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By Sahana Singh
Between my early life in India and my current life in the United States, I
spent 14 years in paradise: Singapore.
From clean water and crime-free streets to reliable public transportation and
easy access to libraries, the Government anticipates all the basic needs to
provide its residents a good quality of life and eliminate the stresses that
can impede personal progress.
But in the coverage that followed the death of Singapore's founding Prime
Minister Lee Kuan Yew on Monday, Western media has painted a very different
picture.
They describe a crushing autocrat who chained his people and stripped them of
basic freedoms. My experience was quite the contrary. Outside of this tiny
island utopia, I never felt more free.
When we first arrived and checked into a hotel, I called room service and asked
for a jug of filtered water - a standard health precaution. The hotel employee
dismissed my concerns: "You can drink water from the tap in your bathroom."
At first, I was horrified by the suggestion. In India, water filters were as
common as TV sets and refrigerators in middle- and upper-class homes. But here,
I soon discovered, the state maintained a high-quality water treatment process
that delivered purified water nationwide. Not only was Singapore's water
drinkable straight from the tap, but it always gushed with good pressure, even
on the top floors of the tallest buildings. It was my first introduction to a
government that works.
In my first days in Singapore, I worried about safely getting around town,
especially with a baby. I had never used local trains and feared ending up in a
dangerous neighbourhood.
But what would be reasonable fears for a newcomer in most countries were
gratuitous in Singapore. Everywhere were street signs and directions in
English, clearly marked and intelligently placed, as if invisible planners were
anticipating your next question.
There was no litter in Singapore's streets. Every building looked clean and
every walkway looked newly washed. The National Library had numerous branches,
stocked with wonderful books. With my baby in a stroller, I could go
practically anywhere. It was like an India I had always dreamed of: clean,
green and hassle-free.
How was this possible? Singapore gained its independence nearly 20 years after
India and, yet, the island nation now boasts a remarkably diverse economy, the
world's top airline, clean rivers and a thriving trade port - all achieved in
just a few decades. The engine behind that transformation was the governance of
Lee Kuan Yew, the man whose vision took this little dot of a city-state "from
Third World to First".
But not everyone shared my admiration. At the time, a friend of mine from the
US told me nothing could make her move to Singapore: "I would hate to live in a
country where my freedoms are curtailed," she declared loftily.
I could only laugh. There I was, freer than anytime I had been in my life. I
had just found a job I loved. I could go see a movie with friends and return by
myself late at night.
I could fall asleep in a taxi, after reeling off my address, and the driver
would safely take me home and gently wake me up.
Singapore maintains an efficient - if strict - judicial system, fundamental to
living in a low-crime society while practising individual freedom. I had tasted
the real freedom that came with security.
Many point to the price Singapore's citizens and residents pay for achieving
that security. The Government imposes strict laws with steep fines and
punishments for even minor transgressions: Breaching the ban on selling gum can
fetch a fine. Vandalising property can lead to caning.
These kinds of sentences may be an affront to American ideals, but in
Singapore, like many Asian countries, ensuring the greater good is paramount to
self-determination. Americans, it should be noted, also pay a price for the
premium they put on individual liberties.
Westerners ridicule Singapore for restrictions on personal expression and
protest, but overlook how the nation provides more freedom than some of the
most-lauded democracies.
In Singapore, there was no gun culture like America's or neighbourhoods with
street gangs to be avoided.
As my daughter grew older, I could easily let her move around the city with no
worries about her safety. Around the country, there are plenty of mosques,
churches and temples in close proximity, along with Christian, Muslim, Hindu
and Buddhist national holidays.
The national government is highly transparent and virtually incorruptible,
functioning better than some chaotic, so-called democracies.
And yet the world asked why the average Singaporean, who had good schooling, a
job, affordable housing, healthcare, childcare and eldercare don't protest from
rooftops?
May Singapore never squander the legacy of Lee Kuan Yew.
THE WASHINGTON POST