Quora Answer: How is Singapore a Democracy?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “How is Singapore a democracy when it has little freedom?”

A democracy is a system of governance, where eligible citizens vote for their representatives.  Singapore is a parliamentary democracy, where eligible citizens vote for their representatives, their members of parliament.  Democracy, by its nature, requires some freedom to exercise choice, otherwise it is a sham democracy.  Singapore may be a flawed democracy, according to external observers, but it is not a sham democracy.

As for the assertion that Singapore has little freedom, how do we quantify it?  Are you able to criticise the government?  Yes, but you cannot make scurrilous claims.  Do you have the right to protest?  Yes, but a permit is required.  Can you write whatever you want?  Yes, provided it does not mischaracterise, or attack the credibility of any person or entity without proof.  Do you have the right to bear arms?  Yes, but you require a license, and it has to be stored at the gun club, or equivalent storage facility.

The issue is not that Singapore does not have freedom.  Rather, it emphasises the needs of the collective over the wants of the individual.  There are strict laws.  There is censorship.  There are limits to free speech in the interests of racial and religious harmony.  With that, we have the safest city in the world.  A woman could walk alone, at 0300h, by herself, and she would be perfectly safe.  You could forget to lock your car door, or leave your home unlocked, and nothing will likely happen.  You are more likely to die of cancer than be a victim of serious crime.  That is the sort of freedom that truly matters.

People argue that we lack political freedom, and yet we have more than 20 registered opposition parties serving such a tiny electorate.  What we do not allow, is the sort of racist, or exceptionalist ideology of political parties elsewhere.  We do not have the institutionalised racism of Australia’s political establishment.  We do not have the racial apartheid of Malaysia’s Ketuanan Melayu.  We do not have the legalised bribery that is the American lobbying system.

Singapore does not allow the reproduction, production, and propagation of pornography.  But you have the right to watch it personally, online.  Prostitution is legal, and licensed prostitutes have the right to healthcare, and police protection, like any other worker.  We do not make them criminals, unlike many other countries.

In essence, the concept of freedom is relative.  It is not freedom is the consequence is a lack of security.  It is not freedom if there is increased racial, and religious, tension.  It is not freedom is there is corruption, and we have a permissive attitude towards crime.  It is not freedom if there is a lack of economic growth, and the population is trapped in poverty.  It is not freedom, if people are denied educational opportunities, and healthcare, on account of their economic status.  It is not freedom if the rich keep getting richer, and amassing the wealth of the nation, while the rest become poorer.

We may disagree with individual policies.  We may think certain elected officials are imbeciles.  But there is a reason why the PAP have won every election despite all these complaints of “lack of freedom”.