A visit from the Singaporean police

I want to add this to John Patterson’s excellent letter: I just watched a TV show in which popular American presenter Thom Hartmann shared his experiences of Singapore after his visit there to give a speech. 

Singapore is a tiny “democratic” authoritarian country where politics is merging more and more with the corporate world and some in Hartmann’s audience asked what to do with that. He answered, “Go lobby it.” Back in his hotel room he found absolutely all of his belongings trashed on the floor, but – nothing missing! The police had been there. The hotel manager said that was how the police tell you they’ve been there.

Many people see Singapore flourishing and therefore admire it, but it’s ruled with a hard hand despite facing no crises that might demand a hard hand, as in Thailand. Is the authoritarian way anything to admire, though?

A Johnsen

Chon Buri