Air-Conditioned Nation Revisited Quotes

“Singapore's tragedy is not the absence of idealism, but that it systematically rewards the individualistic majority and discourages the socially-conscious minority. This is at odds with Singapore's self-image as a communitarian Asian society, an image conjured up largely to justify the protection of family values and paternalistic government. In truth, the overwhelming ethos is to mind your own business. Singapore's embrace of the market forces - based on the PAP's clear appreciation of the fact that people's desire to live in comfort is the most powerful force for civilisation's progress - has provided rich incentives for Singaporeans to work hard, and create wealth. But its exercise of illiberal controls to maintain ownership of the public sphere adds up to a heavy tax on thinking socially and acting politically. The public has been privatised.”
― Cherian George, Singapore: The Air-conditioned Nation. Essays on the Politics of Comfort and Control, 1990-2000

“The main rationale for the "elimination of politics' is also its main tool: rapid and broad-based economic development, in PAP thinking, both justifies as well as facilitates depoliticization. Behind this approach is the assumption that sound economic management can largely do away with political conflict. Whatever little friction that remains, the theory goes, can be sandpapered down with authoritarian methods that are not so course as to provoke widespread dissent. Then, the main political tasks that remain would be to boost citizens' trust in the long-term wisdom of programmes that may entail short-term pain, and to enhance the sensation of nationhood and mobilise them towards national goals”
― Cherian George, Singapore: The Air-conditioned Nation. Essays on the Politics of Comfort and Control, 1990-2000

“Perhaps, like bureaucracies everywhere, government officials in Singapore are uncomfortable with groups who appeal successfully to the public's sense of idealism, and whose work cannot be easily quantified in economic terms. Officials can handle individuals and organisations who are in it for the money, but seem not to know how to deal with people who seek and promote more intangible and selfless rewards.”
― Cherian George, Singapore: The Air-conditioned Nation. Essays on the Politics of Comfort and Control, 1990-2000

“In the classic liberal formulation, the press is seen as a pure expression of democracy. Thus, in the United States, the Constitution protects the press from the government, which, despite having been elected democratically, is assumed by American political culture to harbour undemocratic tendencies. In the Singapore model, the formula is reversed. The elected government is the embodiment of democratic expression. Government, which expresses the will of the people, must be protected by the unelected press, which is prone to being swayed by private commercial interests, narrow ideological missions or, at the very least, the hubris of journalists' inflated egos.”
― Cherian George, Singapore: The Air-conditioned Nation. Essays on the Politics of Comfort and Control, 1990-2000

“Not everyone would see a passive public as necessarily a bad thing. There are benefits to limiting political engagement to a minority of highly committed citizens, with the majority involving itself only in elections and other major events. This elitist theory exists as as strand within Western democratic thought, with proponents arguing that modern governance is so complex that over-politicisation of issues and over-participation by the masses is an liability: it would add an irrational element to governance that could undermine democracy. Sustainable democracy instead requires a fairly passive mass, such that most matters are debated and settled within the political elite, at least when things are running smoothly”
― Cherian George, Singapore: The Air-conditioned Nation. Essays on the Politics of Comfort and Control, 1990-2000

“The leaders' adherence to the principle of collective cabinet responsibility makes it difficult to ascertain the respective contributions of each, but enough is known from public statements to suggest that the three men at the top of the pyramid complemented each other in a way that helped the PAP maintain its political dominance and deliver on its promise of More Good Years”
― Cherian George, Singapore: The Air-conditioned Nation. Essays on the Politics of Comfort and Control, 1990-2000

“We are told that the main risk factors threatening Singapore's peace and prosperity are, first, our own unreliability as citizens (we may succumb to the temptation of welfarism, communalism, individualism or emigration) and, second, our location in an unpredictable region...As plausible as these risks are, they tend to deflect attention from problems that may arise as the result not of anyone's failure, but of Singapore's success. Karl Max got this much right: history moves through contradictions; every society's greatest strengths eventually turn out to be its most fatal weaknesses. In Singapore, intelligent planning should not ignore the possibility that the rapid economic development and tight political control that characterised the 1990s will be increasing at odds with each other in the coming decade.”
― Cherian George, Singapore: The Air-conditioned Nation. Essays on the Politics of Comfort and Control, 1990-2000

“We are told that the main risk factors threatening Singapore's peace and prosperity are, first, our own unreliability as citizens (we may succumb to the temptation of welfarism, communalism, individualism or emigration) and, second, our location in an unpredictable region.”
― Cherian George, Singapore: The Air-conditioned Nation. Essays on the Politics of Comfort and Control, 1990-2000

“Singapore was vulnerable to the kind of ethnic pulls evident in the 1960s. The problem with this strong regulatory emphasis, however, is that it has allowed Singaporeans to enjoy the fruits of inter-ethnic peace without having to work significantly hard for it. To use a fashionable economic term, most Singaporeans are free-riders when it comes to race relations. Children recite the Pledge every school day. But , in truth, no deep commitment to multi-racialism is required, either in thought or action. Singaporeans can leave such work to the government, which is empowered to deal with prblems under a host of laws and regulations. This, sadly, does not say much for the whole Singaporean enterprise. A society which ethnic conflict is engineered out of existence by physically dispersing minorities and curbing rights of speech and assembly, is nothing to shout about”
― Cherian George, Singapore: The Air-conditioned Nation. Essays on the Politics of Comfort and Control, 1990-2000

“As the state spreads it tentacles into every corner of life in the name of regulation, rationalization or economic development, people who wanted their way of life to continue would have no choice but to engage the political system, no matter how much they had wanted to mind their own business. The Catch-22 was that an attempt at such engagement could be deemed as the government as political interference deserving of a tough response. Thus, civic groups had to find ways to protect their interests without being seen as challenging the government's dominance; to act politically while seeming apolitical.”
― Cherian George, Singapore: The Air-conditioned Nation. Essays on the Politics of Comfort and Control, 1990-2000

“Certainly, the PAP applies far more stringent background checks on its candidates than the opposition does on its own. However, in some respects, a new and inexperienced PAP candidate has an easier ride. He is cushioned by the ruling party's institutional support, and faces a press predisposed to treating him with kid gloves. While an opposition member's every move is dissected and held against him in the interest of keeping politics honest, the PAP candidate is spared any probing by the media, on the grounds that a loss of privacy and face would deter good men from stepping forward to serve.”
― Cherian George, Singapore: The Air-conditioned Nation. Essays on the Politics of Comfort and Control, 1990-2000

“Since the mid-1980s, the government had sensed that one key reason why the opposition-for-opposition's-sake argument was so compelling to voters was that the did not really have to live with the consequences of electing an opposition MP. MPs were representatives you went to the national parliament; they did not manage municipal affairs. They could appeal for improved services for their wards, but since the central government agencies were generally well run and rolled out standardised amenities for all neighbourhoods,MPs made little or no perceptible impact locally. Thus, opposition-held wards would continue to benefit from efficient PAP government”
― Cherian George, Singapore: The Air-conditioned Nation. Essays on the Politics of Comfort and Control, 1990-2000

“Singaporeans wanted the benefits of PAP government nationally, but locally, they were prepared to elect opposition candidate to check on the ruling party in parliamnet”
― Cherian George, Singapore: The Air-conditioned Nation. Essays on the Politics of Comfort and Control, 1990-2000

“The answer lies in a system of press management combining watertight legal controls with a compelling political ideology that encourages not just obedience, but also active support...The first, which is the older and more common, is made up of various licensing and national security laws. Press laws inherited from the British require all newspapers to be licensed; licenses can be revoked at any time, effectively killing a publication. Journalists must also beware the Internal Security Act, under which they can be detained without trail. They can be fined or jailed if they are judged to be in contempt of court of contempt of parliament. The Official Secrets Act deters reporters from being on the receiving end of leaks, while libel laws compel them to take extreme care with any information that could hurt officials' reputations.”
― Cherian George, Singapore: The Air-conditioned Nation. Essays on the Politics of Comfort and Control, 1990-2000

“But the habit of framing issues in terms of Asian and Western values did distort Singapore's view of its own challenges. Policy-makers looking through the filters of the Asian values debate tend to be unsympathetic to appeals for state welfare from down-and-out Singaporeans - since Asians are supposed to believe in self-reliance - rather than viewing them as the inevitable victims of capitalist industrialization and urbanization.”
― Cherian George, Singapore: The Air-conditioned Nation. Essays on the Politics of Comfort and Control, 1990-2000

“Equally important was the question of whose road map to follow. No country should be expected to arrive at exactly the same destination as any other, Singapore said...Similarly, Asian countries had their own cultural and historical leanings that would shape their political evolution. Some of these were strengths that helped Asian societies grow their economies and cope with change, and Asians were right to want to preserve them. These included a strong sense of family self-reliance, a deep commitment to education, and a firm sense of public morality. The Singapore thinkers added that some features of Western-style democracy - such as an unrestrained press, overly influential lobby groups, and a culture of belittling holders of high public office - were hardly suitable for export to Asia, since they were under attack even in the West”
― Cherian George, Singapore: The Air-conditioned Nation. Essays on the Politics of Comfort and Control, 1990-2000

“The Singapore School of Thought, as some began to call it, emphasised the lack of universality of many Western political norms...Singapore's own view emphasised economic and social rights which tended to be downplayed by some advocates of political ad civil liberties.”
― Cherian George, Singapore: The Air-conditioned Nation. Essays on the Politics of Comfort and Control, 1990-2000

“Of all the attempts to propel Singapore faster along the path of political liberalisation, few have backfired as badly as the West's push for democracy and human rights”
― Cherian George, Singapore: The Air-conditioned Nation. Essays on the Politics of Comfort and Control, 1990-2000

“And, if even a polished, professional communicator like Catherine Lim misfired in her attempt, what chance did most Singaporeans have? That affair remained a prominent reference point, making Singaporeans conclude that, for all the government's explanations and clarifications, engaging in political debate was an extremely risky and unpredictable business, and that it was wisest to stay out”
― Cherian George, Singapore: The Air-conditioned Nation. Essays on the Politics of Comfort and Control, 1990-2000

“Under Goh, the government continued to be suspicious of prevailing popular opinion and special interests, and focused instead on what it saw as Singapore's long-term needs”
― Cherian George, Singapore: The Air-conditioned Nation. Essays on the Politics of Comfort and Control, 1990-2000