Keyword: Singapore

Time for Democracy in Singapore?

Picture: Xinhuanet Walden Bello - The late Singapore strongman Lee Kuan Yew famously argued that Asia was no place for liberal democracy. Instead, he argued for a kind of soft authoritarianism guided by “Asian values,” where the harmony of a one-party state trumped the messiness of competitive elections. For years, many of his peers seemed to agree. Then, when Burma’s military took its baby steps away from dictatorship four years ago, it seemed that in a region where the merits of authoritarianism and...