Lee Kwan Yew: Epitaph of an Authoritarian

Mainstream Western press eulogizes Lee Kuan Yew using both praise and criticism. Yes he oversaw an "economic miracle." But this miracle occurred within an authoritarian state. So prosperity improved while political freedom stood still. Such conclusions are to some degree accurate. But, my speaking as a westerner (and an American ) compels me to state such conclusions though somewhat fair should prompt us westerners to compare US strengths to the supposed weakness in the People's Action Party (PAP's) and Lee Kwan Yew's legacy. Does the U.S. regime show such strong and unflinching respect for civil liberties that LKY's authoritarianism deserves condescending criticism?

A column published in the "Guardian" by a person identified as Coltan Tan provides an example of the media eulogizing LKYas a leader presiding as an authoritarian over economic success. Tan's editorial entitled "Lee Kwan Yew leaves a legacy of authoritarian pragmatism" reminds the reader that LKY's legacy is wedded to authoritarianism.

First, Singapore's economic "miracle" should not be ignored simply because the media's constantly cites economic statistics to remind us of Singapore's deserving place within the OECD, an honor roll so to speak of first world economies. Of course there is always an important lesson suffocating beneath layers of stats. One important lesson is culled from our examining the layers of praise given to LKY for Singapores's economy. This lesson if learned should encourage the Western media to compare the U.S. own unacknowledged authoritarian state to Singapore's before offering mixed praise of LKY as creating a strong economy while maintaining his authoritarian state.

Some aggregate statistics show that Singaporeans enjoy a higher quality of life than Americans. For example, Singaporeans have better access to healthcare and suffer less economic hardship from medical bills. The United States' health care expenditures nearly equal 18% of its gross domestic product (GDP). [1]. By contrast, Singapore's health care expenditures as of 2013 equal 4.6% of its GDP. [2].

Singapore also has a higher GDP per capita than the U.S. [3]. Singapore, though, continues to experience slightly higher income equality as measured by the GINI Index. [4]. These statistics are not recent revelations.

Singapore has no official definition for poverty, making it difficult to compare the level of destitution existing within their economy compared to the U.S. Studies have been conducted in order to attempt to calculate the poverty rate in Singapore. These studies have generated poverty rates ranging from 10% to 26%. [5]. The poverty threshold in the U.S. for a family of four in 2015 is $24,250. [6]. And, the threshold during the year 2013 equaled a poverty rate in the U.S. of 14.5%. The wide range of the poverty rates calculated for Singapore complicates and obscures comparing accurately its structure of upward mobility to the U.S. Rates of upward mobility are at least one important component of assessing a society's freedom. Thus, economic statistics though boring and cited ad nauseum remain important in examining to what degree a nation's economic institutions fosters freedom for its citizens.

But, the western media's analysis of the LKY's economic miracle never prompts their asking something to the effect: "why does the U.S. quality of life as measured by these statistics partly lag behind this city-state that just 50 years ago was expelled from Malaysia? Instead, as shown in recent western eulogies of LKY, Singapore's economic successes should not blind us to its well entrenched and functioning authoritarianism.

If we ignore the difference in material quality of life and focus on Singapore's authoritarian state, then Singapore's economic miracle is more easily seen as a prison made with bars of gold. An arrest of a teenager who posted a"H You Tube video mocking the late LKY provides vivid material for the West to remind the world that Singapore's legacy of authoritarianism continues. Sticking with the prison metaphor, let's compare the actual prison populations between both Singapore and the U.S. Singapore's prison rate for 2014 is 220 per 100,000 of national population. [7]. The U.S. prison population as of 2013 is 698 per 100,000 of national population. [8]. LKY's authoritarian state features much less a prison population than the nation that President W. Bush once claimed is hated for its freedom.

Incarceration rates weaken the claim that Singapore is one whiff away from dictatorship while the U.S. despite some of its economic dysfunctions enjoys freedom making it the envy of the world. Moreover, numbers of citizens killed by police close even further the freedom deficit dividing both the U.S. and Singapore.

The issue of Americans killed by police confounds the image of a nation enjoying such robust freedom that it motivates hatred from abroad. The number of citizens killed by police motivates many issues about civil liberties. The trend of killings themselves are troubling enough, but what is equally disturbing is the U.S. government's compiling data of such killings. Although the U.S. rich technological base has allowed the tracking and tabulating of vast swaths of data and activity ranging from trivial to very sensitive personals information, its federal government performs no nationwide tracking of such killings. The U.S. Government seeks to rectify the lack of tracking of police killing of citizens by authorizing the FBI to request city police departments provide such date.  This effort though offers little promise of providing accurate data because city police departments are not required to provide this requested data, 

Singapore does not appear to track or publish this data to the general public (or at least I simply cannot find it). Meanwhile, the U.S. just announces superficial efforts to track this data which are just ineffectual public relations.

These facts don't imply that Americans enjoy less freedom than Singaporeans. They do show that they both manage two different strains of authoritarianism. Singapore's strain is more annoying to the West when judged according to its normative standards. Singapore's current laws confer less if no legal rights at all to homosexuals. This invites easy condemnation from the West. Thus, the West applauds its open mindedness in accepting gay marriage while having no moral qualms with using drones. Yes LKY was an authoritarian. His authoritarian state overlapped and helped forge the Singapore economy into first world status. One can argue whether the latter's accomplishment justifies the use of LKY's authoritarian state. But, it is foolish continually wrapping authoritarian garb around his legacy while ignoring the authoritarian state in the U.S., especially because the latter exerts much more geopolitical influence. Looking forward, what should cause more concern, a city-state governed by one political party, or an empire failing to see the futility of attempting to maintain its global hegemony?

1. William A. Haseltine. Affordable Excellence: The Singapore Healthcare Story (How to Create and Manage Sustainable Healthcare Systems. 2013. Brookings Institution Press. Washington D.C. http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/press/books/2013/affordableexcellence/affordableexcellencepdf.pdf

2. The World Bank Data: IBRD, IDA. "Health Care Expenditure, total (% of GDP)". http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.TOTL.ZS

3. The World Bank Data: IBRD, IDA. "GDP per capita (US$)." http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD

4. Central Intelligence Agency. "The World Factbook." Distribution of Family Income-GINI Index. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2172.html

5. "Measuring Poverty in Singapore: Frameworks for Consideration." The Lien Center for Social Innovation and SMU School of Social Sciences. https://centres.smu.edu.sg/lien/files/2013/11/SocialSpace2013-2014_SanushkaMudaliar.pdf

6. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation "2015 Poverty Guidelines." http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/15poverty.cfm

7. "World Prison Brief." International Center for Prison Studies ICPS. http://www.prisonstudies.org/country/singapore

8. "World Prison Brief." International Center for Prison Studies ICPS. http://www.prisonstudies.org/country/united-states-america