309: Reflections on Singapore

P&C drink "Watch out for Bears" brown ale from Calvert Brewing, then discuss the history of Singapore.  It starts with the East India Company, which wanted a port in this strategic location between the South China Sea and the Strait of Malacca leading into the Bay of Bengal. Commerce between China and India, and then later to the Suez canal, had to come through this area.  Singapore was controlled by the British for a time but was captured and brutalized by the Japanese during WWII. After a post-war effort to join greater Malaysia failed, Singapore became independent, and then started on an absolutely stunning transformation.  At first, the population of Singapore was incredibly poor, and many of them were addicted to opium. Lee Kuan Yew became prime minister in 1959 and led the country to become one of the richest, most advanced, most educated countries in the world.  But it's a weird mix of capitalism and dictatorship. It's a lovely place, but not "free" by western standards.  Lee Kuan Yew might be the only example the world has ever seen of the benevolent philosopher-king dictator.