January 23, 2010 by admin
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Written by Our Correspondent
The Singapore opposition has received a boost in its membership
over the last few months with more tertiary-educated young
Singaporeans joining them one of whom is a vocal online critic of
the PAP, 22 year old project engineer Mr Alex Tan who embarrassed
two PAP MPs with his sensitive and difficult questions during a
YPAP forum last month.
Contrary to the Straits Times report that Alex joined the
Singapore People’s Party recently after an online spat with the
YPAP, he wrote on his “Vote out PAP” facebook which has garnered
more than 2,700 members so far that he joined the opposition
because he wants to serve fellow Singaporeans.
A mechatronics graduate from Temasek Polytechnic, Mr Tan told
the Straits Times that he is ready to stand as a candidate in the
next general election.
“I don’t think I’m too young. In fact, I think it might be an
advantage because I could inspire younger Singaporeans not to be
apathetic,” he was quoted in the Straits Times as saying.
Besides Mr Tan, former foreign service officer in the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs Mr Gerald Giam has joined Workers’ Party and Mr
Jarrod Luo, a biomedical science and microbiology graduate from
Australia’s University of Queensland was elected the honorary
secretary of the Singapore Democratic Party’s Youth wing last
year.
The Reform Party has seen an influx of new members who are
graduates and professionals.
One of them is Mr Justin Ong, the president of its Youth Wing,
who graduated recently with a Bachelor’s degree in Political
Science from NUS and Mr Tony Tan, a former SAF scholar.
With more young Singaporeans joining the opposition, the next
election will be the one to watch.
The PAP has seen its support base eroded over the last few years
due to some ill-conceived policies such as its liberal immigration
policies which had caused much unhappiness, frustration and
resentment among Singaporeans.
Their cause isn’t helped by the fact that its Youth Wing is
unable to reach out to the young IT-savvy Singaporeans which is
further exacerbated by a string of scandals involving YPAP
members.
To compound matters, Singaporeans are turning increasingly to
the alternative media for news and the influence of the state
media’s daily propaganda is fast wearing thin.
A few years ago, there are hardly any socio-political news sites
with a high enough readership to challenge the mouthpieces of the
ruling party.
Now, the new media is set to tilt the playing field increasingly
in favor of the opposition with sites like The Temasek Review
having a readership higher than TODAY Online.
Young Singaporeans between the age of 21 – 35 will form a
critical voting bloc in the next few elections and may emerge as
the kingmakers in a closely fought contest.
Time is fast running out for the PAP which has yet to establish
a foothold for itself in cyberspace despite controlling all the
major papers and internet forums in Singapore.