Yes, much could be learned from the Singaporean experience. Listen up, leaders at the top...

a very typical singaporean comment: "we are cool" (so cool, we have to tell you as much). If there is one adjective I would not ever use for Singapore, I am afraid 'cool' would be the one.

What, mike, you expect them to say they are "hot"? In Singapore, only the weather is hot. I will stick to using "cool"....

Well, that's not true. Some gay guys there are quite hot, but nothing I can make use of....

Reverse bungee? WTF? They propel you skyward and then the bungee snaps you back down into the ground.

Hmm.... I think I'll pass.

Singapore as the absolute best possible case for China's rejection of and challenge to the alleged hegemony of "western" values.

without attempting to assess the merits of the Singaporean position/system or by extension China's intended alternative to western liberal-democracy, one can see that China has been both (1) more heavy-handed, and (2) less effective in achieving its goals than was Singapore over an equal period of time.

China refers its critics to the nation's size and population as the "special circumstances" against which its purported failures should be measured.

but is not perhaps these same "special circumstances" which suggest that the Singaporean model is inappropriate for China?

If any state anywhere on the planet deserves the not exactly flattering title of "benevolent dictatorship" it's Singapore, and that's mainly thanks to the technocrat-formerly-known-as 'Sir Harry Lee'. China's dictators could definitely learn a thing or 1.3 billion from this chap.

The way he and his pal Lim Yew Hock (林有福) rode into power on the backs of the communists who were trying to use the PAP as a smoke-screen for their activities, and then turned on them once they no longer needed their services - priceless!

Personally I would like it if China's dictators decided to open up in the same way the KMT did under Chiang Chingkuo (将经国) and allowed free elections, but even the kind of controlled democracy they have in Singapore would be preferable to the current situation.

Good advice to China. Then again, Singapore doesn't seem to have as wide array of divisive, sensitive subjects as China does.

I was in Singapore last month, and my younger brother and I went off in search of the famed "reverse bungee". Disappointment set in, however, when we finally found it. It's basically a row of 3 seats which you're strapped into - hardly bungee jumping ( and nothing compared to amusement parks like Six Flags back in the States).

Still, it reportedly does 0-200 mph in 2 seconds; that could qualify as "cool", I guess;)

taking media relations advice from singapore? and it actually does sound more liberal than china's approach. god help us.
we just held yet another article while awaiting approval from our lawyers, to whom we seem to send only singapore-related stories. (it journalistic speak, we call it "lawyering a story")
"imagine," my colleague said. "i bet there are news editors all over the world quaking in their boots because of singapore-specialized lawyers."
"it's ridiculous that we have to check every innocuous thing," said another colleague, a fellow asian.
it's funny. we are censored in many countries, like china, but we don't usually bother lawyering. we just know that our copies will be stopped by the censor and not delivered to newsstands or public spaces (only to private subscribers, who are probably a lost cause to the propaganda dept anyway).
but china doesn't sue for money -- not yet -- so we don't lawyer or change our stories to accommodate them.
hmmm, i hope nobody fines me for writing this comment on a blog.

Errrmmmm . . . . Joyce, have you ever published anything in the UK? Ever heard of the Ashdown case? Yelland v News Group? The Andrew Gilligan/Dr Kelly affair? Major newspapers and broadcasters over here have to run all of their controversial stuff past their lawyers, partly out of fear of being sued for defamation, but also because of copyright and confidentiality concerns - all of which UK courts take very seriously. All the same news reporting here is fairly free, and given how things were in the eighties ('Freddy Starr ate my hamster' anyone?) it's probably a good thing that they are doing their utmost to check their facts through and only print what they can be sure of not getting sued over.

All the same, Singapore takes this way too far, and the way Lee Kuan Yew basically admits to intimidating the press is hardly the stuff of a democratic leader - but like you say, it's still a lot better (and a damn sight more subtle) than the blanket censorship that is carried out in China.

@b.

If you think developing a small business country and a too big agricultural country is the same thing, then you are hopeless wrong.

There is Chinese saying: 船小好掉头 (small ship is easier to turn around).

In mainland history textbook, there is an adj "地大物博" (the territory is vast and resources are abundant). It's just not the case.

@Lark in the clouds - That is only if you insist on maintaining the archaic one-party state system ruled from the centre. If China switches to a federal democratic model with power devolved to regional centres then the situation would be quite different.

The reverse bungee is pretty nauseating. Did it last week and came close to losing the evening's Hainan Chicken Rice on the heads of tourists in Clarke Quay. The cable swing was much cooler, however.

But Singapore is actually a pretty cool city, cool as in hip, mildly groovy, and not cool as in temperature. The city definitely has soul. It just happens to be a well-ordered soul.

However, as a current temporary resident of the Lion City, I am empowered to fine Ms. Lau for her comments about Singapore's lack of press freedom. Singapore newspapers are completely free, take it from me. One comes every morning at the house I'm staying at, and as far as I know nobody's paying a cent. Just today I was reading a fascinating and hard-hitting journalistic piece involving citizens falling asleep in public places (complete with photos).

Joyce, you can just wire the equivalent of 200 Sing into my paypal account or wait until the next time we meet for the caning.

*Josambro*
Currently on the road for Lonely Planet, Singapore