I heard that first-generation East Asian leaders were anti-democratic and anti-market economy

Regardless of whether they were in the communist or capitalist camps, they shared commonalities:
1. Negative toward multi-party systems and state governance through consensus and checks and balances
> They believed the state is a large family, and the citizens must run toward unified thoughts and goals under the leadership of the state leader, who acts as the head of the household.
2. Negative toward free culture and market economies
> The market should also be subject to state planning and control, and corporations must contribute to and give back to society. Furthermore, they viewed Western culture not as freedom, but as permissiveness, believing the state must encourage and enforce public morals.
In reality, East Asian dictators exhibited socialist tendencies by thoroughly controlling and planning the economy; regardless of their political camp, they viewed the existence of opposition parties as unnecessary and strictly controlled culture.
While Western socialist countries allowed people to listen to rock music in free attire or engage in homosexuality, current North Korea or past China emphasized "socialist public morals" and prohibited these behaviors. Although called socialism, in practice, it was a Confucian tradition where how things appeared to the elders was what mattered most.
The figure who embodied this philosophically was Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore. Although Singapore is in Southeast Asia, it is part of the East Asian cultural sphere as the majority are ethnic Chinese. He declared, "Unlike the West, we developed our country under the leadership of our leaders," and told others not to force Western-style democracy upon them. This is referred to as "Asian Values."
Even now, Singapore is a powerful planned economy where the government holds significant economic power, and cultural/social control is so intense that even wearing only underwear at home can be punishable. The law banning oral sex was only repealed in 2023.