I once saw a book written by a 90s politician in Singapore that, in part, tried to explain why there is no free press in Singapore. The reason was that since all press are corrupt, the government cannot allow them. I found that amazing in its arrogance.
This probably has a lot to do with Singapore's fragile existence after founding...after being kicked out of a union with Malaysia due to racial reasons, and with communist insurgencies in vogue in the 1960s/70s. I'm not defending them, just that their history is a reason why Singapore is Singapore.
Every country has its unusual and unique histories, but most countries make progress in key cultural areas through the democratic process. Singapore has basically had just one family in power for its entire existence, which makes such progress much more unlikely, or at best, very difficult.
