A winner has emerged in the old rivalry between Singapore and Hong Kong
migrant workers who make up nearly a third of the workforce. Their contribution is a curious blind spot. Meanwhile, politics is tightly constrained, as is civil society: you may be arrested for holding up a placard with a smiley face.
The media is cloyingly tame, while foreign journalists, it is made clear, are here on sufferance. With nearly 500 executions in the past three decades, 70% of them for drug offences, Singapore’s use of capital punishment is grotesque. Still, a far brighter future beckons for Singapore’s young than for their counterparts in Hong Kong.
They are slowly pushing at Singapore’s rigid boundaries. This month, in a first, a few hundred activists gathered on Labour Day to call for greater rights for, among others, foreign workers. The launch of Jom reflects a growing desire for independent voices.
In Hong Kong, by contrast, a transport-news website promoting road safety, of all things, this week became the latest target of the authorities and was forced to close. Singapore is at a crossroads. Hong Kong has hit a dead end.
America’s closest Indo-Pacific allies are cosying up (May 4th) On China, Japan’s PM wants diplomacy, not war (Apr 22nd) Michael Lipton: The big man of land reform (Apr 20th) Also: How the Banyan column got its name © 2023, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence.
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