Came across an interesting article/essay by a New Zealand academic, Dr Alfred Oehlers on the apparent nature of corruption in the Singapore context. This is contained in the chapter aptly titled "Corruption: The peculiarities of Singapore" in the book "Corruption and good governance in Asia" edited by Nicholas Tarling. In a nutshell Oehlers opines and suggests that the PAP government has over the years created a "political economy" that is in effect legal corruption to entrench and sustain its absolute political power. Here is an excerpt.
Corruption in Singapore, according to Dr Alfred Oehlers from the Auckland University of Technology,presented some peculiarities. The “City Country” had an apparent absence of corruption in its conventionalsense. He maintained that given the subjective nature of surveys on corruption by international agencies thatrelied on perceptions, they were often not totally consistent and had a narrow focus. As a result they wereunable to give a full picture of Singapore. Dr Oehlers argued that corruption existed in Singapore, only in adifferent form. He observed, for example, that the Peoples Action Party (PAP) had ruled Singapore andjealously guarded its authority since its independence. One way to retain political power, according to him,was to give those who were supportive of the PAPaccelerated career progression and priority for publichousing. Favours as such, commented Dr Oehlers, were nothing less than corruption.
Corruption in Singapore, according to Dr Alfred Oehlers from the Auckland University of Technology,presented some peculiarities. The “City Country” had an apparent absence of corruption in its conventionalsense. He maintained that given the subjective nature of surveys on corruption by international agencies thatrelied on perceptions, they were often not totally consistent and had a narrow focus. As a result they wereunable to give a full picture of Singapore. Dr Oehlers argued that corruption existed in Singapore, only in adifferent form. He observed, for example, that the Peoples Action Party (PAP) had ruled Singapore andjealously guarded its authority since its independence. One way to retain political power, according to him,was to give those who were supportive of the PAPaccelerated career progression and priority for publichousing. Favours as such, commented Dr Oehlers, were nothing less than corruption.
