Singapore is a living proof that a blend of authoritarian government and market economy can be highly successful.
It's an example of brutality and rigid rules wielded effectively to manage a population. Their social ills can't be criticized - Hanging people for drug use or possession, indefinite detention and torture for political speech, and the money, corruption, and sex trafficking amongst the elite for starters.
If they evolve to a more free, liberty and democracy focused society, they'll likely lose much of their wealth generating advantage. A non trivial portion of the money flowing through Singapore depends on groups and individuals involved in global cartels, and anti corruption laws effectively enforced would unveil a lot of shady dealings.
As for "indefinite detention and torture for political speech", Singapore stopped resorting to this in the 1980s, bankrupting people with defamation suits is much more effective.
Of course we can debate what role the authoritarian nature of their system played in that, if any.
We may tend to see things through a "1st world problems" prism, but when the people start with nothing, starving in a shack (which is still the life of many people on this planet) the metrics I mentioned are infinitely more important than the death penalty for drug trafficking (which is hardly a massive issue in any case).
Singapore, on the surface of things, almost has things right. The problems arise when you look past to the superficial goods into the overall social functioning - there's some really dark evil with deep ties to Singapore.
Also, to make things clear, the US has its fair share of problems like this. Notably, the war on drugs and the cartels enabled by our failed policies are an absolute travesty.
The advantage of liberalizing speech is the ability of a society to continually evolve toward the improvement of human wellbeing. When societies suppress speech, that's a telltale signal that those in power are engaged in shady business they don't want the peasants to squawk about.
All that said, Singapore is a remarkably civilized and pleasant place to visit - I just wouldn't want to live there. If it gets held to account through revolution or civil breakdown, its failure mode will be spectacular.
Corruption is rampant in Europe. It's only layman's money will be AML'd. Real crime will easily find a way around it.
At least Singapore and Dubai allow money to be laundered officially.
Singaporeans were fortunate their country was ruled by a bunch of technocrats. But the government has almost complete control of the narrative and the story they tell is often the only one you’ll hear.