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He is obviously a smart person. I wouldn’t vote for him though. He recently sued and won a “libel” case against a blogger who reposted a link to a Malaysian web
by hestefisk 5y ago
He is obviously a smart person. I wouldn’t vote for him though. He recently sued and won a “libel” case against a blogger who reposted a link to a Malaysian web site claiming the PM is involved in the 1MDB scandal.
Singapore is a one-party police state with zero press freedom and a poor track record of respecting human rights (being gay is still illegal).
So whilst it’s impressive that politician can code, I don’t like him, his views, or his political party.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Singapore-blogger-crowdfunds-99-000-to-pay-PM-defamation-damages https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Singapore-blogger-crowdfund...
- hestefisk 5y agoHuman Rights Watch have a very good write up on Singapore here: https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/12/12/kill-chicken-scare-monkeys/suppression-free-expression-and-assembly-singapore https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/12/12/kill-chicken-scare-mon...
- throwaway4good 5y agoAnd Singepore wasn't invited to Biden's summit for democracies ...
- hestefisk 5y agoSource?
- throwaway4good 5y agoYou can google it. The point is; Singapore doesn't toe the US line on China and therefore gets HRW and similar thrown after them. Which is absurd as Singapore is by far the best-governed country in the neighbourhood.
- teh_klev 5y agoI don't normally do this but...it's "toe the line". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toe_the_line https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toe_the_line
- throwaway4good 5y agoThank you.
- pell 5y ago>The point is; Singapore doesn't toe the US line on China and therefore gets HRW and similar thrown after them. Human Rights Watch isn't part of the American government. They've criticized the US numerous times. So much so that they are concluding that the US is trying to discredit them.(1) Singapore might simply not have been invited because they're not a real democracy. >Which is absurd as Singapore is by far the best-governed country in the neighbourhood. Best governed (according to you) != democracy. _____ (1) https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/10/23/us-seeks-discredit-human-rights-groups https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/10/23/us-seeks-discredit-human...
- InitialLastName 5y agoI suspect there's a reasonable argument to be made that under certain circumstances, democracy is a substantial barrier to optimization of governance. Between Soviet/CCP long-term planning capacity and the fascists' making the trains run on time, industrial totalitarianism has a track record of getting the job done. That said, all that job-doing is at the mortal expense of anyone who disagrees, stands in the way, or can be scapegoated for standing in the way. Also, woe be upon you if your leadership selection process picks a dud (compare the damage an incompetent megalomaniac leader in a limited democratic system can do to the same result in an absolutist dictatorship).
- throwaway4good 5y agoSingapore is a democracy, claiming otherwise is just an idiotic insult. You see the pattern of the same group holding power for a very long time in some countries, in particular in times of high growth (rather than oscillating between blocks like the US). For example LDP in Japan or the socialdemocrats in Sweden. It really doesn't mean that they are not democratic.
- throwaway2037 5y agoI found this: https://www.state.gov/participant-list-the-summit-for-democracy/ https://www.state.gov/participant-list-the-summit-for-democr... Wow, I was surprised to see that Sri Lanka was not on the list. Does anyone know the story behind that? Also, Nepal and Bangladesh are missing. That is also strange. All of them are certainly (proud) democracies!
- throwaway4good 5y agoIt is all about China. They also somehow managed to censor Audrey Tang of Taiwan (another computer scientist turned politician) live on video-link. Just goes to show how carefully orchestrated all this is.
- throwaway2037 5y agoWoah! AT (Audrey Tang) [1] is an amazing person. For those unaware, she is a "minister without portfolio for digital affairs" (a mouthful!) in Taiwan. I tried to Google about this but couldn't find anything. Can you share a link? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audrey_Tang https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audrey_Tang
- throwaway4good 5y agohttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/13/us-appears-to-cut-video-feed-audrey-tang-taiwan-summit-for-democracy https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/13/us-appears-to-... US appears to cut video feed of Taiwanese minister at summit
- avgcorrection 5y agoWhy would a “Summit on Democracy” matter other then to show who the US are pals with and which ones (by omission) would rather be pals with other (opposing) powers?
- moron4hire 5y agoIn general, I think it's very dangerous to assume that politicians--especially ones who can secure premier positions--are stupid. It makes it too easy give up against them, to explain away the evils they commit as "whaddayagonnado?"
- gregoriol 5y agoOne can be smart in a field and not in another: negociations is more important in politics than coding.
- lifeisstillgood 5y agoI have long been banging on that software is a new form of literacy (and will have similar deep far reaching social changes) I completely agree with you about the Singapore PMs political views. But this is a turning in the weather - all of us must become coders - the "elites", our leaders, our children, our accountants etc. And one country has now got one "literate" leader. He will make different decisions because of his literacy. We might not like those decisions, but software awareness will affect his decisions (although probably less than local politics, economics, bribes etc) We are seeing chnage happen
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- robjan 5y agoI would say it's less important for our leaders to be at the coalface and coding / learning to code than for them to know what's possible. During the last industrial revolution, the leaders who we all hear about weren't directly involved in building the machines which automated processes. Rather, they were experts at leveraging skills of people who could do it.
- pempem 5y agoThe most important line of this was "we may not like those decisions" and "software awareness will affect his decisions". It's not difficult to project how software might affect the decisions of someone who allows for no checks/balances aka some form of democracy.
- rabite 5y ago
- friedturkey 5y agoWild that there are people who take enough time out of their day to pass laws against it. I only ever think of gay men when I’m made aware that some countries have laws against them. Otherwise I’m never aware of any “public displays” because I don’t care what boys are doing with their mates.
- rabite 5y ago
- friedturkey 5y agoI don’t go searching for those things because I’m not interested in men in that way.
- rabite 5y ago
- friedturkey 5y agoI lived in the second gayest city in America for a good while and I wasn’t walking in on gay orgies. I don’t recall a single instance of gay public affection despite being outside often, but I also don’t recall any straight instances either because I don’t care about it. I have good success finding desirable partners and don’t hold feelings of jealousy or anything so any instances of PDA leave my mind because I don’t care about them. It seems like either a personal problem, or a problem with lawlessness in general. Would you be happier walking in on straight orgies? Is that legal in Singapore? Seems wild that they’d allow that, but your post implies it.
- 5y ago
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- jb1991 5y agoIt's also illegal in Singapore to proceed with any investigation of government activity. There are no checks and balances. There is no investigative journalism or allowed points of view that are not approved by the state. There is conflict of interest within the government, and no ability to dig into it without prosecution. Imagine Obama suing a college student for something they wrote on their blog. Now, Trump might have done something like that.. which is the main parallel to draw with the current leadership in Singapore.
- yostrovs 5y agoYou got that last comparison backwards: https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/obama-used-espionage-act-put-record-number-reporters-sources-jail-and-trump-could-be-even-worse/ https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/obama-used-espionage-act... I don't believe Trump jailed any reporters, unlike the record achieved by Obama.
- jb1991 5y agoYou are referring to something different, a government attack on leaks of classified info. I don't have an opinion on that. What Singapore's PM has done is personally sue people, such as college students, for speculation on their blogs. Not at all the same thing -- no leaks of government information, instead, open questions attempting to investigate and raise awareness of conflicts of interest. Some students have gone bankrupt by these attacks. Trump is also that petty.
- yostrovs 5y agoNo comparison is ever perfect. No, Obama didn't jail a college student blogger. He did go after Assange, Manning, and many others. He attacked more people willing to uncover government activities than any other president. But you're right, it's not an exact same thing as suing speculating college students. It's much worse. We live in a democratic republic supposedly.
- pell 5y ago
- nashashmi 5y agoAmazing how you can take recent victories of liberties in certain places and then start judging other countries when they don't abide by them. Give them time! Don't assassinate them for being who they have been for years upon years and how they still have not changed as much as you would be pleased. Honestly, the world will start to see a backward shift on woke culture after the PR disaster that the far left wing administration in the US is becoming.
- DisjointedHunt 5y agoSingapore is an island nation with a tiny population (~7M) and has loads of national security concerns including destabilizing forces spreading misinformation. So, no, suing for libel in a personal capacity does NOT equate to exercising state power as you assert. Unless you claim the entire Judiciary and state apparatus which has a long track record of issuing rulings both for and against public personalities is somehow flawed. This is HN, i wouldn't have expected a comment such as this to go unchecked this long.
- throwaway2037 5y agoCorrection: Singapore has a population of 5.7 million. Were you thinking of the 7.5 million that live in Hongkong? Also, I don't understand this part: <<has loads of national security concerns including destabilizing forces spreading misinformation.>> I think the ruling parties (including opposition!) of every sovereign state on planet Earth could/would/does make the exact same claim. Claims like that feel like "The War on Terror" which makes no sense on so many levels. See also: Countries that are permanently in a "revolution". Example: Iran's Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution (SCCR; Persian: شورای عالی انقلاب فرهنگی)
- DisjointedHunt 5y agoYou don’t understand or you don’t agree? The sentence and the security environment in the region are well documented and covered in the security posture reviews routinely covered by official press. What specifically is your argument?
- pupdogg 5y agoI wonder how often a person tagged as a "smart person" by our personal neural network turns out to be not true?
- hestefisk 5y agoSeriously, comment was flagged?