> > All petitions etc are swiftly dealt with (even murder charges are > dealt with, within a year). > > Moreover, Singapore govt provides scholarships for students at the > Junior College to study in LSE, Harvard, Stanford, in return for them > to come back and serve the govt as a highly placed official (who can > become a minister). >
The Singapore Scholars - yes, a good friend of mine is one. My understanding is that there is no compulsion on them to go back and work for the govt (but they tend to do so - my friend turned down an investment banking job in Goldman Sachs in London to do just that). I have doubts about whether their system can scale to a much larger country and/or a real democracy (some parts of it certainly can - clearly (for eg), eliminating cash payments reduces the opportunities for corruption). On a broader level, if you run a government like a company (a family company in the case of Singapore), there are all the advantages of a company, but also the disadvantages.. Badri
