Best Practices in Good Governance
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
February 8-10, 2001
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Success and failures of the Singapore Government in Transparency
and Accountability"
It would be a misnomer to call the Singapore PAP Government
transparent and accountable. The duty of a government is first and
foremost a sacred duty to the citizens of a given country. It
should spend its hours in government governing the people in the
fairest and best possible way given its vast resources, and on top
of all that, be transparent and accountable to them all. The PAP
Government has failed in being transparent and accountable to the
people, and that is one reason why the Open Singapore Centre (OSC)
exists and one reason why the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP)
continues to educate people - to highlight the areas where the
Government is not and urging it do so, to rid itself of commercial
business interests and pursuits and start thinking about
people.
The one-party state of Singapore can only boast of its "excellent"
in terms of impersonal digits of "economic growth" and its scenic
skyline. Apart from that visual nicety, living as an ordinary
citizen in Singapore is a struggle unseen by most of the outside
world.
In a January 14, 2001 posting in an online forum in Project
Eyeball, I responded to the next Prime Minister, Brigadier General
(BG) Lee Hsien Long who claimed that "last year we predicted 4 to 6
cent growth; we ended up with more than 10." (Straits Times &
Project Eyeball, Jan.8, 2001, p.2) that what he said "looks good on
paper. The Singapore working class would, however, have taken note
that there were also increases in utility bills and public
transportation last year , on top of the controversial POSB-DBS
(banks) S$2 charges that forced the lower income groups to close
their accounts. Full Central Provident Fund (forced savings)
restoration was not implemented by the end of the year. Recently,
people were encouraged to "top-up" their CPF when the government
should be restoring it in full. The Singapore Dollar continues to
weaken against the U.S. Dollar. Unit trust prices, especially
technology stocks, have crashed despite the government announcement
of positive GDP growth.
Furthermore, the May 2000 report issued by the Department of
Statistics stated that for the bottom 10% of the society the
average household income for 1999 was S$133 (US$7
a month, with figures showing that nearly 30% of
households in Singapore not earning enough to afford the minimum
standard of living while the rich continue to get richer. Whilst
the average wage remains low, salaries for ministers are shockingly
high. It must be pointed out that Singapore's ministers are the
highest paid politicians in the world. The growing gap between the
rich and the poor is a great concern for those who care for the
future of our society. It must also be remembered that the brunt of
the recession during the Asian crisis was borne by the workers
whose wages were cut by 15%. Unemployment as well as
underemployment continues to be a major problem.
According to the 1999 Global Competitiveness Report, out of the 59
countries surveyed, Singapore ranked 56th in terms of wages of its
workers relative to their productivity. Only Russia, Ukraine and
Ecuador paid their workers worse.
BG Lee may talk about economic growth. The real question that
should be asked is: How much of this 'growth' has benefited working
Singaporeans?"
The state paper, The Straits Times, seems reluctant to highlight
the fact that Singapore was ranked so low on the scale of workers'
wages as compared to other developed and industrialized countries.
Even more outrageous is the fact that PAP Ministers raised their
pay in the middle of last year, making them one of the highest paid
politicians in the world. Consider this: the Prime Minister now
earns approximately US$93,000 a month, while more than 40% of
Singapore's work force earn less than US$1,000 a month (1999 Labour
statistics). Income disparity is not growing any better.
The Straits Times often sees no qualms, however, in boasting
Singapore's top status as a business center and in fields where
money and people can be measured in digits and profited from. Let
us also not forget that the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), the
major newspaper conglomerate in existence in Singapore has an
ex-ISD (Internal Security Department) secret police director as
Director and President.
With the media bound in the hands of the Government, the latter
reigns free without having to worry about media interference in its
affairs. The SDP have released numerous media statements on every
major issue affecting the lives of ordinary citizens in Singapore,
but the Singapore media rarely carries them, making the people
believe in the illusion that we are inactive and even non-existent
till the General Elections.
The ISD secret police continues to run with impunity - never
accountable to the people, with bestowed state powers under the
Internal Security Act (ISA) to detain anyone, anytime for an
indefinite period of time without a public trial. Throughout
Singapore's political history, the political Opposition and its
supporters have been detained with trial under the PAP's
Government's orders. Operation Cold Store of 1963 netted in about
120 persons and Operation Spectrum in 1987, 22 social justice
activists fell. The longest serving prisoner in Singapore, Chia
Thye Poh, Barisan Socialis MP, arrested in 1966 was forced to give
23 years of his life away in prison. Singaporeans continue to live
in fear in the atmosphere of Singapore. The lack of dynamism in
Singapore politics with a large and active Opposition and civil
society groups hints at the state of fear and apathy 42 years of
iron-fisted PAP rule has created.
My recent January call-up by the Singapore police to investigate a
possible offense committed on December 10, 2000 at the newly
introduced Speakers' Corner. On that fateful day, the Open
Singapore Centre was one of the key organizers in publicly marking
International Human Rights Day. Now, we are under police and
government scrutiny for a peaceful public gathering where speeches
in what human rights is were made in open air and the song "We
Shall Overcome" was sang. The move to put us in police files is
another way to scare the population into thinking that civil rights
activity may not be tolerated. Such is the infant stage of civil
society growth in Singapore.
One primary area which exposes the non-transparent and
non-accountable nature of the PAP Government is that of the public
accountability of the sale of Singapore arms and the business and
investment dealings of the Government of Singapore Investment
Corporation (GIC) which handles billions of Singaporeans' CPF
savings. Currently, these are non-debatable issues in Singapore,
and only recently - with the SDP's insistence through The New
Democrat, Singapore business losses in Suzhou Park, China and the
lack of CPF funds for Singaporeans golden years were publicly
admitted.
Author Alan Clements who interviewed Aung San Suu Kyi in his 1997
book A Voice of Hope noted that Singapore's investment of US$770
million in Burma helped prop the SPDC regime (p.70).
According to Burma Alert (Feb. 97, Volume 8, No.2), Singapore tops
the world again. This time, in an ugly fashion of being the SPDC
junta's top investor.
==============================================================
Investments: SLORC INVESTMENTS INCREASING?
According to SLORC's Directorate of Investment and Company
Administration, foreign investments in Burma are increasing. As of
Nov 30, there were reportedly 226 foreign projects worth US$5.27
billion (The totals below only add up to US$3-4 billion -
Ed):
Oil & Gas (31) projects US$1.49 billion
Manufacturing projects 1.07 billion
Hotel/Tourism (3 projects 731.2 million
Mining (41) projects 496.9 million The three major SLORC investors
are:
Singapore US$1.17 billion
UK 1.01 billion
Thailand 960 million
The Spring 1998 edition of Covert Action Quarterly revealed that
that a Government-Linked Company (GLC), Singapore Technologies,
helped the Burmese military junta build a high-tech cyber-warfare
center capable of intercepting a range of incoming
communications-including telephone calls, faxes, e-mails and
computer data transmissions-from 20 other countries. The secret
arms deals with the junta is no big secret to the free world
although it is still a very dangerous topic to be discussed openly
in Singapore, and is something that the Singapore government has
refused to acknowledge or admit to the public. Jane's Intelligence
Review (Feb-March 199 has also reported on the PAP Government's dealings with
the SPDC junta of Burma. The media in Singapore, not surprisingly,
does not report on such "sensitive" issues. This state of affairs
tells us how much the media is independent in Singapore.
Dear friends, after 42 years of ruling Singapore in an
authoritarian manner, the Singapore PAP Government finds itself
reluctant and difficult to relinquish and share power with the
political Opposition and to open society to tolerate pluralistic
voices of democracy. Let not the cosmetic changes the PAP
Government paints to the world fool anyone here. Beneath the cloak
of skyscrapers and fancy, expensive restaurants, Singapore has not
progressed in terms of understanding and respecting human rights.
Her people groan under the weight and fear of PAP laws and
regulations. The non-transparent nature of the PAP Government and
its atrocious dealings with the SPDC in Burma is a lamentable fact
that cannot be ignored or swept under the carpet of Asian
diplomacy. Lives are lost as we speak. Let's not forget that.
Let's also not forget that with international attention on
Singapore's political progress and on the activists from the
political Opposition, the Singapore Government can be made to
change for the better. It can be made to account for everything it
does to the public and to the international community. This in turn
contributes to regional stability, an active civil society and a
democratic political system where justice and the rule of law reign
supreme over our lands. Recommended Reading:
Chee, S.J. 1998, 'Burma' in To Be Free, Monash Asia Institute,
Australia, pp.53-99.
Clements, Alan 1997, The Voice of Hope, Penguin Books, London
Jane's Intelligence Review February-March 1998, 'Burma receives
advances from its silent suitors in Singapore'.
Seow, Francis 1998, The Media Enthralled, Lynne Rienner
Publications, Inc., Boulder, Colorado.
------------- 1994, To Catch a Tartar, Yale University SEA Studies,
Connecticut.
Recommended Websites:
SINGAPOREANS FOR DEMOCRACY: http://www.gn.apc.org/sfd/
SINGAPORE WINDOW: http://www.singapore-window.org/
