What is the first thing that comes to your mind every time you hear about Singapore? Personally, I used to think that it was an outstanding country, with perfect views to its financial center, characterized by the eccentric Marina Bay Sand and it’s futuristic architecture in general. In my imagination Singapore was exactly what the movie “Crazy Rich Asian” portrays.
In fact, Singapore can be described as an utopia. Due to its geographical location, it is considered a strategic island in the South China Sea. Years ago it was in dispute for control between the British and Japoneses. After multiple fights Singapore became part of the British colonies for a few years and then in 1959 it joined the Malaysia Federation with Lee Kuan Yew as the head of the government. In 1965 Lee Kuan Yew rejected a law that Malaysia was imposing, where they could have economic power over Singapore. As a result Singapore was expelled from Malaysia becoming an Independent republic. Throughout the time Lee made Singapore one of the strongest economies of SouthEast Asia, ending corruption and creating a multicultural environment. In today's world, Singapore is not just one of the strongest economies in the world, but is one of the most diverse countries with four official languages, Mandarin, Tamil, Malay and English. People from multiple cultural backgrounds live all together and celebrate each other's holidays. Additionally, it is one of the safest places in the world with an extremely low crime rate and drug consumption rate.
It is impossible to deny the extraordinary political process that Singapore has been through and how it went from being a poor island with zero natural resources, to one of the world's largest economies and high-tech production. However, Singapore can also be considered a great example of what to avoid. The electoral authoritarian country has neglected the fact that Singapore is a country with no freedom of speech and expression, it also helds one of the most unequal populations worldwide and owns a dehumanizing prison system.
The authoritarian state has a Gini coefficient that goes between 0.41 to 0.38 showing the inequality levels of their population. It is true that most of the people in the country live under good quality conditions, however the problem is the income gap between rich and poor, which falls under the deep-rooted social stratification of the country. A lot of people argue that there is no such middle income class in Singapore, rather rich or poor. Another reason why the country keeps a really unequal society is because meritocracy is the main way the system works and even though Singapore has been internationally commed on their great free education system, most of the multinationals based on the financial center prefers to hire international professionals. Keeping Singaporeans under a poor economic class while the internationals get wealthier. Nevertheless, Singapore does also have a big system that classifies international workers under two groups. On the one hand, there is the group called internationals who are brought by multinational companies or embassies to work with them; those are the internationals that get some of the best treatment and good economic compensation. On the other hand, we have the “immigrant workers” who are those international workers that go into Singapore to do manufacturing work. These groups are placed into restrictive conditions, they are only allowed to live in “dorms”, specific places that the government rents them in the worst part of the country. The unequal treatment between groups got highlighted after COVID-19 hit the country and it raised concerns about the human rights violations that were committed towards the working population. Singapore's immigrant workers population was the most affected due to COVID-19 as the government in normal bases fit up to 25 people in small rooms making them live under precarious conditions. Obviously, these populations were the most affected due to their overcrowded living conditions. After the COVID-19 cases were rising only among immigrant workers, the Singapore government placed hard rules over them forcing them to stay in their rooms, without going out for months, even for those who were not sick. The government saw it as a nationalistic rule to protect their actual citizens. However, the big disparity between classes in Singapore can be considered one of the least degreting situations towards their population.
Singaporeans do not have freedom of speech and an attempt to criticize the government can end up in a fine. The famous Lee Kuan Yew, found authoritarianism one of the best ways to preserve Singapore political system and economy functioning after his retirement. Therefore, the country has always been under the control of the People’s Action Party (PAP) where a Primer Minister is the one in control, but they still held elections for the president and parliament, which are as well form the PAP party. As part of the Singaporean constitution it is illegal to criticize the government and the government is entitled to fine the individual and lead the person to bankruptcy (if the government sees it necessarily). Nevertheless, the government argues that the freedom of speech has not been violated as they built “the speakers corner” the only place where the population can join and freely criticize the government. At the same time, same sex couples are not allow to show phisical or emotional affection in public and any attemp to it would end up in a fine.
On the other hand, Singapore also has one of the most dehumanizing jails systems in the world. The prison has “no beds, no pillows and no chairs in the cells. A shower is done stooping above a toilet hole. Humiliating strip searches are routine, as a matter of security”. According to the Singaporean government the system itself is created with the main goal to decrease the reoffending rates. And in fact, Singapore reoffending rates are one of the lowest in the world, but it is only achieved through the dehumanization treaty.
At the end of the day, Singapore has become the country that we know today, through the implementation of hard core measures, the whole growing process of this small state is in fact incredible. However, Singapore can also be seen as an example of what not to follow in order to promote human rights.
CITATION
"Cómo Singapur Pasó De Ser Una Isla Pobre a Uno De Los Países Más Ricos Del Mundo (y Qué Amenazas Enfrenta Ahora)." BBC News Mundo, 29 Jan. 2019, www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-47032379.
"Inside Maximum Security - S1E1: Life In Lockdown." CNA, 16 Jan. 2022, www.channelnewsasia.com/watch/inside-maximum-security/life-lockdown-2436911.
"Singapore: Gini Coefficient After Tax 2020." Statista, 9 Feb. 2021, www.statista.com/statistics/951976/singapore-gini-coefficient-after-tax/.
"Speakers' Corner at Hong Lim Park." National Parks Board, www.nparks.gov.sg/speakers-corner.
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