“With few exceptions, democracy has not brought good government to new developing countries,” said the late Lee Kuan Yew, founding leader of Singapore, whose position over the decades had underpinned the intellectual argument for authoritarian government. “Asian values may not necessarily be what Americans or Europeans value. Westerners value the freedoms and liberties of the individual. As an Asian of Chinese cultural background, my values are for a government which is honest, effective, and efficient.”
