Exemplary state, or...?
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?