It's a good thing that our youths are showing signs of stirring
politically for as concerned citizens we should be participating in
the public life of the nation.
littlespeck.com
Youths
A whiff of a change
Apathetic, self-centered, they now show signs of stirring
politically. By Seah Chiang Nee.
May 21, 2006
Election 2006, with a strong Internet role, has aroused the
political interest of Singapore's apathetic youth, including
polytechnic and junior college students too young to vote.
For the first time, a large number (many still in uniform) had been
flocking to the opposition rallies to listen to the speeches and
soak in the emotionally-charged atmosphere that comes only once
every five years.
Their presence is surprising for two reasons. Firstly, students are
below 21 and therefore non-voters, and secondly, they are famously
disinterested in politics or anything outside exams and computer
games.
It doesn't necessarily indicate their political leaning - not yet,
anyway - just a teenage curiosity of what the hustings are all
about.
Their time to exercise the vote will come in the next election when
almost all will have reached the voting age of 21. When it does,
their choice will have an impact on the ruling People's Action
Party and on Singapore.
Some 40% of last week's electorate were born after 1965, the year
of independence. Party analysts are still figuring out how
first-time voters had affected last week's results.
According to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, many had supported the
PAP, but others are less certain.
He said his own son, a student, had told him over dinner that he
had also attended a Workers Party (WP) rally with 20 of his friends
at his own Ang Mo Kio group constituency.
Here, six unknown WP candidates who were first-timers took a
shocking 33% from the Prime Minister. The PAP chairman Lim Boon
Heng had anticipated an 80% win.
With five of them aged below 30 (compared to 45 years for the PAP
candidates), these youngsters lost but they caught the imagination
of many Singaporeans, especially the youths.
Asked why he had not attended a PAP rally, Lee's son replied that
it was too "boring and logical".
Singapore's post-65ers differ from their parents in that they do
not feel beholden to the PAP or its leaders for Singapore's state
of progress.
They dislike authoritarian government and want an equal playing
field for the opposition, a concept that's not top priority with
Lee's government, although it has opened up in some areas.
"Politics is not just about whether to vote or not to vote," Kuan
Yew said. "It is about people's lives."
In Election 2006, the ruling party succeeded in keeping its large
middle class support in the face of a resurgent opposition, winning
66.6% of the contested votes and 82 of 84 Parliament seats.
The party's solid record of achievements has carried the day for
the young Lee.
But its base has eroded by 9%, the worst since 1984 when the
decline was 12.4%.
The Workers Party, with a number of candidates young enough to be
able to contest in another four or five elections, has emerged
quite upbeat about its future.
It retained its one seat and added another as a Non-Constituency
MP, for the best loser and it garnered 38.4% of the popular vote,
compared to PAP's 66.6%.
Analysts say it could have been better if it had gained more Malay
(14% of the population) votes. The majority was believed to have
stuck with the ruling PAP and its strong Malay candidates.
The election has, above all, unleashed a battle for the hearts and
minds of the cynical younger Singaporeans that will probably
intensify in the five years leading to the next election.
What has stirred many students is the Internet and its new breed of
bloggers who posted reports, photos and videos of massive
opposition rallies that the mainstream media had kept out.
The Minister of Information and the Arts, Lee Boon Yang, has said
the government will conduct a study to determine what impact the
worldwide web had on the outcome.
To some extent, it had countered the PAP's strongest card, a
compliant media that has traditionally blanked out much of its
rivals' activities.
The opposition has done more in exploiting the web than the ruling
party, which treats it with suspicion and hostility.
An example of how things can work out for the future is a weblog
declaration by a group of junior college students (aged about 17)
that they intended to stand as candidates two elections from now,
or 10 years later.
It has turned some heads although people are not sure how serious
they are. Some believe it may just be a school project.
This group calls itself "Singapore People's Alliance" and has named
a preparatory team of office-bearers, which will seek over the next
decade to understand the needs of Singaporeans and extend its
grassroot network.
"We plan to run in two elections following the 2006 General
Election," they said. "Most of us are Year 1 in junior college,
hence we plan to use this time that we have to study hard and get
our qualifications."
How serious they are matters little in today's Singapore. They have
received messages of support and advice that they could do better
joining a current party rather than forming a new one.
This is an indication of what a post-Lee Kuan Yew Singapore can be
like.
(This article was written for The Sunday Star, May 21, 2006)
