From a Singapore Angle

From ST (Aug 5) "PM wants S'poreans debating, thinking about nation's challenges" by Sue-Ann Chia:

[PM Lee] responded to perceptions that Singapore was a tightly controlled country with a limit to how much criticism the Government would tolerate. He told [broadcast journalist Charlie Rose] *there was no problem with Singaporeans engaging the Government over the best way to solve problems. But if it came to questioning the Government's right to rule or a fundamental policy, then the best test of who was right was the electorate. 'If you want to disagree with me... we must put it to the test - who has the mandate to decide and take the direction on behalf of the country. I think that's quite reasonable.'

As for Singapore being a one-party state and 'essentially controlled by one family', he said that was not possible in this age of cable and satellite TV, and the Internet. 'You can get anything you want in Singapore. You can travel, you can bring it in. You can organise what you want. You can say anything you want, and all sorts of things are debated in Singapore,' he said. He also said a key point was that Singaporeans 'support the system and find their leaders by open, transparent and meritocratic ways'.

On the issue of nepotism, Mr Lee said firmly: 'It's completely untrue. People have said it; we've sued them.' Those who have had to apologise and retract their statements include media organisations such as Bloomberg and The Economist. They did so because 'they were completely wrong. They said it was because of family connections... 'We challenged them to prove it. They withdrew, and published apologies, which I thought was necessary.'

*His precise words: "If you`re arguing with me over the best way to solve problems, we can talk, and we can talk indefinitely."

You can read more about the interview on this blog by Vikash Yadav, assistant Professor of Political Science, The American University in Cairo. He's been blogging about Singapore, from Singapore.