George Soros who? Why Singapore is no Hungary
While civil activists get outraged over pressure to push the Open Society Foundations out of Hungary, the same group gets a similar cold shoulder from the Lion City and few seem to notice
Hungary and Singapore may be thousands of kilometres apart, but over the last fortnight public debate in both countries has centred on the same question: should foreigners be allowed to fund local political activity?
The contrast in public reaction in the two countries to official curbs against OSF funding, observers say, highlights the different schools of thought on foreign funding of domestic political activity.
In Hungary this week, civil activists were seething after the OSF’s announcement that it might be forced to move operations in the country elsewhere due to intensifying pressure from strongman premier Viktor Orban.
The city state’s Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) on April 11 said it would not allow the registration of OSEA Private Limited, a company linked to the local independent news portal New Naratif, because it accepted foreign funding, including from an entity close to the OSF.