Just got a video recommendation about him defending the death penalty for drug traffickers and I remembered all the western propaganda about him being “le great man” who singlehandedly raised Singapore out of poverty or some shit.

  • Alaskaball [comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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    2 years ago

    I don’t really know much about him or Singapore outside of some cursory reading on wiki about the state, history, and economic data of the micro-country, because an animator/comic maker that I like (RandoWis) mentioned that he was doing another forced stint in their military reserve, and how every Singaporean has to serve in active duty like occupied Korea, and also having a forced 10 year stint in the reserves.

    My conclusion on the cursory examination is that it’s a capitalist taxhaven hellhole that’s like Dubai, and :biden-troll: New Jersey rolled together. It’s one of the most wealthy nations in ASEAN, and has a disgusting level of wealth inequality. It prides itself on being one of the most free places on earth for corporations, yet its government is strong (and smart enough) to utilize its taxes to build an intricate welfare state to keep the poor Singaporeans above water.

    Knowledge on the country is well out of my depths, so anyone else either from there or studied the region would know more

  • CliffordBigRedDog [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    2 years ago

    Its simple, Singapore was “chosen” to be “prosperous” because that serves the interest of global capital the best

    No real natural resources so no need for resource extraction

    Good port, ideal for a trade and finance hub

    Very little to do with people running it

    Same as Hong Kong

  • GaveUp [she/her]@hexbear.net
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    2 years ago

    Singapore being one of the busiest ports for China due to geography while being such a tiny country with such a low population makes it incredibly easy to become wealthy