Economist.com Cities Guide: Singapore Briefing - November 2005

News this month

Death row

Singapore’s gallows are busy. The city-state's authorities execute as many as 50 prisoners a year, a rate that Amnesty International, a human-rights watchdog, suspects makes Singapore the world’s top executioner relative to its size. Typically there is little international fuss over the execution rate, except for when someone on death row is from another country.

Nguyen Tuong Van from Melbourne was arrested in transit at Changi Airport in 2002, carrying almost 400 grams of heroin. He was convicted, lost his appeal, and had pleas for clemency from Canberra turned down. Now he is set to die on December 2nd. The Australian government has been protesting at the United Nations against his execution, but to no avail.

A pressing issue

Defending the government against calls for a freer press, Goh Chok Tong, a former prime minister and now “senior minister”, argued on October 31st that Singapore’s approach to media supported growth and preserved ethnic harmony. He was responding to a report from Reporters Without Borders, a Paris-based media watchdog, which ranked Singapore 140th out of 167 countries in its 2005 Press Freedom Index. Local media have intimate links with the government, and broadly support its policies.

But Mr Goh has little patience for the whinging of western liberals. “It has not been proven that having more press freedom would result in a clean and efficient government or economic freedom and prosperity,” he said at the fifth anniversary of Today, a local tabloid.

Pandemic predictions

Asian governments are increasingly worried about the spread of avian flu in the region. There is particular concern that the virus may mutate, enabling it to spread from human to human. On November 7th, Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's former prime minister and now “minister mentor”, voiced his concerns about a possible outbreak, saying it would be far more damaging than SARS in 2003. He said that a pandemic would hit Hong Kong and Singapore the hardest, and Singapore especially, “because we export and import more goods and services. Let’s not take this lightly.”

The bleak projection contrasted with other comments he made about the country’s general economic prospects. “We have never had it more promising,” Mr Lee said. “We are likely to be able to grow 4%, 5% a year, [for] five years, ten years”—if the flu does not hit, that is.

Poll position

Singapore’s prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, signalled on November 6th that he will call an early general election. Mr Lee, who took over from Goh Chok Tong in August last year, does not have to face voters till 2007. But many now speculate that elections will be held much sooner. “We must be strong nationally and on the ground to win the trust of the voters,” he told a closed-door gathering of party members, and stressed the need for a strong mandate. The comments were reported in Singapore’s domestic press.

Mr Lee’s People’s Action Party (PAP) has been in charge since Singapore was granted self-government in 1959. Since independence in 1965, the party has won every national poll, reducing the opposition parties to a handful of seats. Pundits now expect elections—which the PAP will inevitably win—over Christmas or the New Year.

A giant arrives

Singapore Airlines showed off its newest toy on November 11th when Airbus, a European airplane-maker, flew its giant A380 out to Asia for the first time. This extended test flight for the oversized jet included additional stops in Australia and Malaysia. Instead of passengers, the plane carried sacks of water to simulate their weight.

The city-state’s national carrier has put in ten orders for the 555-seat, double-decker plane, and has an option on buying an additional 15. What is more, the airline has also bagged the rights to be the first commercial airline to use the new jets. After Airbus’s production line fell a few months behind schedule, Singapore should have the jets by late next year.

Catch if you can

November 2005

Singapore River Regatta

November 26th-27th 2005

November is the month for racing dragon boats—long canoes powered by ten or 24 paddlers, and controlled by a drummer and a helmsman. The event is a tradition in many Chinese communities across Asia, and the sight of the boats flying across the water will impress even the most distracted spectator. Singapore’s 23rd regatta will be held over a 300-metre course on the downtown section of the Singapore River. Heats last all day on both days and typically finish around 6pm. There are plenty of bars and restaurants alongside the course from which to admire the contestants working up a sweat.

Take a train to Raffles Place Station, from where the riverside is a three-minute walk. For more information see the event's website.

More from the Singapore cultural calendar