Singaporean leaders have a tight grip over the citizens in order not to lose control of their country and the grip is actually suffocating. Locals call it "working dictatorship".

Singapore's prime minister has massive freedom of speech tools in which if you criticize the government, you'll be out of a job in no time, and you might have to leave the country (or risk staying and being put in jail). Therefore noone criticizes the government, so they can pass whatever bullshit they want.

It is in the ballpark of Bangladesh and Albania in terms of Democracy with people not being allowed to group in public. This sounds absurd, but the government passed a law where if a group of five or more people are organizing in the same spot, you must have a permission by the police. And you can do it at only one spot. So if you are a university teacher and you have to gather your class, you are not allowed to do it on your own.

A simple reason why the democracy is flawed is the President was running unoposed in the last elections. No real democracy would allow that. Singapore is nowhere as bad as China or Bahrain or Azerbaijan in political terms, but they go in the same sentence in this exact case since they all have something in common - paying to have Formula 1 in their country.