Thoroughly Westernised themselves after spending a lot of time in Europe these Asian leaders may sincerely fear the consequences for social stability should their own more liberal or Western values pervade the larger population. Implicit in this reasoning may be the idea that while we the elite can handle personal freedoms, they the masses cannot. Thus, there is a tendency for elites in Asia to underestimate the people. The so-called Asian values are used by East Asian governments to establish authoritarian systems. In East Timor, Irian Jaya and Burma, Asian values are being used to violently suppress community values, says Carmel Budiardjo of Tapol, a human rights group based in Britain.
Murder is murder, whether it is perpetrated in America, Europe, Asia or Africa.
No one claims torture as part of his cultural heritage. In East Asia, the strong developmental state combines high-speed economic growth with delayed democracy. Civil liberties and individual freedoms are poorly developed in law and the political culture. Incomes and business have flourished in Singapore, but not human rights. And Lee rejects Westernisation while embracing modernisation and its attendant changes in lifestyle.