Singapore has one of the most business-friendly governments in the world. It ranks fifth in the World Economic Forum's 2008 Global Competitiveness Index and fourth in Transparency International's 2008 Corruption Perceptions Index for having one of the cleanest governments in the world. Taxes are low. The government does not give food subsidies or try to redistribute wealth. So Singapore should be in the good books of conservative, free-market-oriented publications like the Economist and the Wall Street Journal. Yet those are the ones with which it has fought legal battles.
The International Herald Tribune in a report on Singapore earlier this month noted:
Singapore's leaders have sued journalists several times in past years for alleged defamation. They have won lawsuits and damages against Bloomberg, The Economist, the International Herald Tribune and the Far Eastern Economic Review.
Last month, Singapore's attorney-general's office initiated legal action against the Asian Wall Street Journal, reported AFP.
With the exception of the International Herald Tribune, which is the global edition of the liberal New York Times, every one of them is a conservative, business-oriented news provider or belongs to such a media group.
I was reminded of that when I saw an article published by the National Post yesterday criticising Singapore. The Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto, is conservative too.
I don't recall Singapore going to court with the Guardian or the Independent or other left-of-centre publications. One reason may be they don't take as much interest in Singapore. As a commercial capital, it attracts business types. And that can lead to aggravation.
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