>This is the same argument from Mussolini's facists - "at least the trains run on time"

No, it's an added argument that "and everyday life is the same, if not improved".

Many people would prefer living in an orderly state like Singapore, than in a place they fear for their safety, public order is deteriorating, their cities are dying, public works are crap, politics are a circus, and so on, even if they don't get to vote one of two parties that do mostly the same things in favor of billionaires while their life worsens.

That's no 1920s fascist Italy. Nor is China for that matter.