Reflections on a short visit to Singapore

We  had a short stopover in Singapore to meet up with Alex’s friend and former colleague Kathrine. As most of you probably know, Singapore is a metropolis of modern glass and steel skyscrapers and quite a contrast from some of our other recent stops. In Singapore, we spent a day at the Botanical Gardens, visited the impressive Gardens by the Bay, learned the (albeit short) history of Singapore at the National Museum and got to hang out with Kathrine, Daniel and their twin girls. While we had a lot of fun as visitors, and it was great to catch up with Kathrine, it was hard not to reflect on the nature of Singapore – the tension between its very visible economic success and its questionable record on civil liberties, press freedom, corporal punishment, and (lack of) protections for migrant workers. It’s interesting for all of us to consider how much individual freedom we would be willing to give up, the level and forms of punishment we might deem appropriate, and the extreme wealth differential we could accept (the local economy is based on a shockingly large percentage of low-skilled foreign workers) in exchange for safety and economic prosperity. To highlight these issues, some quick facts:

• Ranked 1st for the ease of doing business (World Bank 2015)
• Ranked 3rd most competitive country (IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2014)
• Ranked last among high-income countries for “fundamental rights” and “open government” (World Justice Project Rule of Law Index)
• Scored 4 out of 7 for political freedom and civil liberties (where 1 is the most free), with an overall ranking of partly free (Freedom in the World 2014)
• Ranked 75 out of 167 countries and categorized as a flawed democracy (The Economist Democracy Index 2014)

The Singapore example seems especially relevant as both the US and Europe struggle with the ongoing challenges of immigration, foreign workers, and growing wealth divides, and continue to hold very different views on criminal justice. While we don’t claim to have readymade answers, this experience has certainly served to fuel some pretty interesting and heated debates.

Clean and orderly

The city from a distance

Marina Bay Sands Hotel with rooftop park

Gardens by the Bay

Supertree Grove

Skywalk through Supertree Grove