Taiwan was autocratic until merely a generation ago (and holds the questionable achievement for the longest sustained period of martial law by any government), in South Korea half of its democratic elected heads of state are in prison, and Japan has been governed virtually by the same party since the post-war era.

They have the rule of law, they have elections, all of those countries are characterized by, in reality, a very monocultural, depolitized, bureaucratic system of government. Live in Singapore in reality is no more or less 'democratic' than live in Japan or Taiwan or SK.

> Live in Singapore in reality is no more or less 'democratic' than live in Japan or Taiwan or SK.

You absolutely will not be arrested for holding up signs outside government buildings[1], or questioned by the police for reading a book on the train as a protest[2]. You would not be sued to bankruptcy for making what would be considered political speech in these other countries. Or just about anything on this list https://twitter.com/kixes/status/1174024357443600384?s=21.

Singapore is absolutely less democratic - there's no need for scare quotes.

[1]: https://twitter.com/kixes/status/1353999081287245824?s=19

[2]: https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/police-question-one-ma...

> Live in Singapore in reality is no more or less 'democratic' than live in Japan or Taiwan or SK.

I think this is a false equivalence. TFA mentions a democracy activist who was imprisoned for 21 days because of a small, non violent protest on a subway. He had been previously arrested for criticizing the judiciary in Singapore.

Unless I'm mistaken, you would not be arrested for either of these acts in South Korea or Japan. They are both imperfect, but in some important ways more free.

activist arrests happen in South Korea as well. The country has a national security law that gives the government rights to take action against anything perceived as 'anti-government' action. Advocacy of communism or voicing recognition of the North is illegal and every so often lands people in jail

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-30808950

>I think this is a false equivalence. TFA mentions a democracy activist who was imprisoned for 21 days because of a small, non violent protest on a subway

Things like that, and worse, have happened time and again in the US too...

> half of its democratically-elected heads of state are in prison

Are they the Illinois of SE Asia? For that matter, if the US laws on insider trading applied to congresspeople, half of our elected representatives would rightfully be behind bars, too.

On the other hand, Taiwan and Korea were dictatorships or semi-dictatorships after the war, and for a long time (until the 80s or so). Even today elections there are charade-ish...

Taiwan elections are charade-ish? Can you back that up with anything?

You mean aside from 70+ years of a dictatorship, mass corruption on both sides, the KMT lording over for most of the country's existence, and having this ex-dictatorship force still being the major political player (with huge amassed wealth to boot), or having local goverment issues being drawn in the pro/anti China partsian noise?

You're ignoring the successful elections since they've become a democracy. Stop living 30+ years in the past.

95% of the USA is the same. There's no danger at 4 am most places, and you don't have to be worried unless you are breaking the law.