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Disneyland with Death Penalty
- oxfeed65261 4y agoThe 1993 Wired article, by William Gibson: https://www.wired.com/1993/04/gibson-2/ https://www.wired.com/1993/04/gibson-2/ or https://archive.ph/twY5Y https://archive.ph/twY5Y
- antod 4y agoThat issue was my first intro to Wired when I spotted it on a coffee table and was intrigued by the Disneyland line. It was probably another year after that before I actually used the internet - after reading a few Wired magazines, I wasn't really sure what to expect...
- AdmiralAsshat 4y agoThanks! This is the perfect sort of longform article to save via Pocket/Instapaper and read later on my e-reader.
- andrepd 4y agoOne of my favourite Kobo features ;)
- aschismatic 4y agoCan you elaborate on the feature you're referencing? I'm currently looking at getting a new e-reader and am specifically debating between the Kindle Paperwhite and the Kobo Libra 2.
- AdmiralAsshat 4y agoKobo has direct integration with Pocket, so as long as you sign into your Pocket account from your Kobo, you can download, read, or archive articles directly on the Kobo. You don't need to do the wonky workaround like emailing the Pocket article to your Kindle to get it to show up. See below: https://help.kobo.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017763753-Use-the-Pocket-App-with-your-Kobo-eReader https://help.kobo.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017763753-Use-the... Kobo also has first-class integration with Overdrive/Libby for borrowing digital library books.
- aschismatic 4y agoOooh that's really neat, thank you!
- Bendy 4y agoThe irony wasn’t lost on me ;)
- russellbeattie 4y agoI wanted to see the original magazine print, but surprisingly, I can't find a single download of any of the 1990s issues anywhere. Archive.org's earliest is from 2000 (below). Seems amazing no one has scanned and shared back issues. If anyone has a link, please share! https://archive.org/details/wired-2001_02/page/n65/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/wired-2001_02/page/n65/mode/2up
- causi 4y agoSingapore, Gibson details, is lacking any sense of creativity or authenticity, I find it interesting the impression I personally formed of Singapore exactly matches the one Gibson did over a decade earlier. I understand how a particular kind of person could see it as a paradise, but personally I found it the most depressing place on earth.
- bowsamic 4y agoIs it better or worse than Dubai? Or similar?
- causi 4y agoKind of depends. It's more sterile. Dubai you get the impression they generally care about you having a good time, at least if you're Western. Singapore they care about you looking like you're having a good time. Singapore doesn't have the de facto slavery problem of the Emirates, though. Food is definitely better in Dubai.
- systemvoltage 4y agoI always found phrases like “Food is better in X city than Y”, just silly.
- foodslave 4y agoI wish you weren’t being downed and the parent extrapolated. It’s a very subjective critique… I live in a foodie city and am long tired of overpriced sandwiches splashed with an aioli served for a cool $20, no drink no side. Went to a no name city for hiking and found a nice hole in the wall shop with great food at a quarter the price and found my kind of foodie.
- georgeecollins 4y agoI agree that those sort of generalizations are unfair and extremely subjective, but I think there is a truth to the idea that some places in the world people care more about food and are more picky about it. If you are well off person and only go to fancier places you see it less, because you are probably always served a baseline quality. But some parts of the world just have less access to fresh produce, less cultural diversity, etc. That doesn't seem quite so subjective. And there is good food to be found pretty much everywhere, that is not the point.
- zjordan1 4y agoVery interesting, thank you for sharing.
- ChrisMarshallNY 4y agoI remember reading that, when he wrote it.
- mistrial9 4y agoI have the print copy right here :-0
- russellbeattie 4y agoWas about to write the same thing. The first few years of Wired were incredible. I was both a geek and at that time heavily into "desktop publishing" and Wired was a revelation akin to discovering a new religious text. I miss magazines. I rarely read them now, but there was something exciting about browsing through a new issue - the ads were as interesting as the editorial material. In the best magazines, each page flip was a masterpiece of graphic design. In our collective transition to online content, we definitely lost a lot in terms of the visual language developed for print. Though we have high resolution screens now, it doesn't seem to be returning. The visual innovations seems to have complete moved to video now, and "pages" are now just scrolling text. Amusingly, I signed up for ACM recently to get access to a research paper, and they unexpectedly mailed me their monthly magazine. An actual physical printed periodical? Wow. As I was reading it, I realized I've become so used to digital screens, it felt weird to read. You have to move your eyes up and down columns! They don't just scroll into my line of vision. Figures and images are numbered and you have to look around for them, they're not just embedded in a carousel in line with the text. Took me a minute or two to adjust for real.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- sirshmooey 4y agoI remember seeing an interview with Lee Kuan Yew and the idea of our 1st amendment rights were brought up and Mr. Yew began to laugh.
- fatnoah 4y agoThat's fascinating. I spent a few days in Singapore on business in early 2002, and while my impression wasn't quite so bleaks as described in the article, my main impression was that parts of it were very much like something out of the World Showcase at Disney World.
- cromulent 4y agoLast time I was there (around 2005) the newspaper reports of FDWs (Foreign Domestic Workers) falling to their deaths whilst cleaning the outside of highrise windows without safety equipment were very disturbing. Seems it is still happening. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/average-of-12-people-a-year-taken-to-task-for-not-providing-safe-conditions-for-maids https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/average-of-12-people-...
- thematrixturtle 4y agoA significant fraction of those deaths is intentional suicides. Although if anything this is even more disturbing.
- jonathaneunice 4y agoThe government banning _Wired_ because it contained a critical article immediately confirms so much of the criticism.
- googlryas 4y ago
- Iv 4y agoYou are not a journalist and I am not a state.
- shiftpgdn 4y agoWhat makes a journalist?
- whoooooo123 4y agoPutting "journalist" in your Twitter bio, at least by 2022 standards.
- dsr_ 4y agoSocial convention; intent and history.
- aemreunal 4y agoI don't think the example you gave holds. This is how I would characterize that: Blocking someone = not buying Wired magazine so you can't read it yourself Banning someone from the internet = banning Wired magazine so no one can ever read it
- googlryas 4y agoMaybe my example was poorly done, but I think it shares the same reasoning flaw that OP had in the original - the belief that a very strong denial is somehow evidence of guilt. I saw similar logic in a COVID thread recently, with someone saying essentially that the lab leak theory must be true, because China is denying it so hard. Well, that's what innocent people do too when they're wrongly accused of something.
- nireyal 4y agoThere’s much to love about Singapore if you understand, or are willing to learn, Asian culture. It’s more collectivist than individualistic and while that certainly comes with trade offs, it has many benefits. I’ve lived here for almost 3 years and it feels like living in the future. No where is perfect but the quality of life here is amazing. The people I know who don’t like it are almost always white folks who don’t interact with locals and don’t want to understand Asian norms.
- robhunter 4y agoCan you give some examples of Asian norms?
- mcguire 4y agoNo chewing gum in public among other things.
- 2-718-281-828 4y agothat is NOT an asian norm ... Google "chinese spitting" [1] and then extrapolate form there. [1] f.x.: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-devon-22184499 https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-devon-22184499
- mcguire 4y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chewing_gum_sales_ban_in_Singapore https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chewing_gum_sales_ban_in_Singa...
- rayiner 4y ago
- beisner 4y agoOn the flip side, the child didn't consent to being born, and indirectly any suffering a child endures can be traced back to a parent's decision to bring them into the world.
- _dain_ 4y agoThe real Disneyland also has the death penalty, since it is located in the state of California. Disneyworld likewise, since it is in Florida.
- micromacrofoot 4y agoIn this analogy Disney is the Singaporean government. Disney can not directly enforce the death penalty, Singapore can. So the author wants you to image Singapore as a Disneyland that could directly carry out execution. There is little justice system in-between.
- seanmcdirmid 4y agoThis is also William Gibson, who is heavy on dystopia in his science fiction work.
- function_seven 4y agoTechnically, yeah. But not really. In the last 30 years, Singapore has executed more than 400 people (Wikipedia has stats for 470, but is also missing the counts for many years.) Most for drug offenses. In the same time-frame, California has executed 13 people. And none in the last 16 years, and none for drug offenses.
- wizofaus 4y agoCalifornia also has 7 times the population of Singapore. None of which invalidates the fact that California does, in fact, have the death penalty, in marked contrast to most of the Western world.
- mbg721 4y agoThe percentage of California which is Disneyland is not large, by area or population.
- aerostable_slug 4y ago
- mbg721 4y agoI had a friend in school who had a t-shirt that said "Singapore - It's a Fine City" on the front, and on the back was a list of fines for various offenses.
- voisin 4y agoThey sell these all over town to tourists. I think they’re proud of it because of the order these fines create.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- mcguire 4y ago"The Singaporean government banned Wired upon the publication of the issue. The phrase "Disneyland with the death penalty" came to stand internationally for an authoritarian and austere reputation that the city-state found difficult to shake off." Gosh, I wonder why that would be a hard reputation to get rid of?
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- olah_1 4y agoIve heard Singapore cited as the one instance where multi-culturalism actually works. The catch being that you need a police state to enforce the norms on everyone. And you enforce it equally.
- wizofaus 4y agoDefine "works"? I'd suggest the vast majority of those in my own city (a state capital in Australia) would agree that multi-culturalism is a positive and key feature. We briefly experienced something close to a police state during the covid lockdowns of the previous two years but you could hardly call it that normally.
- JetAlone 4y agoI wouldn't call that "working" multi-culturalism. Equally enforced norms amount to a monoculture, a new culture spackled over the peoples' former culture. It'll inconvenience different groups and individuals unequally, and over time it will stamp out their unique identities because in practice, everything you think and believe and then actually follow comes from the governmental authority.
- olah_1 4y agoWell yeah, if it is your culture to spit on the ground and be a menace to society, then your culture will be erased.
- JetAlone 4y agoYou inspired me to think of net-negative public health risks like smoking, casual sex, and very distracting media. And then to look this article up: https://medium.com/kampung-seaport/noises-of-a-modern-city-1537d7c780e8 https://medium.com/kampung-seaport/noises-of-a-modern-city-1... "I have never known that Singapore. My Singapore is pragmatic and sensitive, one of enforced invisibility, reduced risk, minimum noise." Faith in whatever god or adherence to whatever principle of "harmony" may personally describe an individual's pattern of being, it is the government towards which truly meaningful, actionable intercessions are made. No more noisy Calls To Prayer from these minarets! Instead we will have Calls To Politeness blare from the tallest metaphorical tower. For the successful "multi-"culture, that is god - that is harmony. Unfortunately, while your zeal is appreciated, "your culture will be erased" is a dangerous, panic-inducing way to say what you mean. To help encourage successful, peaceful discourse and assimilation, let no more of your spittle accidentally hit the floor with this aggressive rhetoric.
- rayiner 4y agoAs someone from Bangladesh, I read this and think "who cares?" In 1960 Singapore was a poor third world country. Today it's as rich as the US. You cannot understand how significant such a change is to the people of the country unless you've lived in a third world country and really seen what it's like. Whatever draconian measures it took to get there, they were worth it. Fareed Zakaria's interview with Lee Kuan Yew, the country's modern founder, is required reading for pretty much anyone hoping to understand the developing world, multiculturalism, etc. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20045923 https://www.jstor.org/stable/20045923
- trhway 4y ago>multiculturalism unfortunately that word more and more means "your universal human rights don't apply here". Many cultures across the world are decades and even centuries behind when it comes to human rights. The naturally authoritarian regimes there are usually don't care that much about the culture and only using that word to protect their power as the societal move forward to progress threatens that power. Among the most glaring examples these days - traditionalist/conservative Russia using tremendous violence trying to reign in the Ukrainian people's move to progress with Russia being one of the leaders today in the use of "multiculturalism" as a guise to cover its violence.
- themaninthedark 4y ago>your universal human rights Are a lie. You only have the rights that you are able to wrest away from your government and those are far from universal. Look at freedom of speech for example, then try to criticize the royal family when in Thailand. Of look at your "right to self-defense", then look at how several western countries are acting in that regard. Or NYC even. The US constitution states that only the powers enumerated are given to the government and everything else is reserved for the people. But look at how we act when our political adversaries are silenced or trampled, "Show me where in the constitution you have that right". We are willing to throw away our power to hurt those we find distasteful. There is nothing universal about rights, except that you must win them through struggle and guard them jealously
- 4y ago
- smcf 4y agoLast month I visited Singapore for close to two weeks. I kept thinking about this essay, because in some sense it captures the Singapore vibe, but in another I think it unjustifiably pigeonholes it. I brought a dressy Seiko watch with me, on the off chance I might want to go to a nice restaurant. I ended up wearing it daily after the first few days. There was an was almost subconscious pressure to fit in with the majority of men who wore fancy-looking (by American standards) watches casually. Among the women, I've never seen so many designer handbags in use anywhere (and I saw a fair amount of men carrying more masculine-styled bags from big-name brands as well). Yes, there is something in the cultural air that feels stifling. Fitting in with the crowd feels high-status there, whereas (to me) it feels kind of low-status in the States. I think part of the reason this vibe feels so visible is the use of English. I pointed out to a friend I was traveling with an advertisement for a financial planning seminar for young couples as embodying something Singaporean (in America, the only people I could see attending a financial planning seminar are retirees, mainly attracted by the free dinner at Ruth's Chris). Like, every aspect of Singaporean life could be encapsulated and taught to others through some medium (seminar, book, TV show...). My friend, who is Chinese, said "oh that's just Asia." An anecdote, maybe, but it made me wonder if this aspect was not a uniquely Singaporean one, but one we only internalize in its context because we can read the billboards and understand the ads playing on the taxi radio. So in that sense, Gibson was right. But then I went to Geylang. It feels like a different country. The place was tangled in dusty exposed electrical wires, and thronged with young people in more working-class casual garb hanging out. Grumpy restaurateurs, even a sex trade of mixed legality were also present. Despite this, it all still feels very safe, but it also feels very low-budget and safety-off. If your explore Singaporean social media a little, you'll find lots of videos of other under-the-surface stuff -- illegally modified motorcycle clubs, brawls on HDB void decks and the like. The atmosphere really changes around the island's widely varying spaces. And even concerning that part of Singapore which Gibson observed -- Singapore runs extremely well. It worked better than any American city I've been to. I only saw one traffic jam my entire time there (it was blamed on National Day Parade rehearsals), while the public transit is cheap and everywhere. You really have to see it to believe it; it's a marvel of central city planning that, unlike American city planning, actually results in a better city that works. The presence of government feels heavy-handed at times (there are police cameras everywhere), but at the same time it oozes competence in a way that American public projects don't even come close to. If you're a freewheeling artist like Gibson, I can see how it could feel stifling. But for a professional, even in software (known to attract misfits), it really felt like a top-tier place to get work done. I think one could adapt to it if they knew when to be inventive and when to cool it and go with the flow.
- Iv 4y ago> An aerial shot from 1989 of the squat enclave Kowloon Walled City, which Gibson contrasts favourably with Singapore Huhu Try living in both.
- notahacker 4y agoYep. That's why I'm amazed this article gets reposted so often like it's sage wisdom and not a wealthy Western writer complaining that Singapore doesn't have enough poverty and crime to inspire books about dystopian futures (with a bit on Singapore's same-as-all-the-neighbouring-countries draconian drug laws lest anyone conclude it sounds quite nice actually) Not sure Kowloon Walled City was notable for vibrant nightlife, producing great art or being merciful to people caught competing with local drug cartels either.
- bitL 4y agoOk, Singapore is a bit sterile ("Singabore"), but contrasting it with Kowloon as its authentic opposite is a bit rich...
- mikey_p 4y agoFolks on Hacker News sure seem to bring it up alot: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=Kowloon&sort=byDate&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...
- bitL 4y agoCould it be because of Ip Man/Bruce Lee connection that mythologized that place?
- xdennis 4y agoSome people love freedom more than prosperity.
- bitL 4y ago...and safety
- bitwize 4y agoI remember this best as the essay in which Gibson compares Singapore to the burbclaves from Snow Crash, which struck me as the literary equivalent of when a band plays the Weird Al spoof of their own song. (Don McLean and Barenaked Ladies are known to have done this.)
- moomoo11 4y agoThese kinds of places are way too creepy/cringey for me. Grew up in such a culture, putting authority on a pedestal and doing as you're told is childish behavior and frankly boring. It also leads to people having tons of pent up/stored ego that makes it impossible to rationally deal with them when they just expect you to do as you're told or accept their bad ideas. I much prefer being somewhere that has everything- grimey to super nice and flashy. Makes life more interesting and there are more opportunities.
- lliamander 4y ago> I much prefer being somewhere that has everything- grimey to super nice and flashy. The psychological trait of Orderliness definitely plays into both the aesthetic qualities and the deference to authority within a society. I prefer the clean and flashy aesthetic to a grimey one, but I probably prefer a more natural, organic aesthetic to either. While I think many politically right-leaning people (like myself) see a lot to admire in Singapore, my own response is more measured. Like you noted, the authoritarian nature of such a state can come across as paternalistic, whereas I would rather be treated as an autonomous adult.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- zugi 4y agoI don't have word count tool on my phone, but does it strike others as strange that there's a 1000+ word wikipedia page about a 4,500-word article?
- sigstoat 4y agothe declaration of independence is ~1300 words. a half-assed attempt at counting the words in the article (minus of the copy of the declaration that it contains) comes up with about ~10900 words. is that strange? what ratio isn't strange?
- notahacker 4y agotbf the Declaration of Independence was a nation-defining historical event, a collaboration involving a lot of people, and text which has shaped a couple of centuries of American law. Disneyland with the Death Penalty is a pretty self-explanatory magazine article which has somehow ended up with a more detailed summary than many of Gibson's novels. Only on Wikipedia would that sort of prioritisation be normal.
- sigstoat 4y ago> Only on Wikipedia would that sort of prioritisation be normal. perhaps if you addressed your concerns to their prioritization committee, you could effect some change.
- noah_buddy 4y agoYou think that’s bad? Check out the article for the Gettysburg Address (272 words).
- beautifulfreak 4y agoReminds me of Kurt Vonnegut's joke from 1972 about the Republican National Convention in Miami. "It's Disneyland under martial law." https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2005/1/14/85582/- https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2005/1/14/85582/-
- picodguyo 4y agoSome of you may be too young to remember the context of this. In 1993, an American was sentenced to be caned for what would be considered minor offenses in America. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_P._Fay https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_P._Fay There was a huge media frenzy in the run-up to the punishment. Then he got caned, had a sore bottom, and life went on.
- paulpauper 4y agoIt sounds bad, and it is, until you realize that he was stealing street signs, which is a crime in probably any country, not just Singapore. TBH, who decides to steal street signs in a foreign country? Under the 1966 Vandalism Act, originally passed to curb the spread of political graffiti and which specifically penalized vandalism of government property,[1] Fay was sentenced on March 3, 1994, to four months in jail, a fine of S$3,500 (US$2,814 or £2,114 at the time), and six strokes of the cane.[6] Shiu, who pleaded not guilty, was sentenced to eight months in prison and 12 strokes of the cane.[7] Yes, the US does not cane people but it also has a death penalty, bad prison conditions relative to other g-20 nations (solitary confinement for example), and people get long sentences for recidivism, or for certain felonies, or under 3 strikes laws. I think there is room for improvement for many countries, not just Singapore. He was sentenced 4 months for stealing the signs, which is commensurate with a misdemeanor in the US (1 year max).
- aidenn0 4y ago> It sounds bad, and it is, until you realize that he was stealing street signs, which is a crime in probably any country, not just Singapore. TBH, who decides to steal street signs in a foreign country? He was living with his mother in Singapore, so while he was a US citizen, he was stealing street signs "at home." Also vandalism and theft of street signs is certainly quite common in St Louis, where he lived before moving to Singapore.
- warning26 4y agoYou know, if St Louis had similar penalties for stealing street signs, I'll bet there would be a lot less crime there overall.
- rurp 4y agoI wasn't familiar with this phrase, but I can see why it has stuck. My first thought before clicking the article was that it referred to some place like Abu Dhabi or Riyadh; a middle eastern city that seems clean and safe, if you're in the right social class, but with horrific abuses happening out of the spotlight. Now that I think about it, this could describe an awful lot of cities and countries in the world.
- asiachick 4y agoI find this to be some of the most racist shit I've ever read. Gees I can't believe the comments here. Singapore is one of the safest countries in the world. When I've brought up how much I like Singapore someone always retorts "Oh, that place where you get arrested for walking down the sidewalk and chewing gum" to which I also respond "Well, I could be in the USA where I get walk down the sidewalk and get mugged" Singapore has way better clubs than SF or LA. If you want to party hard until late at night it's got plenty of options. Vs SF/LA where there's a 2am curfew your options effectively end at 1:30am. Singapore has amazing food options open until 4-5am. Try getting food in LA/SF after 11. Your options becoming Dennys and that's about it. Oh but someone said Singapore is boring. Did they actually go? For me, having to stop partying at 1:30 way more boring than partying til 3-4 am and then heading to a hawker marker for food options at 10-15 stands. Singapore had taxis you could order on apps before Uber existed. Singapore has amazing public transportation. MRT lines and busses and easy access to reasonably priced taxis. I get that the government is a little on the strict side but I find it hilarious that none of the Apple fans who spout how much they love Apple's walled garden don't see the parallels. I like places where I can go to a cafe, leave my stuff on the table to go-order and not have it stolen. I like it far more than USA culture where people have gotten so used to living in an a pit of crime that they blame the victim for any theft and there are signs everywhere "don't leave anything in your car!" because the police/government can't be bothered to do their jobs and instead let the baddies run/ruin the city for everyone else. In the USA, "oh, your bike got stolen. You're an idiot for not buying a better lock or for even thinking it was safe to lock it anywhere".
- baggy_trough 4y agoTotally agree, there is some mind blowing bigotry in this thread. The United States would be lucky to have one city that worked half as well for its citizens as Singapore.
- yieldcrv 4y agowe don't consider a place with a 70 year old national identity to be a distinct race, you might be able to trip up some Americans on that, but not all of us are that gullible and then the rest of this tiny city state comparison to two municipalities within one state in the US? (Also there are plenty of raves in LA that go till dawn, as well as strip clubs, card rooms and so on. If you want nightlife its there.) and then corporate walled garden versus government walled garden? how many things can you conflate at once?
- bnralt 4y agoI personally found Singapore charming when I was there. It's a fascinating mix of several different cultures who all seem to retained many of their traditional customs. I never understood the sterile critique myself, the city never struck me as such. Gibson's main critique, from what I can tell, is the lack of much of a counterculture similar to what you'd find in the U.S. allied-bloc (Europe, U.S., Canada, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand), combined with wealth and modernity that you would find in such countries. He compares it to America in the 1950's. I can't help but think there's an underlying prejudice in the way he and others think countries should develop, where as they get richer they should be more like rich countries he's used to (ironically enough, the problem for many seems to be that Singapore _isn't_ the same as the other developed nations they're used to). Though he does praise the food at the hawker centers, which I can at least agree with (and which are far away from any idea of sterile and boring).
- fennecfoxy 4y agoI had to go to Singapore on business. This was when our clients knew I was gay but the thought hadn't really occurred to them to check Singapore's stance on that before settling on that location for some co-op development work. Unfortunately Singapore is, in some ways, much like Dubai. The sad thing is that they're defended with "well it's pretty safe there and they don't really arrest people for that anymore even though they have the legal power to and they have a pride parade and stuff too so it's fine". So why don't they change their laws? It's also another wacky country where being gay is illegal only for men. Like I know certain types of porn are popular with straight guys, but like, seriously?
- 2143 4y agoI have a question. Do they prosecute you even if you're simply gay (and not doing any sexual activity whatsoever)?
- fennecfoxy 4y agoNot sure tbh, but usually in places with few gay rights/where "sodomy" is still illegal it supports an atmosphere of hostility towards gay people by the general public - there are places where the government has "legalised it" to seem modern/moral to Western countries but their populace is still violent to gay people. I'm not sure it really matters sexual activity or not, the whole "just don't be gay" or "just don't have sex then" thing is offensive.
- yieldcrv 4y agoWired source article: https://www.wired.com/1993/04/gibson-2/ https://www.wired.com/1993/04/gibson-2/
- abigail95 4y agoI would live in Singapore full time if it wasn't so fucking hot. How can they have such prosperity with such a low tax rate and no natural resources?
- randallsquared 4y agoLow tax rate seems like a contributing factor to prosperity, though?
- Tossrock 4y agoTheir natural resource is their strategic location on the Straits of Malacca. Massive trade volumes pass through the area, which brings wealth.
- vkou 4y ago> How can they have such prosperity with such a low tax rate and no natural resources? Cheap foreign labour, long work hours, and a strategically important location.
- hackeraccount 4y agoI've been to Singapore twice for pretty short stays but I came away describing it (without having read Gibson's article) as Disney Land without the rides. My peak Singapore experience was going to a club (No lie. DJ Jazzy Jeff was there.) and wandering out of the place late at night wandering around trying to figure out where the hotel was. Here's the thing. Strange City. Middle of the night. I felt totally safe and I'm pretty sure I was. Compare that to the city I live in. It's safe enough during the day but at night you need to know where you are down to the block and be aware of your surroundings. Honestly if I had a job there and could convince my wife I'd move to Singapore - it's not the Switzerland of Asia but it's something close to that.
- ThinkBeat 4y agoThe safety aspect is quite similar in Japan from what I experienced in 2001- 2002 in Tokyo. At least the areas I have been in. (Which would be 1% of Japan maybe) I could not believe they had vending machines that sold laptops and other highly expensive items. That thing would be robbed hours after it was mounted where I come from. I have been told a couple of times, that if you commit violent crime against someone in Tokyo you need to be more worried about reprisals from organized crime than from the police. I presume it is an urban myth but coming from the US it is hard to imagine how Japan is able to keep the streets as safe as they do.
- babypuncher 4y ago> Singapore, Gibson details, is lacking any sense of creativity or authenticity, absent of any indication of its history or underground culture. Gibson ascribes this to the fairly authoritarian nature of the Singapore government, but I think a much bigger contributor to this feeling is simply the age of everything there. I think the "culprit" is the fact that they experienced a tremendous amount of growth and socio-economic upward momentum in an incredibly small amount of time. This means that in any given neighborhood, every structure you can see was likely built within a decade or two of any other visible structure. It's not like London or even New York City which grew organically and slowly over centuries. You can wander around the endless seas of identical strip-malls and suburban neighborhoods that have exploded in places like Utah and Texas over the last 20-30 years for a similar feeling of emptiness and homogeneity.
- Fatnino 4y agoIt's the same with the tract housing that sprouted up all over the bay area in the 50s. It's basically all the same crap but it's had 70 years to get a little bit of variety sprinkled on top, so not quite as eyesearingly identical as more recent cookie cutter neighborhoods.
- fleddr 4y ago"Singapore is an authoritarian city" "No we're not, your literature is now BANNED".
- aaron695 4y ago
- archhn 4y ago
- jdeamattson 4y agoI seem to remember that William Gibson spent a few days in Singapore and like most Western visitors to non-Western countries was able to plumb its depths and grok it fully in that time. Even in 1993 — which was my first visit to Singapore — you could easily find many of the things he bemoaned missing. It sounds like he stayed in a hotel in Orchard and limited his exposure to what he could see there and in the CBD (Central Business District). He made zero effort, it appears, to go into the heartlands or to visit Tiong Bahru or the various heritage areas. To me it is just one more example of the White Westerner visiting the "exotic land", and becoming an instant expert. Oh, and that running off and catching the next flight out of town. I highly doubt that in those days you would just jump on a plane without a little pre-planning.
- smallerdemon 4y agoThanks for posting. It was a nice coincidence since I was literally having a conversation about Singapore with some co-workers that morning it was posted. I am now also digging through my past few years of Wired issues to find the more recent article that served as a follow-up to this one.
- wizofaus 4y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Rahim_Shapiee https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Rahim_Shapiee Executed by hanging just last week for possessing 41 grams of diamorphine. Wow.