“Singapore good or bad?”
President-elect Ma Ying-jeou’s suggestion that Taiwan should adopt Singapore’s national strategy is worrying (“Ma says Taiwan can learn from Singapore model,” May 11, page 8).
First, it is naive to compare Singapore with Taiwan, as, for one, Singapore does not face the threat of Chinese missiles. It is an independent state, does not have to worry about its identity and status and is therefore free to pursue and negotiate relations with China as it sees fit.
Secondly, while Singapore does have a free market economy and low levels of inequality, we must not forget that it is still run by an authoritarian government that seeks to limit the rights of its citizens as well as the emergence of political opposition.
One of the things that many Taiwanese tend to oversee are the political freedoms and the free media in Taiwan.
If this is the type of government that Ma will be proposing during the next four years (a possibility, however remote, of this happening exists, given that his party has a majority in the legislature), then Taiwanese will have a lot to worry about other than economic recession.
