<above pic: click to enlarge, you can see that Singapore is a yellow dot below Malaysia which is light green>
Dear The Real Singapore,
Thought your readers might be interested to know this. This index is something that the mainstream media will never cover similar to the Press Freedom Index which lists Singapore as the #150 country out of #168 countries in terms of the freedom of press and the influence the government have on the press. Basically what #150 means is that the PAP government controls the mainstream media fully to spread their propaganda.
According to the last updated Democracy Index in 2012, Singapore did not even make it to the classification of Flawed Democracy (Eg. Indonesia, Taiwan, Philippines and Malaysia). Singapore is ranked 1 category lower known as the Hybrid Regime (Similar to countries such as Egypt & Libya).
See below (Screengrab from Wikipedia):
We did not even make it to be a country practising Flawed Democracy. What we are living in is a country that practices Authoritarium regime (Similar to North Korea and China) but looks like a democratic country on the appearence. I can't believe that we are actually less liberal than our neighbouring countries like Malaysia and Indonesia. Are you guys shocked?
The Democracy Index is an index compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit, that measures the state of democracy in 167 countries, of which 166 are sovereign states and 165 are United Nations member states. The index is based on 60 indicators grouped in five different categories: electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, functioning of government, political participation, and political culture. In addition to a numeric score and a ranking, the index categorizes countries as one of four regime types full democracies, flawed democracies, hybrid regimes and authoritarian regimes. The index was first produced for 2006, with updates for 2008, 2010, 2011, and 2012.
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) is an independent business within The Economist Group providing forecasting and advisory services through research and analysis, such as monthly country reports, five-year country economic forecasts, country risk service reports, and industry reports. It is definitely one of the most reputable survey company in the world which is quoted numerous times in government reports and reputable medias.
With the recent propaganda by the PAP about the the story of the Battle of Merger being broadcasted for the entire week on mainstream media. I strongly urge readers to read up on Wikipedia about the real history of Singapore. Even though my university lecturer use to say that Wikipedia is not an accurate source of reference for assignments and reports because anyone can edit it, it is definitely a more accurate version of history than the mainstream media such as Straits Times because the PAP does not have control over Wikipedia and what it is written there tends to be a balanced perspective of what actually happened back then.
Still thinking you are living in a democratic country? Well, think again!
NUS Political Science Student
TRS reader