I've lived and worked in Singapore - I know Singapore better than any country except Australia.
It's beautiful efficient and a good safe place to live, especially for expats. Mind you, there's not much of it and locals in ordinary jobs live like ants.
The state sees people as useful even essential children who should be obedient. The state is the elite who have dominated since independence. They carry on the british colonial harsh punishment regime which was so effective for the british and now the same for the elite. They have harsh penalties for minor matters. They don't really enforce them but if you do get caught or they don't like you for some reason then look out.
Police don't take bribes openly. It's a "well-ordered" society as you would expect from a country that has been in the grip of a focussed elite for many decades.
The people are cared for like farm animals, content hardworking and well behaved. They are free to make money if they are entrepreneurial. There are interesting artists but they cannot rock the boat without being gaoled.
However, they commit murder as a state. At least 400 hanged in fairly recent years, some for 15 grams of dope or for soft drugs like marijuana. The residents don't hear about most of those hangings. The press knows exactly what is OK to say.
Why should a state be able to kill? Surely a state is merely a collective of individuals who individually cannot kill except in certain state sanctioned circumstances. I believe killing is just as wrong when committed by the state or sanctioned by the state which in this instance is a long established rulling elite. The opposition in Singapore would never be allowed to win an election so it's not a real democracy.
So yes the parks are nice the buildings are tall but the fact is they kill people which to me makes them murderers like any other.
