Has anyone lived in or access to first-hand information about Singapore? There’s a few things I’d like to know:
Restrictions on personal liberty seem to be pretty severe on public grounds. Are you free to do as you please in your home or do the gum, gun and cigarette bans apply there as well?
Singapore has a reputation of being very laissez-faire economically, but I’ve read that the state nevertheless owns most of the big corporations there. True?
I’ve read about ambitious infrastructure projects such as the large subway. Are these projects financed privately or by the state?
Im in the same situation. I live in Rosario, Argentina and there's a possibility of ask for a translation in my job (Im a Lab tech working for Intertek).
I think that almost everywhere should be better that this mess, anyway, I hope that somebody can help us get more details about individual freedom in this country.
I’m not quiet sure what you mean by “in your home”; do you mean literally within your own property, or outside of public grounds? Anyways, Singapore’s government is generally authoritarian in regards to all aspects of it’s law. All media, from television to newspaper, is owned and operated by government run corporations (see point two). The Internet is widely available, but Internet use and history is monitored by the Singapore government, and certain websites are censored. All public assemblies must be first approved by the Singapore government. Certain religions, such as Jehova’s Witness, are banned by the government. All citizen’s organizations must register with the government. Singapore’s true authoritarian tendencies, however, are displayed in how they punish criminals; if the police is simply suspicious of you using drugs, you can be commited to a drug rehabilitation clinic without a trial for a period of three years. Must punishments are corporal, the most famous example being the use of bamboo reeds.
True, in a way. While I wouldn’t call it laissez-faire, it’s a “market economy”, while in comparison the United States is considered a “mixed economy”. Singapore ranks as the most business-friendly country in the world. The Singapore economy is considered by the Heritage Foundation to be the second freest economy, one below Hong Kong and one above Australia. The tax rate in Singapore is generally low; the top income tax bracket is 20%, they have a pretty low GAST tax of 4%, and a property tax. Taxation takes account for 14.3% of the nation’s GDP, which is very, very low (The United States consumes 28.3% of it’s GDP each year in taxes). However, all media in Singapore, as stated above, is operated by government-owned corporations. Singapore’s largest telecommunications, shipping, infrastructure development, and air travel corporations are also government-owned.
The large rapid transit system in Singapore, which I believe is what you are referring to, is operated by Mass Rapid Transit, which is privately owned. The construction of railroad lines appear to be contracted out by the government, however.
Please excuse all typos and inevitable grammar errors; I recently got back from a trip in Asia, and the jet lag is killing me. Hope this helps.
EDIT: And as an example of my jet lag inspired stupidity, I failed to notice that I was responding to a post well over 7 months old.
English is Singapore’s “first language”, and is the only language of instruction in Singapore’s public education system, so pretty much everybody there outside of foreign workers speaks it fluently. The “second language” of Singapore is Malay, which is less widely used but still prominent in Singapore. Small segments of the population speak Mandarin Chinese and Tamil as first languages.