George Soros, a well-known financier and philanthropist, is respected in Singapore for his commercial savvy and charitable works. But the man himself does not think much of the city-state’s tightly run political system. During a visit on January 11th, he was asked whether Singapore was an “open society”, a concept emphasising democracy and transparency long-championed by the Hungarian-born billionaire. “Obviously Singapore does not qualify,” he replied. Mr Soros added that the frequent use by senior politicians of libel suits against the opposition could be “a tremendous hindrance to freedom of expression.”

The government's response was curt. “If we are not an open society, George Soros would hardly be able to make the comments at an open forum in Singapore, and be reported in the Singapore media,” a spokesman told the press.

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Saw this article on Singapore Briefing January 2006, from economist.com. Just realized I also went for this George Soros public forum on that day. The question on "whether Singapore is an open society" was asked by one of NUS year 3 political science students, USP senior still (forgot name)...

Thinking of the talk on that day, Soros, though old, is still a very sharp and smart man... I remember I was a bit disappointed. I was hoping he would talk something more about Economics related topics, but he spent the whole speech talking about his effort in promoting an "open society". No offence, but i really think before a country reaches a certain standard of economic development, issues such as "open society" are really  far-fetched dreams...

Taking UWC2101K this semester and studying evolution, progress and development... hopefully can have more ideas and interest on "open society" after i completed this module. However the most pertinent problem for me now is to finish up the UWC2101K essay which is due today!