re: re:banjar: travellers to singapore beware !! ( don, what I...

re: re:banjar: travellers to singapore beware !! ( don, what I see happening in Singapore is that initially an authoritarian leader, LKY, imposed strict discipline on a disparate and poorly educated population and promised them prosperity if they behaved. He then proceeded to educate and skill them to progressively higher levels and at the same time establishing Singapore as a safe and secure haven for local and foreign businesses to flourish. Rather than producing a workforce of subservient robots ready to do someone elses bidding he instead produced one that was highly disciplined, highly educated, and with aspirations to match. Once educated and able to match others on the world stage, it is natural that they also aspire to the freedoms of those they mix with, so enter PM Goh Chok Tong who then proceeded to relax the reins a bit, something that would have been out of character for LKY to even contemplate. Now the baton has been passed to PM Lee Hsien Loong whose background in business will be used to further develop Singapores economy and bring even greater prosperity to it's citizens. I don't see Singapore going down the path you imagine it might, rather the exact opposite.
With regards to capital punishment I cannot see Singapore bowing to outside pressure, especially to make an exception for one man, in fact I think outside pressure will only harden their resolve. What I could see perhaps happening sometime in the future is that the intellectual citizens may work through their parlimentary system to bring some change at a time that is appropriate. However I don't think we can comtemplate this happening whilst LKY is alive.