Can the arts and cultural prosper under a less than democratic
political regime? This paper looks at the soft authoritarian Singaporean
government and the making of Singapore into a “City for the Arts”. Many
scholars advocate that a culturally vibrant and creative city must also celebrate
diversity, tolerance and experimentation. This implies that a democratic space is
needed for creative energies to flow. Singapore is not known for its democracy.
But Singapore has become relatively successful in being the cultural hub in the
region. A more liberal approach to diversity and criticism of the authorities can
now be observed but there are still many strong-handed social and political
controls in the city-state. This paper shows that the Singapore authorities weigh
the economic, political and social costs while they liberalize the environment to
promote Singapore as a City for the Arts.