Singapore has the biggest income gap among 23 rich nations surveyed in the book, The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger, by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett. This chart from the book shows the income gap between the richest 20 per cent and poorest 20 per cent of the population.
Singapore has the second highest number of prison inmates per 100,000 people, as this chart shows. The USA has the highest among the 23 nations surveyed.
Singapore’s homicide rate is also higher than that of Japan, Norway, Austria, Spain, Ireland, Switzerland and New Zealand, according to this chart from the book based on the same UN surveys.
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objective ,
the incaseration rate in the usa is even higher than sg lol. but their prison conditions compared to singapore, is like a five star hotel.
they have human rights.
forcing someone to sleep on hard floor like they do in singapore prison is so cruel that it amounts to torture. if you just try to sleep on your floor one night you will see how painful it is. it is impossible to fall asleep and if you do, u wake up aching all over. you will even have bruises if u flip over while sleeping.
hansen,
What’s the use of incarceration if the prisoners find it tolerable? The more hardy ones probably think it’s no sweat. These will come back again and again to enjoy the free meals.
What’s the use of this type of lame “prison”?
“huh”,
all i am saying is, singapore should bring its prison conditions in line with those of other developed countries. right now, it is lagging very far behind and that is unacceptable.
you are assuming that people will commit crimes just to stay in prison. which normal person will do that?
and those that do that are repeat offenders. they are often given very heavy and lengthy sentnce by the singapore courts. when i say very, i mean very.
free meals? i guarantee that you wont even want to spend a day in singapore prison, free meal and all. why? criminal record means you cant find work, thats why. and the regime in singapore prison is very very harsh.
in prisons all over the world, repeat offenders have a higher security rating and undergo tougher prison conditions with less luxuries
but non violent first time offenders etc should be treated humanely and given tv, proper beds like all other countries.
or do you think we should chop off their hands like how saudi arabia does it?
I was told it is common to have 30 year old scholars getting 6 figure annual salaries in the civil service now. They also have extra months of year-end and mid-year bonuses etc. Is this true?
While our poor live by collecting and selling carton boxes and our PMET lose their jobs to foreigners, our civil servants drive to work avoiding the crowded MRT and do not even know what feeder buses are. Income gap? Please tell me something new.
First in highest income gap should worth deserving a full front page report by Straits Times and why ain’t they published such crtiical and important news? . Liu Tuck Yew said Singapore ST is objective, but many Singaporeans didn’t feel it in their bones. It is well known fact that any news bad for PAP will be swept clean under the carpet. After altenative parties have taken over as new government, please, for heaven sake clean up the mangement of Straitis Times. All foreigners working in there meddling with local politics should also be banned from entering Singapore again.
High income gap = high inmate rate is theoretically correct, as people will be less likely to commit “crime” if they have a decent standard of living.
It is not because Singapore Police Force is highly efficient but due to Singapore’s draconian law and harsh punishments imposed on the ordinary citizens!
Nothing is perfect in this world, everything is relative.
Everywhere in the world, people are complaining about their own country’s imperfections.
USA may claim that they have the best human rights policy, well, look at the case of them invading Iraq based on a lame excuse of possible existence of WMD, for example, which has resulted in thousands of innocent lives lost.
Firearms are legal in some states in the USA.
What about those who demand that they have the right to not fear the stranger walking next to them might suddenly pull out a gun?
SG is progressing very well, many times more than it’s nearest neighbour which shared the same history once.
LKY thinks that all men are economic animals or mere economic units, like Singaporeans. He cannot grasp that ‘men do not live by bread alone”; animals does but not human beings like Singaporeans. He believes that the PAP by throwing some crumbs to Singaporeans and some sweeteners come election time, Singaporeans would once more stupidly succumb again; Singaporeans would be too frightened to leave the certainty of a tyrannical regime to an untested new government. In this, he is, to some extent, right. However, the situation now has changed drastically. Whereas, it was alright to accept the political bullshit of LKY and lackeys so long our economic futures are secured, Singaporeans no longer believe this to be so. Facts on the ground include their livelihoods and their futures threatened by the cynical policy of the PM to import almost unlimited cheap labour to replace Singaporeans and many are leaving. But most are unable to leave and remain to see their living standards eroded and their livelihoods threatened whilst PAP ministers and members continue to receive increasingly obscene remunerations at their expense. There is such a thing as moral outrage and a sense of moral injustice. The old man do not have this notion, he has always been a moral bankrupt!
The pittance given to unfortunate Singaporeans who fell through the cracks is an insult to thinking Singaporeans. The appalling statistics as regards the meagre, one could say almost worthless help of the few for political purposes and even political theatre is symptomatic of the ethical bankruptcy of the PAP. It makes one grimace to think also of the humiliation these ‘lucky ones’ have to go through to put a hand out for what is obviously less than adequate assistance.
Many Singaporeans and I mean millions have believed in LKY and have toiled and sweated with him to make Singapore what it is. In the process, many have fallen through the cracks for reasons not of their own making. But what is heartbreaking is to see the wicked man betrayed them all by ignoring their plights and instead rewarded himself, his family and his cronies by corruption redefined by legal means. This is not the Singapore that many have made sacrifices for; like taking lower wages and accepting less than ideal conditions, in earlier days for the sake of nation building. LKY and friends may seem the only ones to make it, albeit through oppression.
Creating such a slave-master situation for a nation is not exactly an accomplishment given the great boast of LKY that he has brought Singapore to a first world order. Compared to the real democratic states of Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philipines, South Korea, Japan and Cambodia even, Singapore is simply a lesser world however much you may boast of its GNP. It is officially the country which has the highest GINI co-efficient in the world which really means that the people at the top have stole it all. In terms of oppression of its people, it compares the worst among the countries just mentioned and what a shame! You may flaunt your money but they know it’s a sham to cover up the inadequacy of a lesser people. The lowest peasant in Indonesia has today a freer and better life than a bird-caged Singaporean, his HDB flat, a mere economic prison.
Many young Singaporeans today are tertiary educated, have travelled and unlike their parents are capable of ‘walking with their feet’. With the core of the educated middle class leaving what you are left with are mostly the less productive and the mass of generally unskilled foreign labourers; poor English speakers who would be unable to grasp the future of new technology essential for productivity growth. You may continue to pump up the GNP or GDP with these foreign trash so that the Ministers and others can benefit from their obscene bonuses tied to these figures but your productivity decline is ensured without any scope for recovery. Off course the Ministers and such like would be long gone with their ill-gotten gains when Singapore collapse leaving others to take the shit. The latter would begin with the old man’s death or the failure of the IRs, a last desperate effort by LKY’s inept son to prop up what is unsupportable. Both events would take visibility soon! Lee Hsien Loong has done nothing for Singapore except reaped the reward of being his father’s son. His wife who controls the nation’s accumulated wealth is unqualified and is in fact an economic profligate! And we call this ‘a first world nation’! Better wake up from this la-la land; the dream is about to end!
Well the truth is starting to be apparant about Singapore , managing to push through all the Government publicity about the place . It now shows that authoritarian regimes do not work in the long term ( also look at other SE asian countries) and educated citizens leave the country . Money and GDP are not the final solution , today quality of life and environment are very important . And like many governments Singapore seems to think that we can on consumming and wasting forever .
Having stepped into Changi Prison today and being able to take a good look into the system, I must say that the inmates’ conditions are definitely not what I would want to subject myself to. Having to live with another 2 or 3 inmates in a small cell or the fact that yard-time is only limited to a short period per day? That can take a large amount of getting used to especially if you’re going to be in there for a long time.
However, I must say that the thought of this ‘lifestyle’ does deter me from thinking about committing crimes. Why would you choose to do the wrong thing and place yourself in a position where you have to be subjected to such conditions?
I do believe that however harsh the living conditions are in the prison, it does serve its purpose as a deterrence, for people thinking of committing a crime, and as a reminder of the hardships faced, for ex-offenders. Therefore, I have to say that I actually do support the system.
I look at it from this point of view, every parent would agree that an ill-disciplined child would have to be punished/scolded. However, not every parent would agree to another’s method of discipline. But if the punishment gets the message across (in a reasonable, non-violent manner) and makes them think twice to ‘not do it again’, I would consider it effective.
It dosen’t mean that we have to be mean and angry at criminals for committing a crime. But it also dosen’t mean that we should be soft and let them get away scot-free! Remember the saying? Spare the rod, spoil the child. There has to be a balance between discipline and compassion. We discipline them by throwing them in prison and placing them in a harsh environment to ‘help’ them to realising their mistake but we show them compassion by being able to forgive them and giving them a chance to re-integrate into society.
How about hiring an ex-offender if you’re an employer? It is understandable if you do not want to and no one would fault you for that. But place yourselves in their shoes. If you had just be re-integrated into society after living in that horrid place for a couple of years, you probably would not want to go back there willingly. However, if every honest job you apply for turns you down or rejects you, wouldn’t you be placed in a really tough situation? Suddenly, prison life seems to be more appealing as the rejections keep coming. Afterall, you’ve already been in there for a couple of years. They feed and clothe you, you’re used to the lifestyle and you’ve already got a criminal record. What’s there to lose? What do you think is going to happen next? This is how, I believe, prisons recieve repeat offenders.
Having said all this, please take it with tolerance because it is all merely my opinion and I might be biased towards the prison system in Singapore. It is good to have different opinions but I do hope that everyone understands my concern for the ex-offenders and why we need to support the system to help them! Help unlock the second prison! :)
hansen you scared of going prison ah?
I think that book is some sort of loony left propaganda
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_rate
Singapore has the lowest murder rate in the world