Americans who cheer the caning of a teenage vandal may not realize that Singapore is a city-state that, for the sake of such "order," has deprived its citizens of many freedoms that Americans enjoy.
Eighteen-year-old Michael Fay was sentenced to four months in prison, a fine of $2,230 and six skin-splitting lashes of a 4-foot rattan cane on his bare buttocks.Though his spray-painting and egg-throwing at automobiles caused no permanent damage, the cane strokes certainly will. After the third stroke by the caners - chosen for their martial arts prowess - Fay will likely pass out on the X-shaped rack to which he will be tied.
Empathy aside, there is serious question about whether his confession was extracted under torture. There is no American-style due process in Singapore. It is an authoritarian country ruled by one party, the People's Action Party, which doesn't brook dissent well.
We know this, because several years back we made a special study of Singapore, including sitting down for a lengthy interview with its longtime prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, who is still a strongman behind the scenes - and in fervent support of the caning.
Lee sponsored numerous campaigns to keep his island orderly, happy and harmonious - at least his vision of what that should be. Family planning, marrying at the same educational levels, politeness and brushing and flossing teeth regularly have been encouraged.
Smoking, spitting, chewing gum and wearing long hair have been actively discouraged - even outlawed in some instances. And a number of commercial vehicles must have yellow lights on top that automatically start flashing if the vehicle goes over the speed limit.
Lee was also a little alarmed at the impact of education on women in the country. Parents who used to arrange marriages used to look for girls who were "supposed to be, at least before they are married, meek and docile," Lee noted.
But along came Westernized change. Lee recounts: "We went and educated all the girls and opened up all avenues . . . without realizing that these attitudes and values in the men would not change as fast as the girls were changing status."
So among many other changes, Lee instituted a government-sponsored "Social Development Unit" that paid for Singapore's educated elite to date through a program of free dances and other inducements.
With such an autocratic, social engineering style, it was not surprising that Lee and his successors have been routinely accused in the State Department's annual human rights reports of harassing opposition politicians - and accused by Amnesty International of torture.