Lee Kuan Yew’s Media Model: Atypical or Archetypal?

• In Event: After Lee Kuan Yew: Repositioning Singapore Studies - Sponsored by Southeast Asia Council (SEAC)

Abstract

One of the common questions following the death of Lee Kuan Yew was whether his departure would clear the way for liberty’s stalled march into one of Asia’s wealthiest states. Singapore has been curiously resistant to the civil and political freedoms that other Asian countries at least pay lip service to. It is natural to want to explain away this anomaly as the creature of an exceptional leader, whose passing can therefore be assumed to have a significant effect on the country’s trajectory. This paper argues, however, that Singapore’s illiberalism is more systemically ingrained. This is not only to claim, as many have, that Lee’s thinking has been passed on to new generations of leaders. What is theoretically more interesting is the possibility that the Singapore model may be sustainable because it is more compatible with advanced capitalism than generally assumed. Looking at media and communication policy, this paper argues that Singapore’s enduring illiberalism is symptomatic of contradictions and tensions within the concepts of freedom of expression and democracy. In particular, the market mechanism, uncritically assumed to be conducive to media freedom, can be used to align news organisations with a neoliberal state. In addition, majoritarian populism, empowered by social media, can be harnessed as a bulwark against pressures for human rights and civil liberties. Singapore’s political laboratory may be best understood, not as the playground of an idiosyncratic leader, but as showcase of anti-democratic dynamics apparent in a wide diversity of regimes.

Author

• Cherian George, Hong Kong Baptist University