March 20, 2012, 9:24 AM
A Trip Abroad That’s Unlikely to Inspire the Mayor
By CLYDE HABERMAN
A good thing about a mayor who believes he already knows pretty much all he needs to know is that he’s not likely to acquire really bad habits as he floats around the world.
THE DAY
Clyde Haberman offers his take on the news.
This trait should serve Michael R. Bloomberg well on his arrival Tuesday in Southeast Asia for visits to two authoritarian countries, Singapore and Vietnam, where he will give a talk on urban sustainability and hand out awards in the name of his philanthropic foundation.
While any American ought to be humble in discussing Vietnam, given our country’s wretched history there, the fact is that it doesn’t have much to teach a democrat. The most recent human rights report from the State Department, issued last April, described a Communist state where “citizens could not change their government and political opposition movements were prohibited,” and where “the government increased its suppression of dissent.”
The greater interest here is Singapore, a tiny republic admired by many for its strong economy and high standard of living. Singapore is the sort of orderly place where you may think you can learn a trick or two – at least if order matters a lot more to you than free expression does.
Mr. Bloomberg is scheduled to speak at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, named for the founder of modern Singapore, an autocrat of the first order. A public policy school bearing his name sounds as if it could be a cousin of the Vladimir V. Putin Open Society Institute, should such an enterprise come into being.
You never know, though, when a New York mayor may fall victim to a phenomenon known in clinical circles as E.K.S., short for Ed Koch Syndrome.
Three decades ago, Mayor Edward I. Koch traveled to China, and was fascinated by all those people getting around on bicycles. That was well before China became an economic behemoth. Once back home, Mr. Koch ordered up concrete-and-asphalt bike lanes for New York. But they didn’t work out, and soon enough he had the lanes removed. (In those days, mayors were more willing to acknowledge a measure of fallibility.)
Mr. Bloomberg has shown himself to be receptive on occasion to ideas tested elsewhere. His unsuccessful attempt to impose “congestion pricing” for cars in Manhattan had London as a model. Paris has the sort of bike-sharing program that is planned for New York.
But the mayor should be able to resist some undesirable ideas that will fall his way in rigid Singapore, where it doesn’t take much to step out of line.
Lee Kuan Yew hated gum-chewing. So sales of gum are banned there except for brands claiming to have “medicinal” or “dental” value. As tempting as a similar ban here would be to control the plague of sidewalk splotches caused by people spitting out their gum, it’s probably a nonstarter in New York.
Caning is another Singapore practice that Mr. Bloomberg should be able to pass on. That punishment is imposed for serious crimes but also for certain nonviolent offenses familiar to New Yorkers, like vandalism and immigration-law violation.
In 2010, Singapore courts ordered 3,170 people to be caned, according to http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/20/a-trip-abroad-thats-unlikely-to-inspire-the-mayor/the State Department’s human rights report for that country. The report provided intriguing details. Did you know that the cane is made of rattan, and is four feet long and half an inch in diameter? It is also soaked in water and treated with antiseptic. Apparently, it’s O.K. to hurt people like the dickens, but not risk infecting them.
But Singapore has a lighter side. Every now and then, it organizes a campaign to get its people to smile more. Two years ago, mirrors were even installed at some bus stops so that Singaporeans could see if they were at their beaming best. Do you think this could be a program worth imitating in New York?
Didn’t think so.
Oh, but here is something to watch out for:
Singapore’s constitution guarantees the right to peaceful assembly. But that’s more on paper than in reality. Police permission is required, and the definition of “public assembly” is, shall we say, quite narrow. It may “include events staged by as few as one person,” the State Department report said, adding that “spontaneous public gatherings or demonstrations were virtually unknown.”
You can see, in this age of Occupy Wall Street, where Mr. Bloomberg might find restrictions like that awfully enticing. We’ll just have to hope he doesn’t succumb too readily to E.K.S. on that score.
A Trip Abroad That’s Unlikely to Inspire the Mayor
By CLYDE HABERMAN
A good thing about a mayor who believes he already knows pretty much all he needs to know is that he’s not likely to acquire really bad habits as he floats around the world.
THE DAY
Clyde Haberman offers his take on the news.
This trait should serve Michael R. Bloomberg well on his arrival Tuesday in Southeast Asia for visits to two authoritarian countries, Singapore and Vietnam, where he will give a talk on urban sustainability and hand out awards in the name of his philanthropic foundation.
While any American ought to be humble in discussing Vietnam, given our country’s wretched history there, the fact is that it doesn’t have much to teach a democrat. The most recent human rights report from the State Department, issued last April, described a Communist state where “citizens could not change their government and political opposition movements were prohibited,” and where “the government increased its suppression of dissent.”
The greater interest here is Singapore, a tiny republic admired by many for its strong economy and high standard of living. Singapore is the sort of orderly place where you may think you can learn a trick or two – at least if order matters a lot more to you than free expression does.
Mr. Bloomberg is scheduled to speak at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, named for the founder of modern Singapore, an autocrat of the first order. A public policy school bearing his name sounds as if it could be a cousin of the Vladimir V. Putin Open Society Institute, should such an enterprise come into being.
You never know, though, when a New York mayor may fall victim to a phenomenon known in clinical circles as E.K.S., short for Ed Koch Syndrome.
Three decades ago, Mayor Edward I. Koch traveled to China, and was fascinated by all those people getting around on bicycles. That was well before China became an economic behemoth. Once back home, Mr. Koch ordered up concrete-and-asphalt bike lanes for New York. But they didn’t work out, and soon enough he had the lanes removed. (In those days, mayors were more willing to acknowledge a measure of fallibility.)
Mr. Bloomberg has shown himself to be receptive on occasion to ideas tested elsewhere. His unsuccessful attempt to impose “congestion pricing” for cars in Manhattan had London as a model. Paris has the sort of bike-sharing program that is planned for New York.
But the mayor should be able to resist some undesirable ideas that will fall his way in rigid Singapore, where it doesn’t take much to step out of line.
Lee Kuan Yew hated gum-chewing. So sales of gum are banned there except for brands claiming to have “medicinal” or “dental” value. As tempting as a similar ban here would be to control the plague of sidewalk splotches caused by people spitting out their gum, it’s probably a nonstarter in New York.
Caning is another Singapore practice that Mr. Bloomberg should be able to pass on. That punishment is imposed for serious crimes but also for certain nonviolent offenses familiar to New Yorkers, like vandalism and immigration-law violation.
In 2010, Singapore courts ordered 3,170 people to be caned, according to http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/20/a-trip-abroad-thats-unlikely-to-inspire-the-mayor/the State Department’s human rights report for that country. The report provided intriguing details. Did you know that the cane is made of rattan, and is four feet long and half an inch in diameter? It is also soaked in water and treated with antiseptic. Apparently, it’s O.K. to hurt people like the dickens, but not risk infecting them.
But Singapore has a lighter side. Every now and then, it organizes a campaign to get its people to smile more. Two years ago, mirrors were even installed at some bus stops so that Singaporeans could see if they were at their beaming best. Do you think this could be a program worth imitating in New York?
Didn’t think so.
Oh, but here is something to watch out for:
Singapore’s constitution guarantees the right to peaceful assembly. But that’s more on paper than in reality. Police permission is required, and the definition of “public assembly” is, shall we say, quite narrow. It may “include events staged by as few as one person,” the State Department report said, adding that “spontaneous public gatherings or demonstrations were virtually unknown.”
You can see, in this age of Occupy Wall Street, where Mr. Bloomberg might find restrictions like that awfully enticing. We’ll just have to hope he doesn’t succumb too readily to E.K.S. on that score.
