There is a hot new industry in Singapore: Kremlinology.
Paul Krugman once compared the city-state to the Soviet Union under Stalin, and the Nobel laureate had a point. He was not referring to communism or to mass killings, of course -- but the art of observing, deducing and obsessing over a secretive organization is again consuming the nation of 5.5 million people. The subject of the latest intrigue is a bizarre spat within the family at the core of Singapore's astounding success and the row is fueling an unprecedented scandal that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong says could dent the nation's squeaky-clean image.