Singapore has yet to shed its authoritarian image

Associated Press. December 20 1999.

By JASMINA KUZMANOVIC

IN official messages, artists were told to flourish, kids to think more independently, and citizens to relax and have more fun.

The messages were intended to herald a new era of openness in Singapore, eager to improve its authoritarian image and draw talent from abroad.

The purported shift was much touted in Western media. Among others, Time magazine extolled "swinging Singapore" in a cover story this year.

But old ways and new intentions do not seem to mix easily in this tightly controlled city-state, where for 40 years the governing People's Action Party has dominated every walk of life with an unusual combination of tight government control and freewheeling capitalism.

Despite all the talk of change, cultural and political restrictions remain or have even been reinforced.

The critically acclaimed movie "Eyes Wide Shut" by the late director Stanley Kubrick was censored - a sign that the state monitors who screen all imported movies, CDs and publications have not mellowed.

Singapore's political patriarch, Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew, has touched off a crackdown on "Singlish," the local brand of English mixed with Malay and Chinese idioms.

After Lee remarked that TV comedies in which Singlish is used stifle the country's economic development, government-controlled national TV promptly promised to "educate" the lead character of a popular sitcom.

Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong recently rejected a proposal for a "Speakers' Corner" in Singapore, underscoring the law that prohibits Singaporeans from making public speeches without a special police permit.

Most recently, the interior minister accused the Straits Times of "alarming" Singaporeans with "unbalanced reporting" of crime stories. Even though the newspaper is under government control, its editors sometimes test the limits of what can be reported.

All this despite comments from Singapore's leaders that their society must open up to maintain its dominant role as a financial and trade hub in Southeast Asia.

To compete in today's globalized economy, they said, Singapore must change to attract artists, financial wizards and experts from abroad, as well as keep young, educated Singaporeans from leaving. They pictured a "vital global center for information and the arts" - a "Renaissance city."

But except for a few new nightclubs and a theater play dealing with AIDS, there's not much evidence of glasnost Singapore-style taking hold.

"A lot of it is purely cosmetic," said poet and playwright Alfian Sa'at. "Singapore is still permeated by restrictions, censorship and self-censorship. And not many (Singaporeans) try to confront it."

Singapore's leaders are still wrestling with how to kindle creative thoughts without endangering the political and social status quo in this wealthy nation of 3.2 million people, experts say.

"The government is collectively feeling its way on this one," said Bruce Gale, a regional analyst with the Singapore-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy. "They want to be careful. They want to open the society, but without endangering their grip on power."

"Singapore has become more relaxed since the '80s, but it's certainly not a liberal democracy," Gale added.

Chiam See Tong, an opposition legislator, recently told Parliament: "Democracy is not a luxury for Singapore. It is a necessity if it wants to be vibrant, dynamic and creative."

The leadership elite seems convinced the paternalistic approach can coexist with new ideas.

George Yeo, Singapore's influential minister of trade and industry, said Singapore will continue to change.

When asked whether more substantial changes are needed for Singapore to grow into a global metropolis, Yeo said: "We won't make changes in order to please journalists, but to optimize our chances for survival."

Yeo said he felt "uneasy" by the Time cover story on "swinging Singapore."

"We changed because it's good for us to change, not to please (the West)," he said. "And please don't exaggerate these changes, because you'll be disappointed."