I'm not Singaporean and have never visited if you're wondering...
The expensive car policy is well counterbalanced by good public transportation and cheap fast taxis (no congestion). More convenient than owning a car, imo.
It's almost like cracking down on crime in a tough way with liberal economics can lead to a great place to live.
The oppressive state behaviour has repercussions in their view.
> As an expat, the censorship and oppression was only materialized by the absence of a decent art scene.
Singapore's story is remarkable, like you said. But it can absolutely be characterized as right-leaning, with a conservative social policy marked by low individual freedom (low tolerance for antisocial behavior, definition of "antisocial" largely in the hands of the government) and high economic freedom (laissez-faire free market capitalism, small government[0]). On the Nolan chart[1], it would fall squarely in the Conservative side.
[0]: At government expenditures of ~15% of GDP, Singapore has by far the smallest government, in economic terms, of all developed countries.