Laughing all the way to jail

With the recent Burmese military crackdown on peaceful protests, lots of newspaper articles have focused on the military dictatorship and as i was browsing the Opinions & Analysis section of The Age, i came across an article by Michael Backman on the pointlessness of economic sanctions on Burma and amusingly, similarities to the PAP in Singapore.

I quote, "Power is the No.1 priority of Burma's rulers. It is not money, prestige or a place in history. This they have in common with the rulers of China, Vietnam and Singapore."

LOL. I couldn't help but laugh at it. I have to disagree on something though, i'm sure money is pretty high up there on the list of our Lee Dynasty Rulers as well. Considering that they own Temasek Holdings & Singtel and our dear PM is paid $3+ million SGD annually (he's the highest paid head of state in the world according to Wiki)...

Oh i also forgot, they effectively own the army too. When Li Hong Yi complained about his CO in NS, he made sure it went all the way up the ranks. One fellow blogger made a joke (sorry, can't find his blog, perhaps he was forced to take it down?):

CO: Who do you think you are? Your grandfather's army ah?
Li: Yes.
CO: uh oh...

This is called sibeh jialat (can't find a good definition for jialat)! To this day, i still burst out laughing when i think about it.

Alright, nonsense aside, did you know that Singapore supplies Burma with rifles and military IT? *Gasp* We're a democratic society and yet we still supply their dictatorship with arms? No wonder the ang mohs think Singapore is not that different from Burma.

Then Michael Backman goes on to say,"shaming the junta overseas has no effect — they simply don't care. Again, a comparison can be made with the Government of Singapore. Foreign criticism of the Singapore Government's unbelievably petty treatment of opposition figures and its outrageous control of the local media is simply ignored. Singapore's leaders are utterly resolute about their right to rule. Besides, you cannot shame those without shame."

Ouch! Touche.

However, one thing i have to say about Singapore's "democratic dictatorship" (for fear that i will henceforth be marked as a threat to national security) is that it works.

Singapore has one of the lowest crime rates in the world, a girl can walk home alone at night without worrying about getting kidnapped / raped / killed. Singapore has the 28th highest GDP in the world. There is no annoying chewing gum sticking to our shoes, no vandalism or graffiti and no litterbugs because if we see someone littering we slap them with a $500 fine.

Singapore also canes arrogant American expatriates who have the audacity to vandalise numerous cars and then expect to get away with the sentence just because Bill Clinton asked for clemency (somehow some Australians also think that they can get away with the death penalty in Bali for drug trafficking just because they are Australians... but that's fodder for another blog).

The difference between Singapore and Burma: the Singapore government has great international ties (except possibly with Malaysia), keeps the people fat and happy and provides the citizens with an illusion of choice in the selection of their leaders.

Hence, if those Burmese Generals bothered to send their offspring to business school overseas, perhaps they wouldn't be in such deep shit.