A look at Singapore through unblinkled eyes

There is a perceptible euphoria in the air not unlikely created by the PAP leadership following their lacklustre performance in the general election in order to boost their flagging stature. It is the acme of irony that top PAP politicians who pay themselves millions of dollars from taxpayers' money to consider themselves people servers but equally ironical that there are considerable guillible Singaporeans who believe them. On top of this you have the prime minister's wife Ho Ching whose probably enormous salary as CEO of Temasek Holdings remains a state secret.

That there is a voters' swing towards the opposition, especially the Workers' Party, is a severe slap to PM Lee Hsien Loong and the PAP leadership which could not have escaped the psyche of PM Lee and his sidekicks and could have sent a warning to them that it could be a precursor of some revolutionary changes to the political landscape of Singapore in the future. The dynamic performance of the Workers' Party in the GE must have put them in a state of acute pessimism as the WP will be like a tornado even in their dream as their Nemesis. On the other hand the voters have shown very clearly that they have been satiated by the guiles of the PAP for too long and have reduced the political standing of their ministers, even PM Lee himself, by reducing the percentage of their votes rendering them as caricatures of their former selves. They even dispatched an eminent minister in Sengkang in the hustings.

PM Lee could not have been so myopic as not to be able to see the writing on the wall. So he and his deflated ministers are now working desparately to regain the confidence of the voters by making unprecedented promises to ameliorate the livelihood of Singaporeans. Whether this will go down well with Singaporeans will depend on whether the pledges will be just a perfunctory exercise or a genuine effort to improve the livelihood of Singaporeans. Even the PAP mouthpiece President has thrown in her lot to call upon the people to support the new PAP government. It will be interesting to watch how the promises will evolve from now on.

It is a good omen for Singapore that a large number of Singaporeans are more politically conscious of their inherent inheritance of their inborn endownment to decide on their own destiny.

An attempt at a post-mortem of the GE

There were genuine fears among opposition leaders that there could be a complete wipe out of the opposition in the general election. In the event I think God had looked kindly on Singapore opposition and could have ordained that there should be some semblance of democracy in Singapore politics. And Workers' Party could have been chosen as a Darling of Fate(天之骄子) and romped home in their victory in Aljunied GRC,Sengkang GRC and Hougang SMC. Although it may not come as a surprise to WP but I think this was something beyond their wildest dream. It shows that Singaporeans are tired of authoritarian rule and wanted to see more checks an balances in Parliament.

Sengkang is unique and could be a precursor of more revolutionary changes in the Singapore political landscape. The WP Sengkang is young and dynamic and could reflect  the revolutionary fervour of the young voters in Sengkang. They were so favourably regarded by the young Sengkang voters. The PAP should have seen the writing on the wall and it was a suicide to parachute their candidates including the anchor minister Ng Chee Meng to contest the GRC. According to the grape vine they were viewed with disdain by the young voters and had at once become non-starters. The WP had a political star in Jamus Lim who had made short shrift of the Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan in their political debate. Another political star was a 26 year old young Malay woman Rheesa Khan who projected a formidable image of political activism. She enjoyed considerable adulation from especially young Singaporeans despite her skirmish with the police over her so-called racial writings.

WP Sengkang victory stunned the PAP as well as the general public because it was like something out of the blue but nevertheless it was received with jubilation by the young Sengkang voters as well as discerning Singaporeans. Now what is going to happen to the three PAP political office holders who lost in Sengkang is something the public would be interested in.

WP's victory in Aljunied GRC and Hougang SMC may not be such a surprise to the public as they were already hoping that there could be some political development in the future. The Progress Singapore Party (PSP) has not done too badly considering that they were quite new and depended really on the political pull of Dr. Tan Chang Bock. There is a saying that is it not easy for one person to upset the apple-cart.

The PAP has garnered 83 seats out of 93 contested and has a comfortable majority in Parliament but we can see from hereon quite a lot of political sparks provided by the 10 redoubtable WP MPs in Parliament. They will keep the run-in-the-mill type of PAP MPs on their toes which is a good beginning. It's good to make them sweat for their fat MP allowances. Unless the PAP wakes up from their slumber they may see more erosion of their political standing in Parliament in the future. I think they should take heed of the sagacious advice of Home Minister K. Shanmugam to reflect and soul-searching.

The conundrum of the 10 million population.

This sensitive question had caused considerable consternation among Singaporeans when it was first brandished around some years ago but quite strangely it did not explode intensely and somehow became dormant to the peaceful mind of the PAP. Then to their dismay at the political parties debate on 1st July Dr. Chee Soon Juan of the Singapore Democratic Party suddenly posed this question of 10 million population for Singapore's future to Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan of the PAP and could have caught the latter by surprise. This is where it shows the magnanimity or lack of it  in the Minister in dealing with his opponent. Could it be so brazen to start by accusing Dr. Chee of spreading falsehood about the government targeting 10 million population for Singapore?  Had it not occurred to the discerning Minister that multitude of Singaporeans had already heard of it and would it not be preposterous to suggest that Dr. Chee started the rumour?

Instead of blustering against Dr. Chee could not the Minister have shown more civility by simply clarifying the public misconception of the 10 million population in a more benign manner considering that it was  already a public knowledge and not a rumour spread by Dr. Chee ? He could have strongly emphasised that it was not the intention of the government to target a 10 million population for Singapore and that certainly not from DPM Heng Swee Kiat. Otherwise this can easily spiral into something so titanic that it could be like a double-edged sword hanging over the PAP election campaign.

Dr. Chee had been portrayed as a scoundrel for starting a rumour and I think it is a great disservice to him by the government. He was only trying to perform his duty as a political opposition and should not be a subject of vilification. I am not a supporter of Dr. Chee and it may be true that he may not be an angel but as  human being he deserves some respect for his self-esteem. I undertake to come to his defence because of my righteousness to stand up for an underdog from imperious attack.

I am sorry Dr. Vivian Balakhrishnan if my article hurts your feelings and I hope that there will not be any hard feelings.