Hi JS, >Punishment can be severe - from caning to jail terms. Behind all the >glitz and glamour a lot of Singaporeans are unhappy.
If I remember correctly, this topic came up a few years ago on this net. At that time there was an attempt to compare India with S'Pore, and that India possibly emulate the S'pore model. The S'porean dictatorship as you rightly say, in the end leaves them unhappy. The problem in India is a bit different. Democracy in India for many people, means the freedom to steal, destroy public property, be more corrupt than the next guy, the freedom to have state/national bandhs at the drop of a hat, and re-elect the same corrupt again and again, and then moan and groan all day. If democracy is not working in India, it is because it's own people have neglected it, and have used the 'liberties' of a democracy for their own personal use. It is really unfortunate that Indians have not yet been able to use the ideals of democracy to benefit the country as a whole. When GW Bush invaded Iraq, one of the many reasons given was to to 'export' democracy to the Iraqis. Maybe Western democracy works only for certain countries. The recipe may not be for others. The rest are possibly too ingrained in their ways, to even attempt such pursuits. They possibly need strong-arm leaders to lead, and show them right from wrong, goals and non-goals, use more sticks & fewer carrots,... and so on :-) The question is, where does India fall? PS: C'da - I used 'where', not WHEN :-) --Ram da On Sat, Aug 14, 2010 at 7:07 AM, Jyotirmoy Sharma < [email protected]> wrote: > Hi Mayur > Quite an accurate description of Singapore - meticulate, disciplined, > clean and orderly. It is one city where one would feel safe, > irrespective of time. > Changi airport is infact the best in the world. Have been to quite a > few places but Changi hasn't been matched. > http://www.worldairportawards.com/Awards_2010/Airport2010.htm > Food and transport in Singapore is relatively cheap for a developed > nation. Eg: a 30 min drive in a taxi costing <$10. In Aus, it would > have cost $40-50. > Singapore's main income is tourism and hence many of the touristy > places eg Sentosa island, Night Safari etc feels a bit overcrowded. We > went during Cmas and for a trip to Sentosa, we had to queue for around > 1 hr before getting a ride in the cable car to take us to the island. > That was torture. Even the aquarium was crowded. It doesn't help when > I am claustrophobic. Yes, there are endless shopping centres and most > are open till late. As food is cheap, many Singaporean eat their meals > outside( ie many do not cook meals ) > You may have missed the latest attaction of S'pore - the casino. > Checkout some pics of the Casino hotel > > http://www.impactlab.net/2010/06/25/the-amazing-marina-bay-sands-skypark-hotel-opens-in-singapore/ > > The only downside to Singapore is - lack of democracy. It is an > autocratic govt, controlled by the Chinese majority. There is no > opposition party.. The same party gets re-elected over and over again. > No one can protest anything against the Govt. The media is controlled > by the Govt. > Punishment can be severe - from caning to jail terms. Behind all the > glitz and glamour a lot of Singaporeans are unhappy. Many willingly > migrate to greener pastures of the West - including Australia, New > Zealand. But at least their politicians think well and work for the > betterment of their country, unlike the Indian ( and Axomiya ) netas. > > JS > > _______________________________________________ > assam mailing list > [email protected] > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org > _______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
