Ok, you and zainny make fair points. I guess I was looking at it from the perspective of, say, Turkey right now..or Somalia. But even if it isn't at that scale, freedom of speech is important and I was wrong do dismiss it so casually.
I don't think anyone seriously compares Singapore to Somalia or Turkey - by that measure it's a veritable paradise. The comparisons I have seen have all compared it to developed, first-world countries like most of western Europe, the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia, etc.
It is, after all, the league that Singapore wants to play in both in image and influence.
