Singapore activist found guilty of hosting ‘illegal assembly’ via Skype

Post by eric24234 » Sat, Jan 05, 2019, 6:16 AM UTC

jessaustin wrote: post #78

avar wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Surely a de facto dictatorship like this shouldn’t be so wealthy and successful[...] It's also worth noting that the entirety of Singapore just barely exceeds the area enclosed by Washington DC's beltway. Whatever their form of government, small city states are always going to be able to avoid many of the pitfalls of larger countries. There's effectively only one level of government to deal with, and the despot is…

This sounds like an argument for smaller nations?

Post by dragonwriter » Sat, Jan 05, 2019, 6:37 AM UTC

eric24234 wrote: post #172

nindalf wrote: post #15

I see people in this thread surprised that this is happening in Singapore, a “modern” country. Singapore is certainly wealthy, the population is highly educated, institutions aren’t corrupt, all of which is great. However, the political system resembles a democracy only superficially. Every election since 1965 has been won by the same party. It is inconceivable that the People’s Action Party wouldn’t win an election…

Fun Fact. Lee Kuan Yew was a computer scientist before becoming politican and coded solving sudoku and shared his code over github also mentioned he wanted to learn haskell. Looks like computer scientists would make great politican's once elected but getting elected requires a different set of skills, luckily for Lee Kuan his father paved the way before him.

Post by ponyfleisch » Sat, Jan 05, 2019, 7:40 AM UTC

paleogizmo wrote: post #163

gerbilly wrote: post #90

I would never go to Singapore. They'd probably end up whipping me a hundred times for something I did without even being aware of it. [1] IMHO that whole country should serve as a counterexample to all the rest. Humans really are good at making life miserable for each other aren't they? [1] Maybe farting in public, or wearing my shoes on the wrong feet or whatever.

In all fairness I'd be hesitant to live in Singapore on account of its high cost of living and poor work-life balance. However, there is a method to the madness as far as the legal system goes, which makes it tame to visit compare with other large cities in SE Asia or even western europe.

Post by inferiorhuman » Sat, Jan 05, 2019, 9:43 AM UTC

ponyfleisch wrote: post #39

cinquemb wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Over regulated daily life (though very well run) combined with being very culturally bland automaton like outside of very few pockets, mixed with Israeli militarism applied to its own people, just doesn't feel very welcoming compared to say Thailand, Malaysia or Indonesia. Some of my wife's family has lived there and Indonesia for a while, and it is agreed that out of all the places in SE asia, it is a good place to…

Fair enough, but every city in malaysia feels like post apocalyptic singapore, infrastructure wise. Indonesia - not much quality of life overall.

Post by dang » Sat, Jan 05, 2019, 10:45 PM UTC

hkt wrote: post #61

toyg wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a foreigner, the UK police is widely admired for their restraint. Tactics like kettling, for all their drawbacks, are absolutely preferable to the alternatives seen elsewhere in Europe. It’s one of those things, like the lack of ID cards and centuries-long administrative continuity, that really set the UK apart from most other places and made it a beacon of pragmatic liberalism. Wish for “normalization” at your pe…

Yes, people don't seem to realise that we have a policing model that is probably among the best in the world. Better to kettle people occasionally than blind them with watercannon and tear gas - or as the Americans seem to prefer, shoot them in the back while they run away.