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Comment by jpmcglone | Hacker News Reader

I wish Singapore was part of the study. I think generally, drug laws do not 'work' (by work I mean, it doesn't stop people from doing drugs and in many ways it probably gets them into situations to commit crimes not related to drugs), but I'm curious how much the study would have been thrown off by Singapore's results.

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I think Singapore honestly remains as a serious anomaly to political science. Defacto one party government with extremely illiberal policies and yet the people are happier, more educated and more well off than many other countries that have liberal democracies. What's further more surprising is that it remains very multiethnic and yet the people get along with others just fine unlike other parts of the world.

I have not been to Singapore (but I have been to Hong Kong which I think is similar) but I think the impression is that small city states operate more like those mentioned in Cryptonomicon, specifically, you agree to abide by their rules when you enter the city. If you dont like them you are free to leave. This concept that you don't actually own the place you live but are more a temporary citizen makes you more flexible to bend to their rules.

Actually, a rather prominent study a while back found that Singapore is the least happy wealthy country on the planet, losing out to eg. Iraq, Haiti, Afghanistan, and Syria.

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/21/world/asia/singapore-least...

Singapore is also multiethnic, but it's quite resolutely not a melting pot. The heavy hand of the government is keeping a lid on a lot of tensions, not all of them obvious to the casual observer (Singapore-born Chinese vs mainland Chinese, etc).

Last and not least, Singapore's wealth distribution is extremely unequal. It scores well on raw GDP per capita etc, but the poorer parts of society compete directly with foreign labor working in slave-like conditions(+), and thus work extremely hard for paltry salaries.

(+) Quite literally, especially in the case of maids: it's not uncommon for them to be on duty 24/7/365, not allowed means of communication and physically locked inside the home when their masters are away.

I remember a HN thread, Singapore was described as being described as sterile and without a lot of culture. Probably a good place to work, but to live? Not so much.

The progress the country has made in terms of education, crime, lifestyle, and income over the last 30 years has been incredible.

The Singaporean government ships!

I mean would you rather a) work at a company with very relaxed policy, beers at lunch, a really friendly boss, low pay, and where no work ever ends up being completed and you don't learn much or b) work at a company with a few policies you don't agree with (like drug testing) and a boss who is a bit of a jerk but you do important work, you learn a lot, you earn a lot, and your boss tries to help your career?

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