Originally Posted by
Progress Wanchai
Exactly.
For every BNO that thinks the UK is the answer there’s 10 Chinese willing to move in who aren’t prepared to wait for Shanghai and Beijing to enter the 20th century.
Hong Kong has never been better than Singapore. Never will be. But Singapore will (probably) never be China.
If you’re a mercenary then there’s money to be made. However if you’re an expat who wants a western lifestyle then tragically the UK actually does look attractive now.
Ah, but China will (probably) become like Singapore which has:
No freedom of speech
No freedom of assembly
No free press
No independent judiciary
No free and fair elections
A very efficient secret police keeping dissent in check
Banned all weapons. Get caught with a firearm and you will face the hangman's noose. ( hence no gun crime )
A journalist friend of mine wrote a column for the International Herald Tribune (now the NY Times Intl edition) documenting cases where the Singapore courts were in the pockets of the ruling PAP (People's Action Party). He was charged with libel, tried inabsentia ,fined and declared persona non-grata in Singapore. The IHT paid his fine as well as their own. Any foreign publication that puts Singapore in a poor light is simply not distributed.
In 1995, Fortune magazine infamously devoted one issue titled "The Death of Hong Kong" and moved their Asian office from HK to Singapore. Head office obviously didnt listen to the hack on the street regarding press restrictions. Fortune moved back to HK after 2 or 3 years. Suprise suprise. ( none of their many dire HK predictions came true but they did sell alot of that issue)
In the 10 years since the Communist takeover of Hong Kong there were over 3,000 authorised protest marches. In more than 40 years, there has only been one protest in Singapore: a government sponsored protest consisting of 20 pro government people. The PRC has to deal with and shutdown an average of 50,000 protests a year. Since 1997 there have been over 10,000 authorised protest marches in HK and a lot of unauthorised ones.
In the past opposition cadidates in Singapore running for election were branded communists and jailed. That didn't put Singapore in a very good light so now every opposition cadidate's public remarks are now scrutinized with the aim of leveling libel charges. Inevitably found guilty, the penalty is a forfeture of everything including the libelers house and caning. After 3 expertly aimed blows the skin of your buttocks break leaving permanent scars.
As reported in the Far Eastern Economic Review ( before it ceased publication) government vehicles with loudspeakers would cruise districts where it was possible that an oppostion candidate would win , blaring out a message if they voted for the opposition that district would be denied government money.
For decades there were only 2 opposition members in government out of several hundred elected officials of the PAP.
Singapore also had the distinction of holding the world's longest serving political prisoner in living memory.
In the leadup to 1997 the Singaporean government launched a program where is would grant Singaporean citizenship to any HK person that wanted to escape before the communists took over. This program was terminated after 2 years as a total of only 7 HK persons took advantage of the program.
The former strongman of Singapore, Lee Kwan Yew ,Prime Minister 1959 to1990 became the "First Minister" when he retired from office. He was then appointed to be an official advisor by the PRC as China envisions to be just like Singapore with it's inherent social controls.
In Singapore, the government is refered to as Big Brother and the New Straits Times is called Pravda.
The PAP rules Singapore with an iron fist but looks after it's citizens from cradle to grave. In return, they demand complete obedience.
Jake Van der Kamp, former coloumnist for the SCMP , makes a convincing argument that Singapore is the closest embodiment of the principles of Karl Marx.
Having said all that... I would have no problem living in Singapore as I am not a social activist or civil rights campaigner, nor am I a member of the NRA.
Progress Wanchai must be a communist Chinese troll to state that Hong Kong has never been better than Singapore and never will be.