Freedom for Sale
By John Kampfner
Presenters: Tang Wei Guo and Kohei Fujikawa
John
Kampfner
• “John Kampfner is Adviser to Google on freedom of
expression and culture. He is an author, broadcaster and
commentator specialising in UK politics, international
affairs, media and human rights issues.”
• Journalist.
(Daily Telegraph, the Financial Times,
BBC, New Statesman)
• Freedom for Sale- published in 2010
The Cold War
“The West’s victory in the Cold War appeared to confirm
the supremacy of both ideology and business model.”
• Margaret Thatcher
democracy and free markets as mutually reinforcing
• The Third Wave
• Unprecedented levels of US military, economic,
and cultural dominance
In the 21st Century
• Quality crisis of democracy
• China and Russia emerge as authoritarian
capitalism
• 9/11 and George Bush’s “war on terror”
-the inherent weakness of democratic systems
-the hypocrisy on the “war on terror”
The Authoritarian Pact with the People
• Selective Repression
• Public and private freedom.
Make people feel “sufficiently free”
People’s Priorities
Right to Earn and
Keep Money
Environmental
Protection
The Right to
Travel
Lifestyle Choices
The Government
Selective Repression
Open Media
Contract laws
Free Elections
Property Rights
Private freedom
Less public freedom
“Sufficiently Free”
The alliance of political leaders,
business, and the middle classes
The Middle Class
Despite Barrington Moore’s “No bourgeoisie, no
democracy,”
“Consumerism
provided the ultimate
anesthetic.”
“Why have freedoms been so easily traded in
return for security or prosperity?”
•
•
•
•
Singapore
China
Russia
UAE
•
•
•
•
India
Italy
Britain
USA
“Whatever systems we happen to live
under, our priorities are more similar than
we would ever want to admit.”
Singapore
• Upon independence from Britain Singapore’s
GDP per capita was the same as that of Ghana’s.
World’s economic miracle.
• Fractious ethnic groups, Chinese, Malays, and Indians live
in relative harmony through remarkable social housing
and public services.
Singapore: Comfortable Model
TANG WEI GUO
Outline
 Lee’s Singapore
 The Singaporean’s Consumer Lifestyle
 Authoritarian Measures
 Analysing the Singapore Model
 Prospects of Change
 Conclusion
Summary
 “Pact” between the Government and its people
 State provides prosperity and stability while the people
cooperate willingly.
 More and more of us are willing to trade freedom for wealth or
security.
 It describes the unwritten "pact" between the middle
and upper classes of most countries and their
governments:

freedom to make, keep, and spend money in exchange for the
freedom to question authority.
History of Singapore
 “Backwater” and “swampy” island, back in 1819s
 Founded by Sir Stamford Raffles (British trader)
 Melting pot for Chinese, Malays, Indians, Armenians
and Europeans (basically, anyone keen to make $$)
 British control ended during the World War II when
Japan invaded Singapore in 1942.
History of Singapore
 Lee Kuan Yew (LKY) was heavily influenced by anti-
colonial politics and Fabian socialism of the Labour
Party
 1954: Founded Peoples’ Action Party (PAP).
 1957: Singapore gained full self-government from
Britain.
 1959: LKY became first Prime Minister.
 1963: Singapore joined the Federation of Malaya.
 1965: Separation (*)
The Singaporean Lifestyle
 LKY pushed for state-funded regeneration, and
started building Singapore’s social infrastructure.

Public housing, roads, schools and hospitals.
Healthcare
GDP/GNI
Education
GNI/GDP
The Singaporean Lifestyle
 In essence, the author feels that Singaporeans are
leading an extremely comfortable lifestyle that they
have no desires to disrupt.
 This applies to both the affluent and the less affluent.

Food, ¾ of the workforce does not pay income tax and nobody
pays more than 20%.
 Housing Development Board (HDB) flats
 Ethnic ratio, common space
 Toa Payoh: second oldest estate in Singapore, with aplenty of
activities and amenities catering to the residents
 In short, people have no complaints.
Selective Repression
 Media and Elections in Singapore
 Singapore Press Holdings : Newspapers
 MediaCorp: Broadcasting
 Elections
 Once every five years
 Any politician or journalist who says anything controversial
about those in power is open to arrest and the subsequent
charge of defamation.
Democratic Procedures
 Constituency changes
 Opposition wards (occasional democracy)


Chiam See Tong (mentioned in the text)
Low Thia Khiang

Government’s carrot and stick do not seem to work in these
constituencies.
 Opposition leaders

Chee Soo Juan and J. B. Jeyaretnam were harrassed for years. (p22)
 Western governments’ treatment of the opposition
parties in Singapore.

Passive and lukewarm; do not show much interest in its domestic
politics.
Authoritarian Procedures
 Internal Security Act
 Chia Thye Poh (23 years in jail)
 Gives the security forces the authority to make arrests without
having warrants (bequeathed to Singapore by the British
 Criminal Law Temporary Provisions Act
 Allows jailing of dissidents
 Undesirable Publications Act
 Clamps down free speech
 Public Entertainments and Meetings Act
 Proscribes any unauthorised gathering of more than four
people.
Sustaining the Regime
 Renumerate officials with high pay *
 Ensuring that the most talented, and potentially, the most
outspoken can be absorbed or co-opted by the state.
 Fighting off corruption (increasing the opportunity cost)
 Scouting for foreign talents
 Discrete domination of Malays and Indians by Chinese
 China, India, Malaysia etc.
International Disapproval
 HR Groups: Capital Punishment
 Death penalty and Caning
 US State Department:
 Preventive detention, executive influence over the judiciary,
infringement of citizens’ privacy rights, restriction of speech
and press freedom and self-censorship by journalists…
 British Government:
 Does not mention much about its former colony’s HR
performance.
 Realpolitik (political considerations) toned down
international community’s criticisms for Singapore.
People’s Disapproval
 Speakers’ Corner




Rules and Regulations
Must stay within the law.
Aplenty of political and social sensitivities to be aware of (Race,
religion, political leaders)
Application for permission (apathy and a lack of utilisation)
 Internet



Absence of an open media or political discourse has bred a
flourishing rumour mill.
Vigorous discussions on sites of the Workers’ Party and Social
Democrats.
Reluctant to shut down offensive sites. (Recent MDA Regulation)
The Singapore Model
 Mahbubani: Practising democracy more
harmoniously than the West.

Singapore is “by every indicator” the most successful nation.
(e.g. wealth and social safety net)
 LKY: Not to sustain PAP in power, but to ensure
stability more broadly.


Good governance vs. democracy
Offers what every citizen wants – a good life, good education,
and a future for their children.
 Comparison with its neighbours’ political systems.
Reviewing the Singapore Model
 Governments from Indonesia to Malaysia,
Kazakhstan to United Arab Emirates are seeking to
learn from Singapore.

Most important student: CHINA.
 LKY: Not for export v.s. Asian values (a
contradiction?)
 Sen’s argument
 Resisting Western hegemony
 LKY can be seen as the Machiavellian Prince,
deploying virtu (Asian values) to rule his people.
Singapore’s Middle Class
 Wang Gungwu: Hobbesian Contract
 Persuading the middle class to remove itself from the public
sphere
 Social contract theory: Unrestricted freedom will produce a
“war of all against all”.
 Chua Beng Huat: Unconscious pact
 Political culturalism
 Cultural citizen, instead of liberal citizens.
 “The greater good is impossible without some constraint on
individualism. The weakness of liberalism is the unwillingness
to pay the cost of its membership.”
Pact is most vulnerable in the social realm.
 Material comforts are not yearning for major political
changes.
 Traditional VS. Modern
 Citizens are now seeking complete control of the private
sphere.


Prescriptive views on marriage, sex etc. are not shared by many in
the parliament.
Old and outdated laws: determining the length of men’s hair, etc.
 Discussions with people who are “not worried about their
career development in the private or public sector”


“Taboo” topics such as sex, nepotism, corruption, secrecy etc.
Homosexuality: antagonising the heartlanders
Trends
 Economic crises (1997 Asian Financial Crisis, 2003
SARS..) -> Reinforced the yearning of political
stability.
 Brain drain trends are worrying.
 Use of defamation suits has actually increased in
recent years -> signalling that people are
increasingly vocal.

Lee’s defence that the West sees that Russia and China are
learning from Singapore, and therefore sees this as a threat.
 “Disneyland with the death penalty”
Will Singapore change?
 Yes, for its economic interest.



Innovation and creativity, are by definition, not orderly and not
regulated.
Striking the balance will require skilled stewardship and risk-taking.
Heavily controlled media also failed to act as a check on the state’s
two main investment funds.
 No, it will remain status quo.


Most people – Singapore citizens, international businesses, foreign
governments – had a vested interest in preserving the status quo.
Group think (=orders handed down from on high, and is obeyed
without discussions.)
Conclusion
John Kampfner (Author)
Michael Teo (High
Commissioner to the UK)
 “A modern form of
 “Every society has to strike its
authoritarian, quite
distinct from Soviet
Communism, Maoism
and Fascism, is being
born. It is providing a
modicum of a good
life, and a quiet life,
the ultimate
anaesthetic for the
brain.”
own balance between
individual liberty and the
common good… But the true
test is what works in the real
world, with real societies. To
worship a western model
as the only way, and
dismiss all other
solutions as
authoritarian or
undemocratic, is surely
the ultimate anaesthetic
for the brain.”
2001 General Elections
2006 General Elections
2011 General Elections
2012 By Elections
2013 By Elections
2013 By Elections
Thank you!
ANY QUESTIONS?
1) WILL MARGARET THATCHER’S
PREDICTION EVENTUALLY BE REALISED?
2) PRIORITIES? SHOULD ECONOMIC
PRIORITIES COME FIRST BEFORE
POLITICAL PRIORITIES?
3) LIMITS TO FREEDOM IS WHAT MAKES
FREEDOM POSSIBLE?