How did Sinapore deal with illegal immigrants?

I bet Lee got zero back-talk at the dinner table from his kids.

I would not have survived childhood in Singapore. On the other hand, it's likely I wouldn't have gotten caught.

Lee Kuan Yew’s Cane and Trump’s Tariffs

A lesson in deterrence from the founder of modern Singapore.

By Jon Pelson, WSJ

Feb. 5, 2025 4:54 pm ET

Lee Kuan Yew, the founder of modern Singapore and the creator of the economic miracle there, was a famously strict ruler. Considered by some a “benevolent dictator,” he countenanced no deviation from the country’s laws, often imposing cruel treatment for those who transgressed. His “spare the rod and spoil the child” approach could shed light on the motivations behind President Trump’s blitz of tariff threats against friends and foes alike.

The standard of living in Singapore is dramatically higher than in nearby Malaysia, Indonesia and China. Workers from those countries have long hastened to Singapore for work. The advantages of living in a secure, prosperous society have led migrants to overstay their visas, continuing to work off the books for years. In the 1980s, the population of illegal immigrants in Singapore grew to more than 10,000.

For the iron-fisted Lee, this flouting of the law was unacceptable. At the time, my father, Vic Pelson, was establishing AT&T’s first international factory in Singapore and frequently traveled there to meet and socialize with Lee; his son Lee Hsien Loong, a future prime minister; and the State Department officials who were building American relations with the rising Asian tiger.

My father recounted an extraordinary story after a late 1988 trip. While he was having dinner with the prime minister’s advisers, they told him how they had approached Lee and asked how he wanted to handle the illegal immigrants.

“Cane them,” Lee said.

The aides were stunned. The process of caning a single prisoner required a team of medical officers, prison officials and martial artists (apparently to assure that the last lashes were as ferocious as the first). Prisoners could require hospitalization between lashes to make sure they were healthy enough to continue. Those who have endured the punishment describe the pain as excruciating and unbearable.

“Mr. Prime Minister,” they pleaded. “You can’t possibly intend to cane more than 10,000 people.”

“Of course not,” Lee replied. “We will probably need to cane two or three.”

He was right. In the two weeks after the new policy was announced, more than 10,000 illegal immigrants fled the country.

In keeping with his style, and perhaps to emphasize a point that needed no emphasis, Lee allowed his prison system to continue with the caning of 10 illegal immigrants from India.

Mr. Trump’s rapid and seemingly indiscriminate imposition of tariffs against America’s biggest trading partners seems a policy drawn from the same playbook. He has demanded two things: an aggressive security response to slow the cross-border flow of fentanyl, and an end to policies he deems unfair to the U.S.

Does Mr. Trump really intend to impose tariffs on all of U.S. trading partners, allies and rivals alike, to bend them to his will?

Of course not. He’ll probably only need to do two or three.

Mr. Pelson is author of “Wireless Wars; China’s Dangerous Domination of 5G and How We’re Fighting Back” and an adjunct fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.