Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/07/27/first-ever-michelin-star-for-s.html
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ruthless authoritarianism, racial politics, censorship and reliance on the death penalty
I used to make this caveat when praising Singapore as well. Then I remembered that I live in America 
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In recent history I am ever reminded of
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I’ve eaten a fair amount of Singaporean street ood and never regretted it
These guys aren’t happy you’re eating their homeless Singaporean relatives.
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That’s fair. It’s not that I regard Singapore’s policies as acceptable, only that I don’t think it deserves its position in conventional wisdom as uniquely repressive.
In a perfect world, food reviews of American restaurants would say things like “It may be located in the heart of an incarceration-crazy madhouse, but this is some damn fine barbecue” and then I’d have no beef with Cory’s write-up 
Edit: Quick googling shows that the incarceration rate in the US is 698/100,000. Singapore’s is 220/100,000. Execution rates are harder to come by, but the US seems to be in the top 5 and Singapore not.
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“I’ve eaten a fair amount of Singaporean street ood and never regretted it”
The Ood would like to politely ask you to stop eating them,
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Beat me to it!
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Ah, the classic “I know you are but what am I” defense.
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I just find it timely on the general subject, I wasn’t calling upon it as some sort of zinger.
But, really, it does address the supposed moral high ground the US takes in its stances on evils overseas. If we were interested in human rights versus financial and strategic interests abroad, America would be closer to the myth than the horrorshow it is today.
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The USA executed 28 people in 2015 (was the lowest number of executions recorded since 1991). In 2015, the USA had the fifth highest number of executions in the world: only China, Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were worse than the USA.
Even Taiwan executed more criminals (6) than Singapore (which executed about as many criminals as Japan did).
Singapore executed only 4 criminals in 2015: one criminal stabbed a 70-year old woman 110 times to her death, while the other three criminals were foreign drug traffickers/smugglers.
Watch YouTube “Mr. Lee Kuan Yew’s interview with Mr. Tim Sebastian on BBC HARDTalk” .
Read “The Illusion of Freedom” by Chris Hedges.
Any opinions on he chicken rice vs pork noodle?
Just wondering…
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I agree that Singapore’s policies sound quite harsh, but in practice they seem to work out because of what seems to be one of the least corrupt governments of any country. I had to do some serious thinking about whether I’d feel more free or safe there or in the US - where there is a lot more freedom on paper, but more uncertainty as to where people really stand. While it sounds like Singapore really is what it says on the tin. I still am not sure!
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Do you chew gum? If you forget, are you prone to leaving it somewhere?
Not with this body, but some of the others do.
In the tree, when I can!
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Welcome to BoingBoing.
How do the above figures look expressed as a percentage of the population?
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Also be certain to adjust America for execution-by-cop as we have so empowered our paramilitary forces.
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Your question has been answered by Lee Kuan Yew on BBC HARDTalk. Fast fwd to the 2:00 min mark
Percentage of which population? Only one executed criminal in 2015 was a Singapore resident, so it was 1 in 5,600,000 people.
What’s more important is the regional norm:
The USA is the ONLY country that executes humans in entire North America and South America (two continents) – thus, the USA goes against its regional norms. Since 1976, the US has executed at least 1,437 people. In 1999 it had 98 executions. In 2000 it had 85 executions.
In Asia, 18 different countries carried out executions in 2015 – that’s most of Asia. Singapore was just one of those 18 countries, including Japan, Taiwan, India, Malaysia, Bangladesh and China. Executing criminals and drug traffickers is the norm in most of Asia.
Now read Chris Hedges “The Illusion of Freedom” in the US
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