperous ... it sounds very appealing.

[madnecromancer.livejournal.com]

yes but Singapore is tiiny which is why the extreme car control still makes sense...for places like the States and Canada things are much farther apart and cars are necessary to lead a relatively easy life.

[harry-beast.livejournal.com]

Cars are very handy in rural areas. In cities, however, an important reason for high car ownership is that the cities have been designed to pander to drivers. Increasing urban density, promoting the use of mass transit, making urban spaces friendly to pedestrians and cyclists would go a long way toward making car ownership less of a necessity, more of an option.
Anyway, some kind of restrictions on cars will be necessary in the future, because current roads in places like Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal are already very congested, and expanding the roads is not an option; there isn't the money to do it, and there isn't room to keep widening the highways. Some of these measures, like high occupancy lanes, reversible lanes and ramp metering, are already in place in Canada. There are a lot of very advanced systems in Europe and the United States. Singapore has the opportunity to be a pioneer in this area.

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

Y do U hate Freeedooom!

[mutive.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm regularly puzzled by the hatred towards some of their systems. Some are pretty crazy. But saying, "Look, if you're going to spit on the street, we will fine you" isn't one I particularly object to.

And there are historical reasons for a lot of the restrictions (mostly the population giving up freedom in exchange for not being stuck on a resource poor island in utter poverty) that make sense. From what I can remember, a lot of these restrictions are decreasing. (At least somewhat.) And there are upsides often, even to some of the more draconian measures.

So while it is a weird, very artificial society, that doesn't necessarily mean everything they do is evil or terrible. (Or that other countries can't learn from some of the social changes which have worked really well.)

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Singapore is a classic example of how illiberal societies can bring great results on a small scale only. If this were done on the scale of say, Italy or Germany we'd call it totalitarianism. Singapore also happens to illustrate that prosperity is seldom, if ever, directly correlated with being "good" or "nice".

[mikeyxw.livejournal.com]

I lived there for a few months and the image I'd use is Disney, not Orwell to describe the place. It's like a home owner's association got themselves elected.

Also, the family planning stuff is way out of date. They encourage people to have kids with big cash payments that increase for every kid you have... for everyone. There certainly is a bias against parents who haven't finished college, but it's a lot more like the bias against teen mothers in the US. You're expected to finish college before having a family like you're expected to finish high school in the US. Doing otherwise isn't illegal but is something society tries to minimize.

[root-fu.livejournal.com]

Good post.