Just got a video recommendation about him defending the death penalty for drug traffickers and I remembered all the western propaganda about him being "le great man" who singlehandedly raised Singapore out of poverty or some shit.
Singapore being one of the busiest ports for China due to geography while being such a tiny country with such a low population makes it incredibly easy to become wealthy
Its really obvious when you think about it
Its literally on the shortest sea route from India to China
It wasnt that poor compared to the rest of the colonies tbh and it had all those natural advantages that we talked about
i was exaggerating, but im just sick of this whole 3rd world to 1st world myth, it would not have been possible without its strategic position
but there is more to history than like… geographical determinism.
AKSHULLY, according to Guns, Germs, and Steel...
Its simple, Singapore was "chosen" to be "prosperous" because that serves the interest of global capital the best
No real natural resources so no need for resource extraction
Good port, ideal for a trade and finance hub
Very little to do with people running it
Same as Hong Kong
They're like super dependent on cheap labor from Malaysia and other SEA countries. Also a great place to setup shell companies for tax evasion.
I don't really know much about him or Singapore outside of some cursory reading on wiki about the state, history, and economic data of the micro-country, because an animator/comic maker that I like (RandoWis) mentioned that he was doing another forced stint in their military reserve, and how every Singaporean has to serve in active duty like occupied Korea, and also having a forced 10 year stint in the reserves.
My conclusion on the cursory examination is that it's a capitalist taxhaven hellhole that's like Dubai, and :biden-troll: New Jersey rolled together. It's one of the most wealthy nations in ASEAN, and has a disgusting level of wealth inequality. It prides itself on being one of the most free places on earth for corporations, yet its government is strong (and smart enough) to utilize its taxes to build an intricate welfare state to keep the poor Singaporeans above water.
Knowledge on the country is well out of my depths, so anyone else either from there or studied the region would know more
Singapore is dependent on migrant labor to run most of their economy.
Matapobre people.
Don't let the corruption rate fool you. Streetfighting with swords a-waving in the streets and gang organizing is rampant in the underground, with the police not doing anything to stop it.
They only have an iron grip against migrant workers.
They also make shitty films unlike the rest of their neighbors
Don’t let the corruption rate fool you. Streetfighting with swords a-waving in the streets and gang organizing is rampant in the underground, with the police not doing anything to stop it.
I've never heard of anything like that
I mean theres probably loads of shit with like human trafficking and prostitution, which the authorities definitely do pretend doesnt exist but like open gang fights are just asking for arrests
Like its a country the size of NYC and literally ringed by CCTVs
I'm not the one who believes in geographical determinism, big dawg
is it "geographical determinism" to say that its harder to get away with shit in a small ass country?
Singapore shouldn't even exist.
Your points are right abt. geographical advantages, but it isn't the only factor, nor even the main factor itself.
https://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/countries/korea/fourtigers.html
Ah one of the the oldest sigma male rules: "To make a capitalist economy you need to break some eggs, and by eggs I mean slaves." #grustle #grindset
Sword fighting is kinda cool ngl, but yeah the exploitation of migrant workers is fucked up.
New Jersey isn't that bad of a corporate tax haven, Delaware is the big one
eh close enough, they're both tiny states that shouldn't eist.
