Originally posted by Tuatau:
That would be difficult. Las Vegas succeeded because it welcomed everything, the good and the bad, that came with the casino/gaming culture (vice, strip clubs, risque shows, instant weddings, underground money-lenders, syndicate operations, etc.) and was able to cater to all kinds of people at different social levels with its variety of attractions.
The Singapore government would never take the risk to go all out and "show hand" when they handle projects like this. There'd be curbs on this, restrictions on that, and in the end Singaporeans would be lucky if the people don't get 2 more "white elephants" like the Tang Dynasty theme park.
Yah u are right.......one good thing in a "real" democracy country is that they accept everything,the good n the bad,that is why they can be successful.
I remember there was a joke from Ronald Reagan,it goes like this:2 ppl were arguing with each other,1 from the U.S,the other from Soviet Union(old time Russia).The guy from United States tell the other guy:"Hey u know what,we commoners from the U.S can go up to our President n say "You sucks"!!.Can u ppl from Communist country do that?"The guy from Soviet Union reply:"Sure we can,we can go into our leader's room n bang on the table n say"Hey you know what,the U.S President sucks!!!"(this is roughly the joke as i cannot remember everything in details).
From the above joke,we know why the democratic country can lead the world in today's politics.Becoz in their country,opposition act as a "pushing force" to motivate the ruling party to listen n selectively accept different kind of advices n opinions.Whereas in a socialist country like ours or the old time Soviet Union or communist China,the leaders only want to hear one kind of opinion,that is what they "choose" to hear,any other different opinions can throw into the dustbin!!!In short,a democracy can accept socialist n democratic ideas in their country.Whereas a socialism can only accept "socialist and one-party rulez ideas" in their country,you see the difference?