This morning's Political Ideas lecture was a really interesting and memorable one. We covered Totalitarianism today and at one point during the powerpoint presentation, my lecturer showed a slide entitled "Contemporary Contenders". The 2 contemporary contenders for totalitarianism were Burma and Singapore. Being Singaporean, seeing Singapore featured seized my attention, and got me thinking: Singapore? TOTALITARIAN? The lecturer justified Singapore by citing examples such as the fact that Singapore has been governed by the PAP since independence, the suing and jailing of opposition leaders and the withholding of upgrading of estates that do not vote for PAP.
Now, I know very well these examples to be true, having read the various socio-political blogs on Singapore. I don't dispute them, as shameful as they are. My point of contention was labelling Singapore as "totalitarian" based on these examples. I felt "totalitarian" was rather extreme; "authoritarian" would be a lot more appropriate. Aside from disagreeing on that point, I did feel a little embarrased. The lecturer had correctly pointed out the nasty aspects of Singapore politics to all and sundry and suggested that Singapore was totalitarian, just like Nazi Germany and Mussolini's Italy. An Aussie classmate turned to me, grinned and jokingly asked "So how's life in fascist, totalitarian Singapore?" "We're not some Nazi regime." I thought, and once the lecture stopped for a 5 minute break, I immediately went over to the lecturer to set the record straight.
I said that while Singapore certainly displayed some features of a totalitarian state, such as total control of the mass media and dominance by a one-party state symbolized by an individual, I did not consider Singapore "totalitarian". My understanding of "totalitarian" was a state characterized by open fear and terror. Just like in Stalinist Russia, where anyone including the Communist party and secret police was vulnerable to being purged, joking about Stalin could have you arrested and having to clap whenever Stalin's name was mentioned (and apparently, the first person to stop clapping would be arrested). Generally speaking, in Singapore, you could utter a criticism of the government without the ISD pouncing on you and dragging you off to a detention centre. A totalitarian state would not have tolerated any oppostion. Yet, oppostion parties are allowed to exist and take part in the political discourse, albeit with plenty of restrictions placed upon them. In the online world, there are plenty of criticisms of the Singapore government, which a totalitarian government would not have allowed either. While the government certainly isn't too happy about what people are saying about them online, they haven't gone to the extreme of tracking down people's IP adresses and arresting netizens. Nor have they taken a leaf out of China's book and erected a "Great Firewall of Singapore". In short, I believe Singapore was more authoritarian rather than totalitarian, the former being authority coming "from above" with or without the consent of citizens that is enforced by repressing opposition as well as political liberty, as defined by Andrew Heywood. Totalitarianism, said Heywood, takes things even further in a quest for total power, resulting in the elimination of civil society and private sphere.
My lecturer thanked me for my input. He said that going by what I said about the presence of the opposition and the alternate viewpoints raised online, Singapore would then be nearly but not exactly, totalitarian. The reason why he included Singapore in the slides was to show that Singapore was an example of a possible contender for totalitarianism. I said I wasn't offended by the inclusion as I knew Singapore did meet several criterias to be considered totalitarian, but I simply wanted to put some issues into perspective.
Later, some classmates and I discussed Singapore politics further, from the restrictions on society to Lee Kuan Yew and Lee Hsien Loong (the "God" and his "Baby-God", remarked a dude who had lived in Singapore for several years). I wondered if Singapore's political reputation was really that notorious abroad. We also discussed other more obvious contenders for Totalitarianism that the lecturer did not bring up in class, such as Mao's China and Peron's Argentina.
All in all, this morning's discussions on totalitarianism, politics and Singapore with my lecturer and classmates have been most enlightening. It's interesting to know how foreigners see Singapore, be it in a positive or negative light. I totally look forward to another in-depth discussion on politics!
Southbank, a tourist attraction within the city. That's the famous artificial beach behind me.
Johnny's birthday dinner at Riverside.
Amanda's birthday dinner at the UQ Union Pizza Cafe.
The dining hall.
The pretty purple flowers that herald spring (and the exam season).
The UQ lake. One of my favourite spots on campus. I always have my lunches there after Communication and Cultural Studies lecture on Tuesday.
My room:) It isn't obvious in the photo, but I've a whole lot of anime figurines on the bookshelf and the top of my closet.
My room after I finished chucking most of my stuff into the bunker of my residential hall and packed up the rest (and yes, I AM wearing pants in that photo. It's just too bloody short and my shirt is big).
Kawaii desu ne? The 4 main protagonists of Gundam Seed:) Cagalli and Athrun are my favs!
