EVERY year, soon after Singapore’s national day on August 9th, Singapore’s prime minister gives a state-of-the-nation address. On August 17th Lee Hsien Loong, the prime minister and son of modern Singapore’s founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, delivered his 11th such speech in his genial, if slightly mawkish, style. As usual, he offered plenty of crowd-pleasing goodies: gardens and a science centre for