It was with trepidation that I landed in Singapore last year. I was going to spend a lot of time there using it as a hub to visit places in South East Asia. Would I get into trouble in a country which has an authoritarian government and is reputed to be a police state? Is my big mouth going to let me down? Such was my state of mind when I stepped off the plane that anyone with a lanyard around their neck gave me the jitters. Everyone else, I feared, were police officers in mufti! Paranoid if you want a one word summary of my mental state. And ignorant, I hear some of you remark.

It took me a couple of days to realise that my fears were exaggerated. Yes, it’s a small island with near total CCTV surveillance. Its four pillars of democracy are not as robust as each other. But as long as I didn’t jaywalk or spit in public places or molest or litter or organise a political rally, no one was interested in me. As I don’t habitually indulge in any of the above, jaywalking excepted, I was fine. I would be spared judicial caning both metaphorical and, for the most heinous of crimes and overstaying one’s visa, literal! In any case, over 50s are exempt from caning, I have learned since.

It was only after I was disabused of this starkly negative imagination of Singapore that I started looking around to appreciate its charm. The order, cleanliness, the tension free coexistence of three distinct races- Chinese, Malay and Indians, were remarkable. So were the discipline and civic sense of ordinary people. As to places of touristic interest, I’ll spare you the agony of my description and refer to the included photographs instead.

My Indian-British conditioned mind did nonetheless lead me to a deeper question on the merits of Singaporean society. Some of us find it difficult to reconcile with the idea of the nanny state telling us how to behave. Apparently, in 1980, Lord Balfour, a British politician, had vehemently opposed mandatory seatbelt legislation calling it a nanny state intervention. He also worried about future legislation on lifejackets! (This piece of information from Wikipedia made me smile. During my tenure at the UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch, I had written an entire report arguing for the wearing of lifejackets on small boats to be made mandatory) While I make no argument in support of a nanny state, I am tempted to quote Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father of modern Singapore:

QUOTE

And I say without the slightest remorse, that we wouldn’t be here, we would not have made economic progress, if we had not intervened on very personal matters–who your neighbour is, how you live, the noise you make, how you spit, or what language you use.

UNQUOTE

I can’t disagree with Mr Lee considering how since its separation from Malaysia in 1965, Singapore was transformed into one of the wealthiest and most peaceful nations on earth.

Confucius had said that all that is needed is a benevolent king who always acts in the best interest of his subjects. Singapore’s perfect king, the People’s Action Party, in power since the inception of the country, has enjoyed tremendous popularity and governs with a massive majority in parliament. Home ownership is close to 90%, indices of human development are what most developed countries can only dream about, per capita share of the GDP is third in the world, crime is minimal, justice almost instant. Yes, I can’t march down the streets waving a flag, declaring my allegiance to a cause – unless I’ve taken prior permission to do so.

So, all things considered, would I live in Singapore? Absolutely, if they will have me. Would I bring up my children there? Well, in my book, a rounded education includes a bit of chaos, a touch of madness, and a sliver of defiance. So, no.