A social democracy

Some commenters in my blog described Mr. Lee Kuan Yew as a "communist". This description is not appropriate. Mr. Lee has fought against the communist after becoming prime minister of Singapore. His policy has always been anti-communist. He has put many alleged communists under detention without trial for as up to three decades.

One of the detainee is Dr. Lim Hock Siew. I first recognised this name on the signboard of a clinic in Balestier Road, near where I lived. At that time, I knew that Dr. Lim was detained because he was a member of the Barisan Socialis. I did not know of his background then.

Recently, I read an article about Dr. Lim after he was released from detention. He explained that his philosophy was for social justice. He advocated giving the people better wages, living conditions and a better life. They are the same type of values that I am advocating now. If this is what the communists advocate, it is not that bad after all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqhr4wxUFws

Many people associate communism with oppressive regimes that are found in some countries around the world. But oppressive regimes can also be found in so-called democratic countries where the leaders abuse the state and military powers to retain their political dominance. The types of abuse vary in degree - in some cases they are subtle and in other cases, they are blatant.

We can also see countries that allow democracy adn free expression to get out of hand, leading to a breakdown of law, order and authority. This is also to be avoided.

My preference is a "social democracy". It is a truly democratic society where the will of the people is respected and the government is elected freely. The government promotes social justice through the regulation of the economy to promote a fairer distribution of wealth and opportunity and to prevent excessive accumulation of wealth by a small segment of the people, often by immoral means.

There are many examples of social democracies that have succeeded to give a good life to the people and have a high ranking in the quality of life indicators. They include several countries in Scandanivia and Europe, Canada and Australia. They become the top choice for migrants.

Tan Kin Lian

Quote from Lim Hock Siew's video
The future of socialism

After 50 years when the club was formed, the socialist movement all over the world has suffered a lot of setbacks and even defeats and some wonder whether we are still relevant. The recent economic crisis, the recent financial crisis, has once again exploded the corruption and immorality of the capitalist system and feel that human beings should deserve something better than a aystem that is generated by greed and by corruption,.