Comments by "G L" (@gelinrefira) on "Why Singapore Is Insanely Well Designed" video.

  1. Honestly, Singapore is authoritarian-ish because Singaporeans are content mostly to let the government work. When they are unhappy, they do show up and vote and take a few seats away to punish the ruling party. I still remember a GE some years back when the ruling party actually lost a number of seats and they started panicking. To say Singapore is not a democracy betrays a very shallow understanding of Singapore and democracy itself. Singapore is not an adversarial type western liberal democracy where the government is thought to be democratic only if there are adversarial opposing parties with near parity power. Singaporeans don't really believe in that because they want political stability more than window dressing politics so common in the west. Just look at how ron desantis sent migrants to Martha Vineyard as a performative political stunt against the dems. Singaporeans will find desantis's behavior to be baffling, childish and intolerable. They want the government to govern with the country's interests in mind, not play juvenile games for votes. It is more apt to describe it as a pragmatic, technocratic democracy.
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  2. The fact that a person can lived in Singapore and never have to own a car is mind blowing to most Americans.
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  3.  @samueljohnston2516  This is the same lame ass excuse America use to not invest in public transport. Japan has many low density, outlying towns and villages and they still get served by public transport.
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  4. The entire SE Asia is a huge goldmine to explore. Singapore is good to be the hub. You stay for a few days to explore, then fan out to Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. Angkor Wat is a wonder of the world and definitely worth a visit although Cambodia is supposed to be very unsafe right now so until things improved, you might want to avoid going there.
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  5.  @JaKingScomez  Imagine being in a hellhole and refusing to admit it because of ideologies.
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  6.  @yusufbest4475  America will always put companies' profits over social well being, so anything that reduce car makers' and oil companies revenue is a big no no. That's the core difference between a moderate capitalist country like Singapore and most of Europe and crony, hypercapitalist country like the US.
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  7. It's a chicken and egg thing. Good public transport makes dense urban environment far better but public transport might need density to work great. But then, places like Japan also showed that it is possible to operate public transport in less dense areas as they still have trains and buses going into suburbs and rural areas. You don't make as much money but the having that public transport option even in less dense areas is a huge plus.
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  8. Singapore isn't perfect, but it is perhaps the city that is closest to perfection.
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  9.  @shikamaruthehokage  He said new players lol.
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  10. I disagree that it is a "con" of democracy. Singapore simply practice a different form of democracy that emphasized on the ruling party gaining a mandate from the people to govern, instead of working within adversarial politics to gain votes. Singaporeans have voted against the ruling party before and even punished it by taking seats away. Not enough to cause a regime change but enough to send a message to the ruling party's leadership that the people are not happy. It is democracy. It is just more cooperative and willing to take on a more cautious, pragmatic approach to governance between the government and the people. That's why social changes can come very slow because of the inherent caution (not rattling the cage) but ironically huge projects can be planned decades into the future.
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  11. It is a good comparison because it highlights the core philosophical differences between US mindset that focuses on corporate power over society and other countries' mindset that focus on people's power over corporations. You said so yourself, LA is built for car companies to sell more cars. Why should Americans or even Californians allow corporations to dictate how society should function and even allow them to social engineer culture and people. Even green beans casserole eaten during Thanksgiving is a social engineered cultural thing by Campbell soup. Is there anything in America that is genuine and not manufactured by some company or industry to sell more shit? Shouldn't the people be the one to dictate to corporations what they want, like better living quality with better public transport instead of being forced to buy a car and gas just to survive? You literally cannot function without a car in most parts of America. Is that really freedom? Is America a democracy or a corpo-state dictatorship? In that regard, isn't Singapore more democratic than America?
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  12.  @yusufbest4475  Singapore is still quite moderate especially when compared to America. In Florida, they listed the WWE as essential service while in Singapore they shut down the entire country's McDonald because the company violated covid-19 measures. In America, the country is slave to corporate power, in Singapore, they at least try to hold down corporate power to make it work for the people. Very very different priorities and why Singaporeans don't really see a need to remove the current ruling party.
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  13. Bike lanes definitely can still use more improvements and expansion.
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  14. Crimes are more a wealth inequality and poverty problem than racial equity. Don't fall into the trap of racists that only blame crimes on skin color and refuse to look at the fundamental problems of poverty in a society. Remember not too long ago, Chinatowns in America were also hotbeds of criminality, so are Asians just more prone to crimes? Singapore sure does not prove that right. Singapore is strict on crimes but the low rates are more a consequence of an wealthy, equitable society more than draconian laws. This is something racists refuse to acknowledge. Crime rate back in the 60s in Singapore were also very high. In fact, Singapore's independence was because racial riots and tensions. Just look at the neighboring Malaysia which has a terrible crime rate statistics and it is poorer, more corrupted government and less wealth and social equity even though both countries became independent only a few years apart.
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  15.  @Talemuse  Even for last mile travel, Singapore can still use a lot of improvement on cycling infrastructure. One more person cycling is one less car on the road and one less passenger on the bus/MRT. It is still a win to have good cycling infrastructure. Think of it like a walking extender, so you can cycle for a longer distance to do more things without ever needing a car or bus. If commuting cycling takes off, it is likely more showering facilities will be built to accommodate cyclists.
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  16. After traveling around the world, the only places that can surpass Singapore in terms of living quality, and city design are a few European and Asian cities. Singapore will definitely be in top 20 list of best cities.
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  17. Don't forget car companies profits.
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  18. Singapore is designed for its people. LA is designed to sell cars and revolves around cars. Public transport in Singapore is a lifeblood artery while it is a mere afterthought in LA and America. Which is why American cities will never measured up to the most developed parts of Asia and Europe. When you design your cities and create your culture around helping rich people make even more money, it will inevitably be an anti-social, anti-public, anti-people places to live.
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  19. Yes, Singapore still has a lot to improve in terms of cycling but I think more and more dedicated cycling paths are being built. Anything that allowed people to not use cars to get around is a win in Singapore and I don't think the government is going to overlook cycling as a way to reduce dependence on cars.
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  20.  @fredfoo8346  There probably need to be an over all plan to redo many of the roads/pathways to include dedicate cycle lanes. You are right that a lot of these cycle lanes seem to be haphazardly built.
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  21.  @lameowizard  A lot of Americans are also morons. 74 million voted for trump the second time. I will not use America or American culture as a yardstick to measure anything.
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  22. You missed a few important points abut HDB housing. No company is allowed to own public housing, period. No citizen is allowed to own more than one public housing property and there are restrictions on a citizen owning a private and public housing at the same time. No foreigners are allowed to own public housing. Any PR that wants to own public housing must not own property outside of Singapore. All in all, the policies are designed to restrict speculations, flipping, cash rich companies or individuals owning vast swaths of public housing and becoming slum lords. The public housing primary objective is to let citizens have a place to live in, and the secondary objective of letting citizens, especially younger generations the first chance at capital accumulation from property appreciation.
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  23.  @westside213  Japan has many rural areas that are very low density that are served by trains and buses. Indoctrinated carbrain morons like you are one of the reasons why America is a declining empire, and the most wasteful, arrogant, self-serving and selfish in the world.
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