For instance, Singaporean diplomats privately had nothing nice to say to U.S. State Department officials about their Malaysian, Indian, Thai and Japanese counterparts.
On two levels, this revelation should not be surprising.
First, Singapore was carved out of Malaysia and rose to the pinnacle of economic might through the vision and diligence of its founding fathers.
Once you reach the top, there is the tendency to “sneer” at your neighbors, the point must be made. Just as it is commonplace for U.S. folks, for example, to “ridicule” neighbors to the north, Canada, and to the south, Mexico.
Second, and related, Singaporean citizens, the leaders postulated, were willing to trade their liberties of free speech, free press and free assembly for security and prosperity.
Those who desired more freedom emigrated to Western-style democracies, most notably Australia. Conversely, those who were seeking security and prosperity flocked to Singapore to ply their talents, among them, my sister, who performed research work at the prestigious University of Singapore for a few years, before she returned to Texas.
Still, it remains an irony that the most outspoken politician in Asia (and maybe the world), Singapore’s founding father and former prime minister, Lee Kuang Yew, did not extend the same privileges and courtesies to his citizens, during his tenure. (And his son, the current PM, still does not.)
To ridicule more robust democracies such as India, Japan, Thailand, and to a lesser degree, Malaysia, is his right but at least in America, those who speak their mind are not subject to intimidation tactics. Especially, when folks here are free to express their views, at times, even ill of their own leaders, and do so at a much more rapid rate than they do of foreign leaders.
The most harm that free speech can cause is some hurt feelings but the most harm that is caused by restricting free speech is that it creates the fertile ground for the cultivation of dictators, dressed up in democratic garb.
In fact, one could argue that China, the world’s fastest growing economy (we think, I say, because Wikileaks also reveals that Chinese GDP numbers might not be all that accurate), co-opted the Singaporean model of capitalism: Clamp down on citizens’ freedoms while pursuing economic growth.
Has it worked? I would say so, not just in China, but also in despotic regimes such as the one that runs Myanmar. (Only DPRK has so far failed to embrace this model. Even Cuba is shedding the old communist model.)
I guess we can thank Singapore for inspiring China in that it is possible to achieve economic might without U.S.-style liberties.
MATT PHILIPS
Mangilao, Guam
