Thoughts on Singapore politics: The road ahead

July 3, 2009 by admin
Filed under: Current Affairs, Political Discussions 

Written by Ng E-Jay
03 July 2009

In my previous article From stifled dissent to managed dissent, I discussed how the ruling PAP is gradually adapting to an approach of soft authoritarianism, replacing blatantly oppressive tactics like the use of the ISA on political opponents with the subtle managing of dissent through token liberalization of the rules that gives the people a semblance of political space but without actually returning them their full constitutional rights.

The liberalization of Speaker’s Corner for public demonstrations whilst denying Singaporeans the freedom of peaceful assembly via the Public Order Act, the tweaking of the Films Act to give more room for political films whilst denying Singaporeans the freedom of speech through the constant threat of defamation suits, and the new NCMP scheme which gives the opposition a greater voice in Parliament but in no way makes elections free or fair, are prime examples of the way the PAP unconstitutionally maintains its grip on all the key levers of power whilst pretending that there is greater freedom and political rights.

The reason why the PAP has willingly brought about these subtle changes is most probably because it recognizes that change is inevitable as the electorate becomes more globalized, as standards of living rise, and as the ingrained fears and insecurities of the older generation over bread and butter issues are slowly replaced by the youthful, perhaps even brash, idealism of the next generation.

So rather than fight change, the PAP has chosen to embrace it, but on its own terms — closely guarding its firm grip on power and political dominance, whilst creating safety valves for pressure to be released and well-controlled outlets for the people to express themselves in a way that does not threaten the ruling elite.

The PAP is banking on the assumption that as long as it provides the majority of citizens with reasonably good infrastructure, a decent standard of living, stable asset prices, and manages to fool the general public into thinking that it practises good governance, it is likely to continue retaining a sizeable core of supporters that will return it to power in every election.

But even though the ruling PAP has shown that it is adaptable in terms of creatively managing the level of outwardly-expressed dissent, it has fallen flat on its face in terms of enacting policies that places Singapore citizens first.

In terms of providing a comprehensive social safety net for citizens that have fallen through the cracks, keeping a lid on the escalating cost of living so that working class Singaporeans are not ravaged by inflation, and providing a dignified retirement for our elderly who have toiled tirelessly to build our nation, the PAP has failed miserably.

It is true that economically and in terms of infrastructure, we are well ahead of our neighbours. The PAP is counting on this to win the next election, and possibly a few more down the road. However, our income gap remains wide and could possibly widen even further in the years ahead because the wealth created by our nation is concentrated in the hands of a few and is not effectively distributed to the rest of society by enlightened socialist policies that manage the extremes that free market capitalism engenders. This has created a bloated middle class that the late J.B. Jeyaretnam called “the new poor”.

Lack of transparency and accountability, particularly in the way our national savings are invested and managed, is also of grave concern. Our lack of free and fair elections, little separation of powers between the judiciary, Executive and legislature, and the absence of an independent media, are all serious flaws in our socio-political system that opposition parties worth their salt must tackle.

Looking forward, will the PAP continue to hold on to its current political dominance and retain its hegemony, or will its unenlightened, self-serving policies and our deeply flawed political system slowly lead to its unravelling?

The PAP has adapted to the inevitable with its unwritten policy of “managed dissent”. But unfortunately, it has resisted making other necessary changes to its policies and to Singapore’s political system that are needed if Singapore citizens are to be returned their fundamental civil liberties and if we are to prosper together as a nation.

It is therefore up to activists, opposition parties and alternative media to set a new agenda, one that is markedly different from that of the ruling party and one which places Singaporeans first politically and economically, and to push that agenda vigorously.

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3 Comments on Thoughts on Singapore politics: The road ahead

  1. The Singapore Daily » Blog Archive » Daily SG: 3 Jul 2009 on Fri, 3rd Jul 2009 11:23 am

    2. [...] Politics They Are a-Changin’? – Sgpolitics.net: Thoughts on Singapore politics: The road ahead – Singapore Democrats Blog: A credible and effective opposition [Thanks [...]

  2. Hougang resident on Fri, 3rd Jul 2009 12:34 pm

    3. Among the main reasons why I think that the PAP is “softening its grip” is not because it “finally recognises the need to change” but rather, like the Family Planning Stop at 2 policy, it has become a victim of its own success. Even fools knew that the GRC concept was to keep them in “total power” and they succeeded in doing it. But the price they paid? A huge number of MPs who virtually walked into parliament unchallenged. The result? A severe lack of empathy with the very desperate residents who were in desperate need of help.

    These MPs aften lacked the instinct to be able to see through a resident’s real need. Before giving aid to the residents, there is always a pre-judgement that the resident “could be just pretending”.

    The recent incidents like punching and torching of an MP, verbally threatening an MP and throwing a chair in front of the MP speaks volumes about the level of empathy these MPs have with the residents. Mind you, all these incidents happened during the Meet The People sessions! Before the 2006 elections, have you ever heard tof hese kind of incidents taking place?

    And also the MP whose remarks about the table tennis coach sparked an uproar resulting in people calling for her resignations?

    How come we have never seen any residents doing that to Mr Low and Mr Chiam despite their lack of resources in the respective wards? Simple. Because they both went through defeats after defeats before finally winning their wards (and retaining them). As a result, they know how to emphatise with the residents. This is something which many new PAP MPs lack.

    The PAP has realised that they have sowed the seeds that may result in accelerated distrust the residents now have with their MPs with little “battle experience”.

  3. The Singapore Daily » Blog Archive » Weekly Roundup: Week 27 on Sat, 4th Jul 2009 11:34 am

    4. [...] again! – Singapore Enquirer: ANALYSIS-Singapore seeks to manage political change – Sgpolitics.net: Thoughts on Singapore politics: The road ahead – Singapore Democrats Blog: A credible and effective opposition [Thanks [...]

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