Smart, creative people are, by and large, allergic to authoritarianism. Draconian rules around possession of soft drugs like cannabis are useful proxies for measuring a state's authoritarianism.
One of the things i found interesting about Singapore's censorship is that it's completely open. It is not itself secret, or a taboo subject. When i was there, i stumbled across an exhibition by local artists that was all about a major obscenity/censorship case in the 1980s that had had a big impact on the artistic community. The exhibition was in a public gallery, and i think had even been supported with public funds.
Have a look at this recent case where a teen blogger was jailed for making offensive remarks against Christianity, and for circulating obscene imagery. [2]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OB_marker
[2] http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/teen-blogger-a...