With protests racking Hong Kong, Singapore’s trade and industry minister Chan Chun Sing has warned that his city state could ‘easily’ go the same way.
In a meeting with journalists, Chan indicated that the future of the country was never assured, and ongoing political and economic savvy was required.
He remarked: ‘Unless calm is restored, dialogue commences and constructive actions are taken, there will be grave doubts about Hong Kong’s future and the sustainability of its current governance model. We wish Hong Kong the very best and sincerely hope that the situation will improve soon.’
In specific reference to Singapore, he commented that city states would only survive if they were ‘exceptional’.
He said that policies needed to have a long-term orientation, and that for political systems to be resilient, politicians needed to put the interests of their countries ahead of their personal or party interests.
He added that ‘political systems that only promote contestations and debate without concrete and constructive actions cannot deliver or solve problems’, and that ‘to insist on maximal individual gains at the expense of the common and collective good cannot be the Singapore way.’
The minister’s comments encapsulate the ambivalence with which Singapore is often regarded by outsiders. On the one hand, the economic progress it has made is widely acknowledged. On the other, the scope for political contestation is tightly controlled. In a recent example, a law passed in October was described as a means to deal with ‘fake news’, but has prompted concerns about possible enhanced control over the media.