Governing Britain - a complicated process

SINGAPORE has had a lot of criticism about its fairness of government since independence. The "liberal" West has harped on about a one-party state and suppression of opposition to government policy.

In some respects, this is true and tourists have been keen to buy the "Singapore is a Fine city" T-shirts. You have been laughed at for banning chewing gum and Jaywalking. When I arrived many years ago, I made sure my hair was short, didn't try to talk to taxi drivers about the government and tried to obey the rules on no gatherings of more than 12 people.

One thing that always stood out was the fairness of the election process - yes, you could be fined for not voting, but at least you had a vote and it was secret.