Well, we just started 2024, and with this video, I'll have to update the list of countries
where my channel is officially banned.
Remember that robot dog that, back in 2020, was making sure people in Singapore followed
social distancing?
Well, its use was promoted by this man with the creepy smile: Lee Hsien Loong, the Prime
Minister of Singapore...
since 2004.
Lee is part of the People's Action Party, which has continuously governed the Asian
City-State since 1959.
After all, Singapore wouldn't be what it is today without Lee's father, Lee Kuan Yew,
the first historic head of government, considered the founder of the nation.
Streets, schools, and public buildings are all named after him, and when he died in 2015,
he was given a state funeral that would make the Kim dynasty and Queen Elizabeth look pale
in comparison.
Add to that the fact that the Lees are two of only three
men to have ever served as Prime Ministers of Singapore, and that the People’s Action
Party has been winning every election for sixty years with more than 60% of the vote.
On paper, Singapore is a democracy.
However, this democracy is often described as authoritarian, illiberal, bureaucratic,
or, in some cases, a soft dictatorship.
Nah, he must have misspoken.
Otherwise, it wouldn't explain why whole fleets of influencers visit Singapore and describe
it as a paradise on Earth,
A utopian tech island where about six million people live in peace, wealth, and total security.
And i could tell you more, they seem to be right.
Singapore enjoys one of the lowest crime rates in the world, perceived corruption is virtually
non-existent, unemployment is stable at 2%, and 90% of residents own at least one home.
Moreover, this small Asian state has one of the best healthcare systems on the planet,
combined with a public education system that puts the Western one to shame, as well as
an average life expectancy that exceeds 84 years.
To top it all off, Singapore has four nature reserves, cutting-edge transport, green technologies
and facilities, an efficient waste management system, and impressive tourist attractions.
Maybe, the data will give you an even clearer idea of how Singapore is doing.
With a GDP per capita of 87 thousand dollars, Singaporeans are better off than Qataris,
Canadians, and Icelanders.
Their average salary is close to 6000 dollars a month.
If we look at GDP, just under 500 billion dollars, we'd find that this dot on the Asian
maps is a richer and more productive country than demographic giants like Egypt, Nigeria,
and Pakistan, and nations considered wealthy such as Finland, New Zealand, and Luxembourg.
So, where do you apply to move there?
On the website of the Singapore Ministry of Manpower, or by taking part in the Global
Investor Programme:
you just need to invest 2.5 million dollars in the country's development.
No wonder Singapore is home to 240 thousand millionaires – making up almost 5% of the
population – and 46 billionaires.
Among them, the richest is Eduardo Saverin, one of the co-founders of Facebook, who recently
obtained Singaporean citizenship despite being Brazilian.
"Ah, le pouvoir de l'argent."
Ah, the power of money.
To apply for citizenship, you need to live in Singapore for at least two years and demonstrate
excellent entrepreneurial skills and/or family ties with another Singaporean.
The downside is that dual citizenship is not allowed, so you’ll have to give up your
other passport.
Not a big deal, given that – currently - the Singaporean passport is the strongest in the
world.
If you have it, you can visit 193 countries without any visa.
Watch out however, In Singapore, not everyone is treated equally.
Foreign migrant workers, especially in the fields of manufacturing and domestic cleaning,
are often underpaid or not paid at all, deprived of their passports, abused, forced to work
without holidays or sick leave, and housed in crowded dormitories
This modern form of slavery reportedly affects at least 9,000 people and is carried out by
actual agencies that recruit staff mainly from Indonesia, the Philippines, and Myanmar
to contribute to Singapore's development.
Not Part of This Category and have the privilege to not worry?
Great.
Suppose you manage to get a document.
Where would you go and live?
Can I suggest the urban division of Marine Parade, a cheerful residential area that didn't
even exist until the 1970s.
Yes, because in recent decades, Singapore has extended its original surface by 25%,
simply by reclaiming swamps, building along the coasts, and throwing rocks and sand into
the sea to create new pieces of land from nothing.
For example, the iconic Marina Bay Sands, one of the world's largest casino-resorts,
the island of Jurong, an important petrochemical hub, and Singapore's jungle-airport were built
on so-called lands reclaimed by the government.
To lead a peaceful life in Singapore, you have to follow some basic rules that, frankly,
don’t sound too bad.
You can't smoke in public, except in designated areas.
You know that terrible stench that plagues some train stations?
Well, in Singapore, say goodbye to that.
You can't spit on the streets,
nor litter.
If I think about it, I'd readily punish those who keep on loitering, really.
You can't bother a person by singing or playing a musical instrument.
Leave your mandolin at home.
You can't feed pigeons,
You can't leave a public bathroom dirty, nor cross outside of pedestrian crossings.
It's about common sense, things that in a certain country, starting with an I and ending
in a Y… are getting rare to find.
I don’t think I made it clear enough.
These aren’t just guide rules to follow, but actual laws,
punishable by fines or even imprisonment.
Singapore is known as the "city of fines" for a reason.
Throw trash on the street?
That's a thousand-dollar fine.
Do it again?
Two thousand dollars, and I'll send you to pick up trash in a public park.
Spit on the street?
The first time, a thousand dollars is fine.
Do it multiple times, and it's from five thousand dollars upwards.
Cross the street outside of pedestrian crossings?
Give me 500 dollars, and you also get three months in prison.
Caught again?
Two thousand dollars.
If you travel on any public transport, stay in hotels, or walk in certain areas, eating
durian is prohibited.
Durian is a spiny fruit typical of Southeast Asia that, once opened, emits a nauseating
stench that makes aunt Margherita's armpits after a cycling session smell like desert
roses.
Moreover, since 1992 in Singapore, it's impossible to find, buy, produce, or even import chewing
gum, deemed guilty of dirtying bus and metro seats, floors, and even streets.
In this case, penalties can soar up to one hundred thousand
dollars and include two years in prison.
You know all those black dots that plague the streets of our cities?
They are flattened and blackened chewing gums.
Imagine, famous words by John Lennon.
Imagine a clean city where the guy who spits gum on the street is punished.
This Singaporean dystopia is kinda growing on me.
Believe it or not, cleanliness and order are pillars of Singapore's national identity.
To understand why, just take a quick step back in time.
The city of fines boasts a millennia-long history, inextricably linked to that of Malaysia.
However, the story of modern-day Singapore begins in 1819, when the British East India
Company, seeking a port near the Strait of Malacca, a trade route then controlled by
the Dutch, identified an island that suited their needs.
Having signed a treaty with the Sultanate of Johor, a political entity located in the
south of the Malay Peninsula, the British obtained the island as a concession and retained
its original name: Singa Pura, the Lion City.
And there's no doubt the British knew how to make lemonade out of lemons.
Immediately, the port of Singapore was made tax-free, meaning devoid of duties and tolls.
As a result, Chinese, Malay, and Indian merchants, as well as European businessmen, found it
convenient to pass through, trade, and even live there.
Once incorporated as a colony of the Crown in 1867, parallel to the opening of the Suez
Canal, Singapore served as a crucial hub for exporting rubber and tin then taken from Malaysia
to Europe.
On the other hand, however, the Lion City was invaded by criminal associations, slave
traders, while the local population, which reached 200,000 at the turn of the 1900s,
lived in terrible conditions.
And it didn’t get any better.
In 1942, the Japanese Empire occupied Singapore.
Three years of terror and repression followed.
The local society had already disintegrated, torn apart by violence and opium, food and
drinking water were scarce, and most families lived in so-called kampongs, slums and stilt
houses divided by rigid ethnic-religious boundaries.
In this seemingly unsolvable chaos of issues, the Singaporeans entrusted the country to
a charismatic leader.
In 1954, Lee Kuan Yew, a lawyer of Chinese origins, educated in London, founded the People’s
Action Party, which in 1959 won the country's first democratic elections by a landslide.
After all, three-quarters of the Singaporean population had – and still have – Chinese
origins.
Nonetheless, as Prime Minister, Lee promoted equality for all citizens from the start,
so much so that even today Singapore recognises four official languages: Mandarin Chinese,
English, Malay, and Tamil Indian, each representative of the country's major communities.
In 1960, Lee Kuan Yew's party established the Housing and Development Board, an almost
independent entity aimed at constructing buildings.
This was to ensure order and acceptable living conditions for the now million Singaporean
citizens.
In just five years, a staggering 400,000 people moved into government-funded apartments.
The same “reclaimed lands” we just talked about were used over time to build new neighborhoods
and housing blocks.
Even today, the real estate market in Singapore is protected.
80% of the population lives in state buildings, and buying them is made possible because all
citizens under 55 must contribute 20% of their salary to funds.
From these funds, they can withdraw money solely for buying a house, or rather, acquiring
the right to live there.
However, urban planning had to be accompanied by the care of public affairs.
In 1968, Lee Kuan Yew's People's Action Party launched the campaign "Keep Singapore Clean".
This initiative was aimed at encouraging Singaporeans to absolutely use trash bins, discouraging
littering through fines.
At the time, Lee stated: "No other hallmark of our success will be more evident than becoming
the greenest and cleanest city in all of South Asia."
Since then, "Keep Singapore Clean" has been periodically updated with posters and advertisements
to continually remind the population of these measures.
Over time, these media campaigns have also been used to influence the will of citizens:
“Courtesy is our way of life,"
“Let’s save precious water!"
“I can speak Mandarin, Mandarin’s In.
Dialect’s Out.”
“Girl or Boy, two is enough,"
"The second can wait."
We have an example of a poster like this one from the Singapore police.
"It says, 'If you molest, we will arrest.'
Sounds in the norm, right?
There's a catch: in Singapore, being nude in your own home is also considered a form
of harassment.
Let me explain.
If you, unfortunately, expose yourself to the public while in your underwear – say,
through your bathroom window – you could be charged with public indecency.
And it's possible that a police officer could burst into your home and slap you with a hefty
$2,000 fine.
But wait a minute.
'...up to three years in jail, a fine, and/or caning'?
I need to explain this too.
In Singapore, as well as in Malaysia and Brunei, caning with a rattan cane, a type of tropical
palm, was introduced as a punishment during the British colonial period.
Today, it's prescribed for about thirty different charges: harassment obviously, kidnapping,
theft, abuse, extortion, drug trafficking, and other serious crimes that can also carry
the death penalty."
But let's get back to caning, because things really get interesting here.
According to a 2019 survey, nearly half of all Singaporean parents use small sticks to
punish disrespectful, disobedient, or lying children.
As stated by the Ministry of Education, the same is done in schools, but only in cases
when "absolutely necessary.”
What that means, only they know.
in Singapore, one can easily be caned for vandalism.
This happened to Jolovan Wham, an activist who, in 2017, hung flyers on a train and,
along with colleagues, traveled with a book and a blindfold over their eyes.
In 2021, Wham was fined $1,000 for vandalism, 8 strokes of a rattan cane, and $4,500 for
unauthorized public assembly, penalties converted to 22 days in prison.
Under the Public Order Act of 2009, you can't organise a demonstration or gathering of any
kind without first getting permission from the authorities.
But let's take another look at the formidable train protest.
The flyers and the book they were holding referred to Operation Spectrum, a mass arrest
of 22 people carried out without trial by the Singaporean government in 1987 to thwart
an alleged "Marxist conspiracy."
At the time, activists were accused of attempting to overthrow the Singaporean state system
through a coup.
However, it is widely believed that Lee and his peers used an excuse to silence inconvenient
opponents.
It's not surprising.
The Singapore government has been suppressing dissent for decades.
When Lee Kuan Yew's party came to power in '59, they promised that Singapore would soon
achieve federal unification with Malaysia.
Singapore, lacking significant natural resources and being small in size, was on the brink
of collapse.
Even the British, who still had formal control over the island, were pushing for the union.
Some socialist members of the People’s Action Party, however, feared that once unification
was complete, Malaysia would help Lee Kuan Yew eliminate any opposition to his power.
And you certainly can't maintain order if you have opponents.
So, in February 1963, Lee launched Operation Coldstore, another mass arrest with dubious
intentions, aimed at "paralyzing the communist organization."
Over a hundred people suspected of plotting an armed coup were detained.
With the Socialist Front crippled, the PAP won an absolute majority in parliament in
September, gained total independence from the United Kingdom, and completed unification
with Malaysia.
Want to know the irony?
Due to political and racial tensions between the Chinese majority in Singapore and the
Malaysian political class, and fears that Singapore's port would become more important
than Kuala Lumpur's, in 1967, the Malaysian parliament voted to expel Singapore from the
federation.
Left alone by both its neighbours and the British, the City-State of Singapore was practically
forced to declare itself an autonomous Republic.
Now, imagine being head of a small, country, lacking resources.
What next?
Well, you get creative.
Firstly, lacking an army in '65, Lee requested technical support from some Israeli military
officers.
Tel Aviv, in fact, materially helped Singapore build its armed forces.
Secondly, Lee facilitated the creation of a series of state companies that would produce
oil and steel, build and repair ships, import food and timber, and in recent decades, move
into financial services, sustainable technologies, and biomedical engineering.
Finally, he encouraged foreign investments through favorable tax policies and the always
convenient Port of Singapore, which is currently the busiest in the world.
Today, both China and the United States invest in Singapore, making the City-State the most
important geopolitical piece in ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
And that's why Singapore is the main financial hub of Asia, and the third globally, after
New York and London.
Let's give Lee his due: the nation's father understood sixty years ago that, instead of
isolating and turning Singapore into his personal playground,
like our old friend from Turkmenistan do you remember him?
Well, it would be better to broaden horizons and diversify the country's economy as much
as possible.
Lee Kuan Yew doesn't seem to have been just a prime minister.
The same goes for his colleagues: his son, Hsien Loong , and Goh Chok Tong, who served
from 1990 to 2004.
Rather, the head of the government is the CEO of a company, Singapore, whose board of
directors is formed by the PAP.
A CEO, after all, aims to maximise profit, operate in global markets, but also keep work
environments clean and orderly, and strive to ensure the well-being of all his employees,
in this case, the citizens.
It doesn’t end there.
The media sector in Singapore is practically a duopoly consisting of the state-owned Mediacorp
and SPH Media, whose board members are members or ex-politicians of the PAP.
Unsurprisingly, no news can be made public without the express approval of the Ministry
of Information.
Moreover, since 2019, the government can censor online content deemed "false" or "manipulated."
Needless to say, if the opposition were to contest censorship, they would be accused
of spreading fake news.
At this point, we might wonder: what do Singaporeans think?
According to a survey by the Pew Research Center, an American think tank, 80% of Singaporeans
are satisfied with how their democracy actually functions.
After all, the more positive the results achieved by the "company" Singapore, the less inclined
its citizens will be to protest.
Nothing wrong with that.
This paradigm fits well with Singaporean culture, centered on the concept of kiasu, a term that
roughly means "fear of losing."
Losing not just a competition, but also an opportunity, that is, the chance to work hard
together to reach greater heights.
On the other hand, the population fears climate change, which could submerge the city's coasts,
and the recent rise in the cost of living and real estate, considering also that Singapore
imports 90% of its food from abroad, mainly from Malaysia.
Meanwhile, without noise or brutality, Singapore continues undisturbed to limit dissent and
put a good face on a bad game.
Because, after all, Lee Kuan Yew and his successors have literally legitimised a dystopia.
Let’s ask ourselves.
How are we doing, in our own society, our own western society, if we come to admire
a country like this?
Now if you’ll excuse I have to go get my dose of canings.