4 ms·

> Reportedly some of the happiest people on earth They seem pretty far from the Scandinavian countries. Besides, I'd find it hard to trust any results from a

> Reportedly some of the happiest people on earth They seem pretty far from the Scandinavian countries. Besides, I'd find it hard to trust any results from a totalitarian country. > It sounds insane to you because you’re used to the filth we live in and don’t even see the decay that’s all around us anymore. Crime and violence are normal in our world and a government that won’t tolerate it is a foreign concept. There are plenty of civilized countries with low crime rates that are not totalitarian.

nemo44x 4y ago
[flagged]
- vincnetas 4y ago
  Had to read about suicides in Singapore. I could not believe this, but apparently suicides were ILEGAL in Singapore until recently : Suicide was decriminalised in Singapore with the passing of the Criminal Law Reform Bill on 6 May 2019. Before that, Section 309 of the Penal Code stated that "Whoever attempts to commit suicide, and does any act towards the commission of such offence, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both."[13] The section was rarely enforced, between 2013 and 2015, only 0.6% of reported cases was brought to court.[ Makes you really think about executing your idea successfully. And also probably no point i hoping for suicide prevention hotline.
  - Zurrrrr 4y ago
    Honestly Singapore belongs on some human rights watch lists or something. That's deplorable.
    - lib-dev 4y ago
      [flagged]
      - pb7 4y ago
        We can comment from afar. All the facts are present.
- collegeburner 4y ago
  no we just value some things over more than others. like freedom above safety. that is a conscious and reasonable tradeoff we are happy to make. like i am happier living in a place that has higher rates of violent crime if that is the price for increased liberty. assuming that what you value is the only right option - who's the chauvinist here?
- Zurrrrr 4y ago
  > Other ways of measuring “happiness” are bullshit as cultures are different. Suicide is a great metric for happiness. Suicide rate doesn't measure anything except suicide rate. The happiness index and other studies are very thorough in what they measure, and choose things common to all cultures. Bizarre to be defending a totalitarian regime because you have no crime. I guess you really think the means justify the ends, maybe because you don't realize the level of compromise.
  - aydyn 4y ago
    Singapore is totalitarian? needs to be on a human rights list? Is one of the worst places to live? whats with this reddit-tier hyperbole? These comments are seriously out of touch, it comes off as trolling.
    - Zurrrrr 4y ago
      I'm not trolling. Just because it might be a very pleasant place to live doesn't mean it isn't also totalitarian. They charge people coming into their country if they have weed in their system (or their law allows them to and it seems they enforce it enough that countries warn their citizens), breaking no law in their country, and quite likely adhering to the law in their country of origin. They make suicide illegal and PUNISH peoples attempts at it. You don't think those two points alone (without even bothing to list additional obscene laws) are INSANE? Do you really want to defend them?
      - stametseater 4y ago
        > breaking no law in their country Singaporean law forbids their citizens and residents from using drugs in other countries. So if a Singapore resident goes to Amsterdam or Portland and smokes a joint there, they are complying with local laws but still breaking Singaporean laws. Laws with this sort of extraterritorial jurisdiction aren't without precedent. Particularly, other countries, like the US, UK and many others, have similar laws concerning some forms of sex tourism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterritorial_jurisdiction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterritorial_jurisdiction > Just because it might be a very pleasant place to live doesn't mean it isn't also totalitarian. With that I agree, but I think a better word to describe Singapore is 'authoritarian.' Totalitarianism is an extreme form of authoritarianism, in which the government exercises a near total control over every aspect of your life. Singapore regulates many aspects of their citizens lives, as do all functional governments to at least some degree, but I think it falls short of totalitarianism.
- tomasf 4y ago
  > Sweden has some of the highest suicide rates in the world Urban myth. Sweden is #44 according to Wikipedia.
Veen 4y ago
Singapore is a parliamentary democracy with elected members of parliament and president. It is certainly not a "totalitarian country", although it could be considered authoritarian compared to western democracies.
- segasaturn 4y ago
  People sometimes conflate being a single-party state with being a dictatorship/totalitarianism. Japan is considered a model democracy and has been run by the same party for over 70 years! It's just another way of doing democracy, there's no one size fits all approach to it.
  - int_19h 4y ago
    Er, who considers Japan a model democracy outside of Japan? And yes, democracy can be authoritarian as well. The problem is that if the government controls public discourse to a sufficient extent, any democracy becomes a sham no matter how fair elections themselves are.
- Zurrrrr 4y ago
  You're right, I used the wrong term. I'd say Singapore is still authoritarian in a vacuum though, western democracies aside.

nemo44x 4y ago

[flagged]

vincnetas 4y ago
Had to read about suicides in Singapore. I could not believe this, but apparently suicides were ILEGAL in Singapore until recently : Suicide was decriminalised in Singapore with the passing of the Criminal Law Reform Bill on 6 May 2019. Before that, Section 309 of the Penal Code stated that "Whoever attempts to commit suicide, and does any act towards the commission of such offence, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both."[13] The section was rarely enforced, between 2013 and 2015, only 0.6% of reported cases was brought to court.[ Makes you really think about executing your idea successfully. And also probably no point i hoping for suicide prevention hotline.
- Zurrrrr 4y ago
  Honestly Singapore belongs on some human rights watch lists or something. That's deplorable.
  - lib-dev 4y ago
    [flagged]
    - pb7 4y ago
      We can comment from afar. All the facts are present.
collegeburner 4y ago
no we just value some things over more than others. like freedom above safety. that is a conscious and reasonable tradeoff we are happy to make. like i am happier living in a place that has higher rates of violent crime if that is the price for increased liberty. assuming that what you value is the only right option - who's the chauvinist here?
Zurrrrr 4y ago
> Other ways of measuring “happiness” are bullshit as cultures are different. Suicide is a great metric for happiness. Suicide rate doesn't measure anything except suicide rate. The happiness index and other studies are very thorough in what they measure, and choose things common to all cultures. Bizarre to be defending a totalitarian regime because you have no crime. I guess you really think the means justify the ends, maybe because you don't realize the level of compromise.
- aydyn 4y ago
  Singapore is totalitarian? needs to be on a human rights list? Is one of the worst places to live? whats with this reddit-tier hyperbole? These comments are seriously out of touch, it comes off as trolling.
  - Zurrrrr 4y ago
    I'm not trolling. Just because it might be a very pleasant place to live doesn't mean it isn't also totalitarian. They charge people coming into their country if they have weed in their system (or their law allows them to and it seems they enforce it enough that countries warn their citizens), breaking no law in their country, and quite likely adhering to the law in their country of origin. They make suicide illegal and PUNISH peoples attempts at it. You don't think those two points alone (without even bothing to list additional obscene laws) are INSANE? Do you really want to defend them?
    - stametseater 4y ago
      > breaking no law in their country Singaporean law forbids their citizens and residents from using drugs in other countries. So if a Singapore resident goes to Amsterdam or Portland and smokes a joint there, they are complying with local laws but still breaking Singaporean laws. Laws with this sort of extraterritorial jurisdiction aren't without precedent. Particularly, other countries, like the US, UK and many others, have similar laws concerning some forms of sex tourism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterritorial_jurisdiction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterritorial_jurisdiction > Just because it might be a very pleasant place to live doesn't mean it isn't also totalitarian. With that I agree, but I think a better word to describe Singapore is 'authoritarian.' Totalitarianism is an extreme form of authoritarianism, in which the government exercises a near total control over every aspect of your life. Singapore regulates many aspects of their citizens lives, as do all functional governments to at least some degree, but I think it falls short of totalitarianism.
tomasf 4y ago
> Sweden has some of the highest suicide rates in the world Urban myth. Sweden is #44 according to Wikipedia.

Veen 4y ago

Singapore is a parliamentary democracy with elected members of parliament and president. It is certainly not a "totalitarian country", although it could be considered authoritarian compared to western democracies.

segasaturn 4y ago
People sometimes conflate being a single-party state with being a dictatorship/totalitarianism. Japan is considered a model democracy and has been run by the same party for over 70 years! It's just another way of doing democracy, there's no one size fits all approach to it.
- int_19h 4y ago
  Er, who considers Japan a model democracy outside of Japan? And yes, democracy can be authoritarian as well. The problem is that if the government controls public discourse to a sufficient extent, any democracy becomes a sham no matter how fair elections themselves are.
Zurrrrr 4y ago
You're right, I used the wrong term. I'd say Singapore is still authoritarian in a vacuum though, western democracies aside.