A turning point in Singapore
By Randy David
Philippine Daily Inquirer
SINGAPORE HELD its general election last Saturday, May 7. But
even in our politically obsessed society, hardly anyone took
notice. This indifference is understandable. Filipinos are
generally uninterested in the politics of other countries, except
the United States. Singapore is also one country that most people
do not associate with politics. After all, this city-state has been
ruled by the same party, the People’s Action Party, since it became
self-governing in 1959. One cannot expect to find meaningful
politics in a situation like that.
But all societies evolve. And, as we are seeing all over the
world, even the most tightly ruled states must sooner or later
change, if they are to avoid implosion. The problem of all
authoritarian societies is the same: when people are unable to
freely express their opinions, the feedback mechanism is blocked.
Out of fear, citizens censor themselves, giving the impression that
everything is all right. Government thus operates ever more
blindly, guided only by its illusions.
Singapore is no exception. Despite registering the highest
economic growth rate in the world (14.5 percent) in 2010, its
leaders could sense the simmering dissatisfaction among ordinary
Singaporeans. Public housing has become more expensive, well beyond
the reach of low-income groups. The latter see the growing foreign
community, which now constitutes more than a third of the
population, as edging them out of the nation’s jobs and limited
facilities. They are not persuaded by the argument that foreign
workers contribute immensely to the nation’s prosperity.
Globalization is certainly a factor. Young Singaporeans are
heavy Internet users. They are more connected to their generation
and are aware of what is happening in the world. Despite government
regulations that block websites deemed offensive, they find ways of
expressing themselves on many issues facing their society.
Recognizing the importance of the political discourse that is
going on in personal blogs and social networking sites like
Facebook and Twitter, the Singapore government recently allowed
cyberspace campaigning for the elections. “For the first time,”
reports the New York Times, “campaign recordings can be posted as
long as they are not ‘dramatized’ or published ‘out of context.’
Video taken at an election rally can be uploaded onto the Web
without being submitted to the Board of Film Censors.”
By coincidence, I found myself in Singapore on election day.
Campaign posters and tarpaulins were not visible in the center of
the city. But the engagement of ordinary Singaporeans in this
year’s general election could be felt from the first hour that the
results started to come in. All the taxicabs I took had their
radios tuned into the announcements, with the drivers pounding on
the steering wheel in unabashed elation or dismay over the results.
This continued well into the following day, Sunday, when the total
votes obtained by the government and the opposition became
clear.
The PAP-led government posted its lowest share of the votes
since the 1965 general elections, after Singapore broke away from
the Federation of Malaysia. At 60.1 percent of the total votes,
this was still a decisive victory for the PAP. Winning 81 of the 87
parliamentary seats, and conceding only six to the opposition, they
retain control of parliament. So, what is new?
What is new is what the figures above do not, by themselves,
tell. The six seats that the ruling party lost were won by only one
opposition party—the Workers’ Party (WP)—the party founded by David
Marshall, Singapore’s first chief minister. Five of those six
opposition seats are for the Aljunied group representation
constituency (GRC), where the government fielded one of its
brightest and most senior Cabinet members, Foreign Minister George
Yeo. An opposition slate led by the WP secretary general himself,
Low Thia Khiang, trounced Yeo’s re-electionist team.
I met George
Yeo casually at an international conference in Singapore in April
last year. He was the luncheon speaker at one of the sessions. I
must say I have never been impressed listening to a government
official of any country speak. He was different. Unassuming and
laid-back in demeanor, he spoke without notes for about 15 minutes,
covering a broad range of issues from history to culture, from
economics to biotechnology. He spoke about globalization and the
future of Asia with sensitivity and optimism.
Yeo represents
the most outstanding achievers of the generation after Lee Kwan
Yew, who were not specifically trained to become
politicians. A Catholic in a predominantly Buddhist
society, he earned a first honors degree in engineering from
Cambridge University on a scholarship. He rose to become brigadier
general in the Singapore Air Force, and then took an MBA at Harvard
Business School.
A close friend of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Yeo will lose
his Cabinet position. It is no small irony that this man who
pledged to be the voice of reform in the People’s Action party
should be the main casualty of the party’s perceived
shortcomings.
Yeo is the kind of leader that Singapore needs most in a time of
transition. He has his ears closely pressed to the global ground in
which his country has to manage the contingencies of its
transformation into a fully modern society. If
Singapore were the Philippines, Yeo would be the opposition’s best
bet in the next election.
But he’s not a politician, and he seems, in any
case, far too ahead of his country’s
politics.
http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20110511-335984/A-turning-point-in-Singapore
