Economist.com Cities Guide: Singapore Briefing - February 2006

News this month

Nabbed

Singapore's authorities had a welcome gift from neighbouring Indonesia on February 3rd, when Jakarta extradited Mas Selamat Kastari, a Singaporean who is the alleged leader of the Singapore branch of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a shadowy Islamist group with links to al-Qaeda. Mr Mas Selamat was arrested on January 20th in Java, where he was visiting his son at a religious school. Indonesian authorities handed him over to Singapore despite the lack of a formal extradition treaty between the two countries.

He had been on the run since late 2001, when Singapore’s Internal Security Department broke up what they described as JI cells that were planning to truck-bomb Western embassies. Mr Mas Selamat was allegedly planning retribution for those arrests, intending to hijack a plane and crash it into Changi Airport, in an echo of the September 2001 attacks in America. But the alleged plot was thwarted after authorities were alerted. The suspect is being held in Singapore under the Internal Security Act, which allows for indefinite detention without trial.

A bad day for Mr Chee

Of the few opposition politicians in Singapore, Chee Soon Juan is perhaps the most vocal and confrontational. But the feisty head of the Singapore Democratic Party was dealt a severe blow on February 10th when he was declared bankrupt. As such, Mr Chee cannot hold elective office in Singapore until 2011—although he was already barred from contesting the next election after losing two separate court cases in 2002. He incurred a S$3,000 ($1,800) fine for speaking in public without a licence, and a S$4,500 fine for trespass on government property and trying to provide unlicensed entertainment.

The High Court made the order after Mr Chee failed to pay S$500,000 ($307,000) in libel damages to Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong. The damages were awarded in January 2005 after Messrs Lee and Goh brought a case against Mr Chee for comments he made during the 2001 general election campaign. On learning of the bankruptcy order, Mr Chee said he would not be appealing. In a statement posted on his party’s website, he said Singapore’s judiciary was not independent and could not be relied upon. “Having personally gone through the judicial process”, he wrote, “I cannot but come to the conclusion that my case has not received the justice that it is entitled to; it has been crippled right from the beginning.”

Good job

Singapore’s unemployment rate slipped to 2.5% in December, down from 3.3% in September, according to figures released in February. The decline, which was bigger than most economists had predicted, marks a four-year low. Over the whole of 2005, buoyant economic growth created 110,800 more jobs, the highest figure since 1997. Economists expect unemployment to fall even further this year. This would be good news for the long-ruling People’s Action Party, which is expected to call national polls soon.

This growth includes an array of encouraging trends. The construction sector, which has been shrinking for years, added 8,500 jobs as builders accepted contracts for new homes, offices and hotels. Manufacturing, which has come under pressure from low-cost operations in India and China, boasted an additional 6,500 jobs.

String 'em up

Singaporeans are strongly in favour of the country’s capital punishment policy, a rare public-opinion survey on the subject has revealed. Some 96% of those polled by the Sunday Times newspaper backed the use of the noose, the paper reported on February 12th. The survey was conducted in the wake of the controversial hanging of an Australian drug mule, Nguyen Tuong Van, in late December. His case sparked widespread opposition in his home country and triggered a debate in the city-state about the merits of execution.

Those surveyed said hangings helped to deter serious crimes, kept the country safe and were just punishment for wrongdoers. Singapore's execution rate is one of the highest in the world, according to Amnesty International, an organisation that monitors human-rights abuses. The city-state has executed more than 420 people since 1991, mostly for drug trafficking, in a population of just over 4m. Its judicial system imposes hanging for a wide range of offences, including murder, kidnapping, drug trafficking and some firearms crimes.

Doing well

Despite high fuel prices, Singapore Airlines remains firmly in the black, with revenues at a record high. On February 2nd the flag-carrier, which is 57% owned by Temasek Holdings, the ministry of finance’s principal investment arm, released a quarterly report that showed net income in the three months to December had dipped 15% to S$397m. The chief culprit behind the slide—the fourth quarterly drop in a row—was a near 50% surge in the fuel bill to S$1.2 billion. But the airline is luring more passengers. The portion of seats filled reached 76.6% in the last quarter, up almost a percentage point from a year ago. Cargo figures also improved, while company revenue rose a respectable 11% to S$3.56 billion, the best showing to date.

Catch if you can

February 2006

Singapore Fringe Festival

February 22nd-March 5th 2006

A good alternative to more mainstream fare, Singapore’s annual Fringe Festival offers an interesting and varied programme. This year’s line-up ranges from screenings of films from Derek Jarman, a much-praised British director, to performances from a Mexican dance troupe. One highlight is “Rosnah” (pictured), a play by a Singaporean theatre duo, Alvin Tan and Haresh Sharma. The one-woman production tells the story of a girl's journey to study abroad against the wishes of her parents.

For a full listing see the organiser’s website. For tickets call +65 6348-5555 or visit Sistic’s website.

More from the Singapore cultural calendar