Lee Kuan Yew, the first prime minister of Singapore, famously commented on a London newspaper stand as a sign of the highly-civilised society of Great Britain in the 1940s.
His words came to mind when I saw the state of this newspaper stand in a London tube station this afternoon.
Itβs remarkable how far weβve fallen in such a short amount of time.
His words:
βPerhaps the most impressive sight I came upon was when I emerged from the tube station at Piccadilly Circus. I found a little table with a pile of newspapers and a box of coins and notes with nobody in attendance. You take your newspaper, toss in your coin or put in your 10-shilling note and take your change. I took a deep breath - this was a truly civilised people.β
Lee Kuan Yew abolished trial by jury in Singapore after determining that it was too easy for defence lawyers to appeal to racial and religious biases of juries in multicultural Singapore.
He writes in his memoirs how as a young lawyer he was able to get three clients acquitted who he was sure did commit murder. LKY writes that he "worked on the weaknesses of the jury -- their biases, their prejudices, their reluctance really to find four Muslims guilty of killing in cold blood or in a heat of great passion, religious passion, an RAF officer, his wife and child."
He writes "The judge was thoroughly disgusted. I went home feeling quite sick because I knew I'd discharged my duty as required of me, but I knew I had done wrong.β
Study after study shows that in multi ethnic societies, there is significant in-group bias on juries.