Acting Under Orders

For Australians of the war generation, the name Changi conjures up a living nightmare; a sordid tale of cruelty and depravity and human behavior at its basest. During the Second World War, it was the site of one of the most notorious prison camps of the whole conflict. There, fit young allied soldiers were turned into emaciated, walking corpses. In the eyes of their Japanese captors, those who surrendered were living in shame, deserving of everything that came their way. They certainly obliged.

For the generations coming after, Changi is the site of Singapore’s International Airport; one of the world’s most modern and well appointed, with three terminals and counting. It could well be the model for the metropolis of the 21st Century. The tiny city state sure knows how to put on a good show; the republic runs a very tight ship. But underneath nothing has really changed. The behavior of the inmates during the war was controlled by threats and brutality. The modern regime is a great deal more sophisticated. They control by self censorship of thought and deed. The result is the same. The question remains. Is this a glorious vision of our future dominated by the threat from global terror? It could be a precursor for us all.

This inclination to dictatorship is a new global trend since the US hyper-reaction to the events in New York. The Singapore government contends that order by draconian laws is a necessary evil; that it is all for your own good. Their knee-jerk response is always restriction and punishment. Cooperation must be enforced, rather than obtained by consent and reasoned argument. This is the very same road down which the Japanese military marched to Changi, with a bible of the Emperor in one hand and a sword in the other. The self-righteous belief in ones own destiny, meant that others not on a similar path could be treated as wayward citizens to be coerced by whatever means necessary. If bird flu is a problem, just introduce a $10,000 fine for feeding the pigeons.

Just as the control tower at Changi Airport guides modern planes onto their flight paths, the government directs its citizens down the true road. They are doing so well, that the vast majority are convinced it is in their own interest. No dissent here; no troublesome individualism for Pura. Is this a new model for the new century? What role for the agent provocateur? Get with the program or ship out. This is not the crude brutalism of the Japanese, but a highly refined psychological model. If drugs are a concern, introduce the death penalty. If you don’t want discarded chewing gum sticking to the pavement, just ban it. You want tidy streets; introduce draconian fines for littering. Not only are the citizens programmed robots, they become living advertisements for the state; spruikers for the new order. During my visits, I have encountered many a diatribe of delight delivered by the good citizens, who willingly submit to the personal restrictions on their daily lives. Sound familiar? Europe 1933-1945. This has always been the modus operandi of the fascist state. When you turn the people against its own dissenters; its own minorities, you can then do as you wish.

Of course Singapore operates efficiently, no dissenters are tolerated. They are weeded out and punished. They either flee abroad or are realigned into contented capitalists. Diminutive, black-haired, self-motivated operators scurry about in the tropical heat, all convinced they are on the right and proper path. That they feel so compelled to share their vision of utopia, says they are trying to convince themselves. The contrast between a cab ride in Singapore and one in Sydney could not be starker. A Sydney-sider would no more spruik for the government, than drive their cab into a brick wall at high speed. You are much more likely to hear;

“This government wouldn’t know a good decision if it bit em on the arse. They’re all just a mob of shysters, out to line their own pockets. None of em has done an honest day’s work in their life.” The citizens of Pura not only become complicit in the destruction of their civil liberties, but act as advertisements for the perpetrators. At least with the Japanese, the prisoners knew where they stood. Their masters were cruel, vicious bastards and everyone accepted that the sooner they were eliminated the better.

Singapore is presented as a shinning example of how a country should be governed; clean, efficient with a happy, contented population. An argument is made that there is no dissent because the citizens have been given what they want. It sounds believable enough on the face of it. But give me the ragged around the edges, demos in the street, graffiti-walled touch of chaos any day. I never did like being told what to think or do. I find the psychological restrictions of self-censorship a far more sinister model, than the hysterical brutality of the Japanese. Why was there no international outrage when a lone opposition politician lost his seat and was turned into a penniless pariah by the ruling PAP. For having the temerity to criticize the government, he was dragged through the courts on trumped-up sedition charges. Sure they didn’t just take him out and shoot him, but the result was the same. This party brooks no criticism and appears to get none. Just as the Jews walked unwittingly to their fate, the people of Singapore hurtle towards theirs, all blindly believing that whatever is done is in their interest.

I don’t’ subscribe to the theory that embedded in Chinese society, is an underlying authoritarianism dictated by their Confusion past; a cultural determinism. I think that is nonsense. We all come onto this planet the same. The rest is programming and propaganda. A baby born in Singapore and one born in Sydney, equally yearn to be free.

So the next time your aircraft touches down at Changi Airport, remember all the sacrifices that were made past and present, to make your stop a smooth and enjoyable one.