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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 16, 1996)
Fear rules Singapore, says UNL professor By Brian Carlson StaffReporter Christopher Lingle counted on the ability of Singapore’s government to withstand his editorial criticism. Instead, he became embroiled in a legal Catch-22 and had to bolt the country and his post as a university professor on the island in southeast Asia. Lingle, an author and economics professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, spoke at the University of Ncbraska-Lincoln on Friday on “Capitalism and Authoritarianism in Singapore.” Lingle arrived at the National Uni versity/6f Singapore in 1993 to study the nation’s economy and political structure. In 1994, he wrote an edito rial in the International Herald Tribune charging that Singapore’s government used a “compliant judiciary to bank rupt opposition politicians.” Lingle was immediately charged with libel. He fled the country to avoid a prison term, and in January 1995, he was convicted while not in the coun try. In court, the government admitted it had prosecuted and bankrupted op position politicians. It successfully ar gued this proved Lingle’s allegations were aimed at Singapore’s govern ment, and therefore deemed them li belous. “I alluded to what many people think of as a very benign regime, and they came down on me like a ton of bricks,” he said. Lingle said this episode is an ex ample of the realities, as opposed to the perceptions, of life in Singapore. Lingle coined the term “phobocracy” — rule by fear — to describe Singapore’s totalitarian gov ernment. He said that in addition to controlling political opposition, gov ernmental restrictions inhibit intellec tual freedom and the economy. The government’s presence in Singapore’s universities has led to a “brain drain” and an unwillingness to debate politically sensitive issues, Lingle said. f “In my career, my respect has been for people who had original thought, asked difficult questions and probed for answers,” he said. “I didn’t meet any of them in Singapore.” Many economists have pointed to Singapore’s economy as a model for developing nations, Lingle said. But he claims these attitudes are based on out dated thinking and ignore stringent governmental restraints on the economy. Singapore’s economy is a free mar ket only to the extent that it is very open to and protective of capital, Lingle said. But he said tight controls on domestic business affairs have hurt the economy by stifling entrepreneurship. Because he has focused on identi fying universal values during his ca reer, Lingle is most disconcerted by Singapore’s exploitation of the public’s mistrust of Western culture. “Singapore’s government has be come very good at using ‘newspeak’ — using Western vocab as a way of legitimizing their regime, but with Asian variants.” Student travels to depths of underwater excitement By Erin Gibson Staff Reporter The first civilian student invited to ride aboard the nuclear subma rine USS Nebraska returned wide eyed to Lincoln Tuesday with sto ries of his 36-hour voyage on the ultra-powertul submarine. Rick Provaznik, a mechanical engineering senior, said he was ex cited to have been chosen for the VIP cruise, but not intimidated by the 24 nuclear missiles, each with 12 warheads, carried aboard the sub. “I realized this is what it takes to have peace,” Provaznik said. “They don’t just give it to you.” The submarine’s mission is to hide as an invisible, peace-keeping threat, he said. Once aboard the USS Nebraska, Provaznik joined 145 crew mem bers — all Nebraska Comhuskcr fans. He ate in the “Cornhusker Cafe,” found Herbie Husker embla- ^ zoned on the shirts of commanding officers and saw autographed NU footballs on display. After a short orientation, Provaznik was allowed to tour all parts of the vessel, he said. He gave up sleep to spend extra time in the sonar room, learning to detect other ships by the noise from their pro pellers. Provaznik witnessed torpedo launch drills that were just as loud and tense as the movies, he said, He even sat behind the wheel of the $1.2 billion vessel for a few nerve racking moments. But Provaznik said the friendly crew, especially the guys in the so nar room, was the best part of his trip. The sonar-room crew is the eyes and ears of the submarine and “the cockiest guys on the ship,” he said. Provaznik said the crew’s over whelming dedication also im pressed him. “Everyone took pride in their job and did their jobs perfectly,” he said. The high-tech USS Nebraska is the largest, most powerful subma rine in the world and the same type of submarine featured in the mov ies “The Hunt for Red October” and “Crimson Tide,” Provaznik said. gUfeaMMK1- -I \ Courtesy photo RICK PRGMZNIK, a senior mechanical engineering major, sits behind the controls of the ; USS Nebraska. a |f bet Ameristar enforces and supports I X v • e 6 It is illegal for persons under the age of 21 to gamble. |;f II / ■ n r t: c is - ' l * Ameristar, a responsible leader in the gaming industry. ^