Singapore: The World's Only Successful Dictatorship? 

Have you not heard of North Korea. Not a single citizen has ever complained about anything it is truly a paradise

Polymatter: Singapore is ultimately a dictatiorship. Singaporeans: Yes but that's not how you pronounce P-A-P tho-

I'll paraphrase what I saw someone in the reply section said; Yeah I'd rather earn a higher than average salary and have great living conditions if it meant living in a dictatorship that doesn't feel like a dictatorship, but I'd also appreciate the option to hold a smiley face in protest.

This is an interesting analysis but as a Singaporean, I have to say that there is quite a lot of Singapore's history that was not properly analyzed especially when there was a lot of focus on the PAP remaining in power. The choice to take this "authoritarian shortcut" was something borne out of necessity and not just a high risk high reward decision. During the period of decolonization, Singapore as an independent state was at its weakest and most vulnerable. My parents tell me of stories when gangs roamed the streets, how there were always fights breaking out that our "ang chia" (anti-riot vehicles) had to come and stop, how several families were crowded under one roof and shared one toilet, and all the stuff that you could never imagine when you look at modern-day Singapore. Authoritarianism is a system with its flaws, but in a time of civil unrest with a divided population, ruling with an iron fist and setting the country onto one specific path was the most socio-politically viable way for Singapore to survive and move forward in a short period of time. We were just lucky that our ruling party was not so greedy and corrupt to begin with, so under their leadership, Singapore went from third to first world in a single generation. This is not to say our governance is perfect, in fact, it is far from it. A lot of the early policies heavily affected the people of the previous generations. My grandparents and parents were hit by these rapid changes and struggled to adapt. But the choices the government made in those early days were what made Singapore the country it is today. Singapore is certainly not a perfect utopia, there exists no such thing in the world. But as a Singaporean, I personally believe it is as close to a utopia as it gets. I would rather have peace and security over democracy and freedom. If anyone would like to understand more about Singapore's decision and position to rule as a "hybrid democracy", I implore you to watch Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam's speech at the 45th St Gallen Symposium. Democracy isn't the only way to run a country. Every country has their own specific circumstance and their own "best" way to rule.

A smart dictatorship is one that makes you feel like you're not living in one.

Singaporeans: It's not about electing a different party, it's about sending a message

I took a class a number of years ago called "Electoral Authoritarianism" in University where we took a look at Singapore (among a number of countries) and had to judge whether or not it was a democracy or not. Took a look at a lot of the stuff you highlighted in the video and had a guy come speak to us who did contract law work for tech companies over there. Really interesting stuff, glad(?) to see it highlighted.

Travelled to over 20 countries and I think Singapores government is the most forward looking. Majority of things are planned 20years ahead and the government delivers its promises thats why they are constantly revoted in because they do their jobs.

PolyMatter: Uploads another Singapore video China: I thought we had something special 😢

“Protests are illegal unless pre-approved by the government” that’s hilarious 😂

Recently I was thinking about the faillings we see in some countries and their democracies where sh*t doesnt get done because there's too much infighting. And I believed that the best governance is a benevolent dictatorship. The issue being it's near impossible to implement. And it comes with the risks of the leader becoming power hungry and wanting a legacy. So the cons make it too risky to try to implement But Singapore does show that when you get the right people in. It flourishes amazingly. I look at Singapore and think of it as everything right about this type of governance. Issue being. Power can corrupt. And all it takes is the next generation to destroy everything.

That was fantastic! I always sorta suspected that dictatorships could work if the party or person was benevolent enough, but that the risk was too high that one day it would inevitably dissolve. As you say, the cost is maintaining control, while the benefit is lack of constraint. For me, I started thinking about this when I heard (in passing) that Socrates was an open critic of democracy, but ultimately begrudged that it was the least worst option.

And here I thought Wadiya was the perfect dictatorship...

As a singaporean, nobody here refers to the ruling party as “pap” we say it as P.A.P in individual letters. Just a heads up!

I went there as a tourist for about a month. Being in a dictatorship, I expected the country to have rude authorities. But the police I approached are very nice. Well, probably because I'm tourist, but still not what I expected. Even the immigration guy when I landed was pretty much chill, he just asked me if I had a hotel and that's it. No extra questioning.

As a Singaporean, majority of young adults here are well-aware of how authoritarian Singapore is. We openly call PAP a dictatorship or openly-corrupt. Ministers gets payed millions, laws are solely made by one party, and anything we disagree with will still be implemented. But the trade-off? High pay, amazing healthcare, world class public transportation, amazing amenities. Personally, I did average in school yet I have no worries for the future living in Sg even more so for those with higher education. Its practically a utopia for middle class families and heaven for the rich. It still has lower income families of course, but they are heavily supported to have the bare minimum which is housing. I love and hate PAP, but I can’t deny the convenience of living here. All that’s said, I will most likely NOT retire here, but I am sure to be able to move to any country with my decent education from this country and powerful passport at the end of the day. What I think is important is really accountability, I don’t care if PAP ran the government but I want an opposition capable of at least keeping them in check and the public aware. Which has sadly yet to happen.

So, out of everyone, Singapore will become your standard cyberpunk state.

"A country run like a corporation" how true. Government agencies are expected to be profitable here in Singapore

I once lived there and recognized the country as an western one. It felt like the capital of the world, tall skyscrapers, fancy cars and luxurious shopping malls. Never did I think of the actual government or anything else regarding the countries politics.

Wow. Great video. It's been a debate in Thailand for years too. The military regime always say they "brought peace and stability". Because they use the law against any protestors. Many people are tired of protests which often lead to eventual violence so they just let the old incompetent military rule the country... for 8 years now. The expensive lifestyle of the royals anger many people. Only the middle classers and young people come out to voice their concerns while most old people keep their silence. Even if democracy will bring us worse leader, at least we can say it's our own choice. And we can replace him/her later too.

Friendship ended with China Singapore is PolyMatter’s new best friend now

I learned one important lesson from this video: Singapore's political parties have really cool logos.

This has been fascinating, thank you.

You can really see the strong influence of Chinese culture in Singapore. Historically, Chinese people often consent to top-down authoritarian governments for as long as they are able to keeps things stable and prosperous. But they also reserve themselves the right (or even the moral duty) of overthrowing it as soon as things start going south (condensed into the concept of the "Mandate of Heaven"). Makes sense, seeing as most of the population is ethnically Chinese.

Btw, Polymatter, Us Singaporeans say P.A.P. By saying each letter individually hearing "pap" is weird lol

It is possible to prosper while being authoritarian: that’s the very spirit of enlightened despotism. But it is a gamble: you’re placing a lot of power to very few hands, and you can only hope that those hands are indeed competent and prioritizes the greater good.

Hearing polymatter say PAP in one syllable instead of its individual letters was amazing

This video speaks as if it's an uncontested fact that (a) democracy is the ideal form of government, (b) Western countries are democratic, and (c) changing Singapore's system into a typical Western democracy would do more good than harm. I have strong doubts about all three of those assumptions.

Correction: Only 1 school is named after LKY - the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. LKY was very particular about not being immortalised. He even wanted his home to be destroyed after his death to prevent it being enshrined as a place of veneration.

For Malaysian point of view: people would rather live in a skillful dictatorship than a dysfunctional democracy. But of course, both countrymen would rather live in a highly functional democracy. 3k likes and over 230 replies.Thank you!!

While other countries focused on having rights and freedom or having good welfare systems balanced with high taxes or protecting their own countries by protecting their own, Singapore focused mainly on becoming prosperous, whatever it took.

Would you ride a ship whose captain changes the direction once every five years? Where the captain REVERSES his ship so that he can tell his passengers the previous captain was wrong, and he is the right one?

As a Singaporean, our country isn't perfect but most of us can talk shit about the government (happens every day in every taxi) without much consequences and we also enjoy a strong efficient government. Hopefully we can open up more going forward.

When I first arrived in Singapore, from US, I was very surprised to see the level of trust people have on the government. They don't blindly believe in every word government says but at least they trust their government to get the job done. So at least for now, government is doing a good job and people are content. Who knows where it will go from here.

Thanks for doing what you do!!

Tnx, great stuff 🙏

I would like to quote China’s Deng Xiaoping with his quote “It doesn’t matter whether a cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice.”.

Singaporean here. I think what you mentioned about the gerrymandering and legal campaign period are spot on. My home is categorised under a GRC that is literally kilometres away from me. The 'getting charged for ridiculous reasons' thing is also quite real, earlier this year there were people arrested for protesting against LGBT discrimination by the education ministry. One thing that smells a bit fishy to me, however, is the 'vote for PAP to receive special benefits' thing you talked about at 12:35. I have never heard of such a thing before, and our votes are supposed to be anonymous. I'd love to see your source on that. EDIT: I stand corrected. Apparently that was the case in the past. Not sure if it's still the case but it used to be. I think most of us, especially the older generation, aren't extremely bothered by the lack of opposition in politics because life in Singapore isn't THAT bad, it's actually pretty comfortable. I think most people are just alright with the status quo and fear that change may disrupt it. Personally, I'm not very bothered about politics as long as the government in power gets the job done, which they have been for quite a few decades now. However, nowadays I think more people are better educated on our political scene and are more cognisant of the issues that have arisen as a result of the essentially one-party rule. That's probably why the PAP is starting to lose some of its voters. Nevertheless, if it really comes to it, I think Singaporeans would gladly vote for the oppositions if it meant that we'd have a better standard of living. I don't know if I can speak for everyone but to me, as long as Singapore continues to progress, I don't care which party is in power. We still have a long way to go, but either way I'm proud to be Singaporean. One thing I've always found funny when foreigners discuss Singapore online is that we are commonly downplayed and called names like 'Disneyland with a death penalty' or 'fine city'. I've even seen people on Reddit talk about us Singaporeans like we're some deeply oppressed slaves living in an Orwellian society. Maybe it's just me and my outlook on life but I don't think it's anywhere near as bad as that. Sure, we may have some serious issues regarding mental health and our happiness, or lack thereof it, but in general I think most of our issues stem from the cost of living and the constant rat race here. I really admire you for the amount of research you put into this video though, it's pretty solid. Good job man Okay one last thing, for the love of god please stop calling the ruling party the PAP, it's super weird to hear it as a local. We call them the P A P. We pronounce each letter individually, hearing the acronym pronounced as it looks is disturbing

Interesting video, one learns something new every day. By the way, I have a question regarding South Korea and would appreciate any insight. I remember reading an article some time ago that was describing South Korean democracy as great in principle but not really relevant. It went on to claim that South Korea is predominantly run by private business and that this was due to companies choosing to settle in a certain area (City, province etc.) and basically expand to the point that they become the single largest employer and provider of services in that area thus basically dictating how things are run. I am just curious to know if this claim has any truth to it.

The problem is that “democratic” countries have separation of powers, but still fuse democracy and dictatorship in their governments. This is more important than the existence of a “President” office or multiple legislative chambers. For all the millennia democracy has been known in theory or practice, one would think separation of democracy and dictatorship ought to have been tried in a democratic government by now. However, no democratic government existing currently does this.

I've found that Singapore's racial policies, as well as the voting pattern is similar to South Africa's, but the opposite. - In Singapore, you have an undemocratic, but highly efficient government, that people keep voting for non-stop. - In South Africa, you have a democratic, but grossly incompetent government, that people keep voting for non-stop.

He’s pronouncing PAP like how you would in PAP smear

Great. Insightful

As a Singaporean your video just presents things without the deeper context. We do not blindly believe everything the Government says . We are also not stupid enough to allow our country to burn.

"The PAP may not learn this lesson, but you can learn thousands of great lesson on Skillshare" AJFDADASGFL I'm deceased.

I’m not Singaporean but in solidarity, I demand Polymatter start saying USA as “oosaa

Singapore won the lottery, but it does not mean the lottery is a good long-term investment.

I like to think that being a dictator, will never be a synonymous of being a tyrant, if the dictator takes all the decisions for the people's sake, then he can't be considered a bad person.

Fun fact: Singaporeans generally address the ruling party as "P - A - P" 3 syllabus as the 3 letters, and not "pap" 1 syllabus. Either that, or "gahmen" - singlish for "government".

"What is the result of your pap smear?" "Three years and eight cannings."

People: I want to protest Singapore: Sure, fill up this form, also, no. No you cannot protest

Perhaps it's time to re-study the concepts - democracy, authoritarian, dictatorship, plutocracy, etc... If some countries made it to success with what works for them, we have to understand that each of us are different in culture, social structure, values and many more. Let's appreciate the successes, learn from them and be careful with other things we're not so familiar with. Nothing's wrong with learning and understanding.

China: socialism with Chinese characteristics Singapore: capitalism with Chinese characteristics Taiwan: democracy with Chinese characteristics Hong Kong: Chinese with British characteristics Macau: a casino with city-state characteristics

All i think about the election in singapore are the memes "We have an East Coast plan....."

Another great video. Please clarify one thing. At around 2:52 you state "As colonies around the world gained their independence in the mid "19th" century...." But, the cc captions state "the mid 20th century..." Which is correct? Thanks! Always enjoy your well researched and unbiased vids.

A great documentary that sums up Singapore

As a Singaporean, sending PAP a message is why I plan to vote for opposition party. We have many opposition parties, but many are outright incompetent. But they don't get to become competent since they never get the chance to gain political experience. One can argue that the PAP is a benevolent dictatorship at the moment, but I doubt that will stay the same forever and I wish the opposition parties get the chance to grow by being elected. Also, it's pronounced P-A-P (3 letters), not pap. I found that funny. =P

“Liberalism Disavowed” by Chua Beng Huat is a good objective analysis of the Singapore system of governance, and why it is so enduring. (Even if the PAP falls, a new government will not dismantle the key pillars of the system such as public housing, multiracialism, and state capitalism)

I actually agree with that quote at 12:00 it's against laziness in regards to political action (or at least, voting)

First of all it is not a dictatorship , it is a democracy, just because a party did such an excellent job and win all election since 1965 doesn’t make it a dictatorship.

Dictatorship = High Risk High Reward depends on the quality of reining government If there is a corrupt ruler dictatorship is bad Democracy = Low Risk Low Reward depends on the quality of its people If there are too many uneducated people, democracy will be close to a chaos.

Hence when the opposition wins a sector, otherwise known as a GRC, during elections, Singaporeans cheer, party and make memes about it the following day. Most of us are neutral to the PAP, and are alright with a parliament shared between the PAP & the opposition parties. To truly understand Singapore, one has to come stay here for months, be it as an expat, a permanent resident or to actually become a new citizen.

Saying "the inly thing getting in the..." is a far fetched and arguably inappropriate reduction of national politics/economics. Singapore allowed itself to be a work center for the West and excluded the rest of Malaysia in doing so. There are plenty of international coties around the world that have had similar positions. Shanghai, Lagos, etc... Singapore is located in the center of the global export hub that is East Asia and thus is a prime location for businesses to set up headquarters/outposts. Singapore has benefitted from relative regional stability. It is small and thus has a lower GDP/cap:HDI ratio than most nations (it's far cheaper/more profitable to build public transit in a city-state than to do so through a rural country). Asian nations (the confucian point) are far less revolutionary in character than Western or African nations, with respect for authority deeply ingrained in their cultures, meaning a dictatorship doesn't have to spend as many resources oppressing their populace and putting down rebellions as they would have to in another country. Singapore was lucky that it's dictators wanted to build a powerful nation instead of being like Sri Lanka and intentionally destroying their country. Politics isn't an obstacle to progress. It's a method of doing things, progressive and counter-productibe things. It certainly slows everything down if consensus isn't reached, but there are ways around this/ways of running a country so that people don't want to throw out the government everytime there's an issue. Some of those things are vaguely fascistic - silencing the media, charging those who levy false allegations or incendniary accusations against the regime, purging corrupt officials, but fundamentally, it involves three things. 1). As you mentioned, is ensuring that you deliver for the population. 2). Is preventing malignant forces from gaining a foothold in your country to begin with. (Mafias, disloyal businesses, etc...) 3). Is helping your populace to understand the government's role in crises resolutions before they happen. "Yes, there is a bad drought and food prices have increased. We are working on reallocating funds from research into etc... to help pay for hunger relief programs. We expect to lower food prices at the point of purchase by 7% by this November. We are in this together." And you force any station that calls themselves news to air that statement whenever they address the issue of inflation in food prices. If a channel does not, or they make incendiary comments claiming that the government is ignoring the food crisis and not doing enough to relieve inflation but they do not back this up with hard evidence that there are solutions that government officials are choosing not to pursue, you fine them, you refuse them interviews, you force them to remove "News," from their name, because they are exploiting a crisis for personal gain. That's not politics. That's business. A good example of the problem is the US, where school shootings are played all over television and Democrats take the opportunity to proclaim that they can solve that problem and then discuss gun control policies that would not do much to change the number of gun deaths in the country. Republicans and Democrats taking different positions on gun control isn't a problem. Republicans and Democrats discussing policies openly and backing them up with data isn't a problem. The problem is that Democrats have a large mafia backing and the illegal firearms market will benefit them and Republicans get funding from legal gun manufacturers, the NRA and the like, so preventing gun control benefits them, thus there is no intended solution being discussed, only corruption without accountability.

"Economic development is much more important than democracy." Yup.. true..

The problem with Singapore is that not every generation might have a LKY. He was an era defining genius and damn lucky.

It's so obvious why Deng Xiaoping was inspired by Singapore when making his reforms.

I was from a low income family in Singapore where my single mother earned less than $1200 a month. Together with me and my 3 siblings, we rented a 1 room hdb flat from the government. We would not be able to get by without the financial assistance provided by the government and CDAC. Not only did they help us financially, they also put in place a system where anyone can strive to be successful if they have the right mindset. We escaped provery after I have gotten a job after serving my national service, and upgraded our house to a 5 room resale flat. I think compared to others of my age, I am grateful for what the government has done to help us in our time of needs. With how the oppositions are now, I really hope that a freak election won't happen (with how people are voting) as that will really be the end of Singapore.

I worked in Singapore for a while - Yes, it is pretty much a one party government. Yes, its really not a democracy. Yes, it is a technically a dictatorship state. But it is the most efficient, productive, and incredibly resilient nation. It's not perfect, but it fits the country's need, and people's need perfectly.

I feel that we need to take Singapore with a grain of salt: its amazing but rare. most of the time dictatorships are not benevolent and are failing behind democracies, so we should not even consider dictatorship as an option for good governance simply because of statistics. lets be happy for singapore it worked for them but not try to look for something similar

Asian standard, A+ is not enough and 60% vote to win the election is too little 😂

Do not eyeball the city state in negative shades. We have universal health care, fast public transport, clean water & parks, safe public housing, good food, etc.. I backpacked across many countries.

It's not a dictatorship if the people actually favors the government

5:59 just a heads up people in Singapore don't say 'pap' as one syllable but always as a 3-letter initialism/acronym 'p-a-p'

pleaseee its so funny to hear him call “P.A.P.”, “pap”

Salaries and good employment prospects were it's best appeal. To even have a visa less entry into nations like USA showed that there was no "hanky panky" and or "patronage" in how the government is run. The citizens belived in it's fair and just "management" of the nation. The rules are obeyed and no special treatment for any group or "family" .. That's how I saw 🇸🇬 Singapore.

Those that judge the heights we attain must remember the depths from which we came. As someone who looks on with great admiration at the achievements of the Lee Kwan Yeuw dynasty, I dare say, money in your pocket is the greatest form of freedom and democracy there can ever be. This video doesn't do justice to the great achievements of LKY and PAP but smears them, the criminals who were sued for defamation could not defend their offensive allegations in a nation whose judiciary has been ranked as among the most fair and transparent in the world. If nations like my own had half the quality and depth of Singaporean leadership I believe the sky would be the limit. There's some attempt to be objective but the position you take is needless and counter-productive.

In Johannesburg, South Africa, our provincial intercity commuter rail (Gautrain) also bans chewing gum and any open drinks or food. The service has compliance officers walking around on the train to check. The trains still looks brand new inside after 11 years of operation; I’d much rather have that than graffitied, dirty trains…

Polymatter: Singapore a dictatorship? Singapore Govt: I take umbrage. Sends takedown notice and sues for slander

dictatorships very often work well when they manage small states. the larger the size, the more difficult it becomes to manage for a small group. democracy and free market are both ways that make population management easier. people often confuse them as inherently good, but they are just useful tools, a means, and not an end of itself.

An low corruption + efficient government make wonders i believe, i have not much complains growing up here, problems i encounter so far are usually social not political

Think its also worth mentioning that while the PAP "only" got 61.5% of the vote that still resulted in them getting 90% of the seats in parlement. With how they gerrymander they could probably still maintain a majority with 30% of the vote, so having any other party rule is a very, very long way away.

Considering it's size Singapore really has a lot going for it.

So Basically Singapore is a Capitalist North Korea?

from Singapore we learn that people care more about their prosperity and security than their freedom. the need of "freedom" arises whenever people's conditions are not met and they yearn to have the means to express their grievances. however, if a country is well-managed, efficient and relatively corruption-free, people generally want the incumbent system to go on, and won't be bothered by the system's lack of democracy.

We SE/E. Asians, have a very different concept of "dictator" from Westerners. For them, a democracy without effective opposition is a dictatorship. To us here, as long as a ruler doesn't murder people in broad daylight, he isn't a dictator. To me, as long as the Singaporean people still continue to not throw out PAP, the Singaporeans gave their consent to this social contract. Hey, even Japan has essentially same one-party rule but no one's saying it's a dictatorship.

Saying P.A.P. like pap is like saying the G.O.P. like gop

16:23 if I remember correctly the soda ban was something that Mayor Bloomberg floated and never implemented.

Great video, but I have a question: you claim that Vietnam and Laos have voter intimidation, and checking through your sources I can't find an article to back this up. I always thought Laos and Vietnam had democratic centralism, and considered their electoral systems highly, can anyone direct me to any sources you used to find this information?

The fun part about the election is that often times, promises are often always carried out and aren't empty. _Then there's complaining to your member of parliament on problems in your neighborhood, which sometimes gets fixed, depending on said problem._

As a malaysian, what I've admired about Lee Kuan Yew is that he did exactly what most other countries failed to do with the same system, while having a smaller country helps, it is still as hard to commit to the vision you had initially for an entire country, let alone set it up to follow that vision through even after death. While I feel pity for those he has jailed, he did so knowing he could bring singapore up unhindered. Had he been able to convince them he was going to turn singapore into what it is now, he likely would have not jailed them. And who can blame them or LKY himself? It's very skeptical that anyone would follow through with their promise with that much power, yet LKY did. I wish Malaysia was equally well off but we're a joke.

fun fact: New York does not ban Soda, what it does is limit the size of soda cans to 16 ounces for health reasons in 2014. As such it's not a ban, just a restriction on the can size that can be sold. Oddly enough 16 ounces is the average size of a soda can in the US anyway, so it's not seen as a big deal.

Their form of government fits the needs of it's citizen. People are content with it and any significant changes will affect it. Changes will always occur no matter how long it takes but that doesnt mean people have to adopt it especially if the current system works.

For most of the population, so long as it continues to prosper, few are going to rock the boat. From young, we are taught that our rice bowl is made from porcelain, no one will care of our well being other than ourselves. It's one of the reasons why people here are pragmatic. Freedom of speech means nothing if we cannot put food on the table

You need to research about Switzerlands system of government. It's a polar opposite compared to Singapore, yet their standard of living are similar. Switzerland is a direct democracy, the people decide what happens. It has 4 official languages, 25% of people are immigrants, and hasn't been in a war in 2 centuries

Singapore be like: We're a dictatory by popular demand.

Just a quick question for anyone who can and would reply. So basically Singapore is kinda like a dictatorship because the same party has been elected ever since the 1960s, but technically isn't because there exist elections. The problem is the election always results in PAP winning because of censorship. Please correct me if I'm wrong I'm just having trouble understanding this. Any help would be appreciated.

I am a singapore resident staying at kaki bukit and i can say the reason its districts kept changing was because its the only few places where most people support the opposition party in singapore

*"A dictatorship pretending to be a democracy"* *-russia 2021*

The smallness and vulnerability of Singapore may mean that such a authoritarian system ultimately is suitable as a true democracy will mean constant internal fighting and short-term planning. And with Singapore's culture being largely collectivist and obedient in nature, this system also works perfectly.

As a singaporean myself, I can vouch for this. You can say that my country is somewhere in between north korea's dictatorship and the US liberalism, but leaning more towards dictatorship of course.