[Symmetry]

Fascist? Really? As far as I can tell Singapore isn't nationalist at all or totalitarian. I'm not sure you could even call them outright authoritarian, fines for large organizations criticizing the government is bad but it's not nearly as bad as arresting individuals for the same.

They're not a dictatorship either. Their political structure does have a working set of checks and balances that does seem to prevent an individual at the top from doing whatever they want. Call them a "paternalistic oligarchy" if you want, but "fascist dictatorship" is way out of line.

[ValentineC]

Singapore has, at various times, used the pretext of police investigation to detain individuals who have openly criticised public policy in the mass media. [1] and [2] are recent examples.

What it comes down to is rule by fear — Singaporeans, having read about said people being detained in the news, become conditioned into being scared of getting into trouble and breaking the law.

[1] http://blogs.wsj.com/searealtime/2013/04/25/singapore-probes...

[2] http://www.lianainfilms.com/2013/02/in-which-lim-makes-me-ko...