December 2013 is a significant date in the Singaporean political calendar. Given that the Parliamentary Act stipulate that general elections must be called within a 5-year period, December 2013 is when we pass the halfway mark between the May 2011 General Elections and the next general elections. Supposing that the 17th Parliamentary general elections are called soon, what would be likely to happen? My view is that the PAP would continue in its declining support.
Grievances carried over?
Before the last general elections, political analysts from both ends of the political spectrum have expected that the PAP would suffer a decline compared to 2006. Indeed, key reasons were plentiful and those oft cited were the unhappiness over mass immigration, housing prices as well as crowded transport prices. From the perspective of the average citizen, such problems still persist and some have in fact gotten worse such as inaugural MRT breakdowns as well as increased tensions with socially-irresponsible foreigners.
Are the PAP remedies sufficient?
Despite a “sorry” from the PM before the elections, we later see that the collective attitude of both his party and cabinet has not changed much from its past arrogance. They have continued with absurd nonsense such as unwillingness to raise social welfare to the poor while lavishing scholarships to foreigners while remaining adamant that they should be paid millions of dollars. Even till today, we see that there is little palpable effort to break the average Singaporean out of a vicious cycle of immigration inflow, conscription, and high housing prices.
Worse, additional nonsense from the PAP?
Despite the electorate being angry, we still see a slew of continued nonsense from the PAP government. For example - despite promises to slow down foreigner intake - the population white paper was passed only using the party whip resulting in a mass protest from the population. Also, COE prices have sky-rocketed while our public transport system continue to be in a state of mess with the government aiming curbing car usage when they clearly do not understand that the car is a necessity for some businesses as well as families with young children. Now, talks of internet censorship go on adding to this extensive list.
More vocal electorate?
Already since 2011, we have seen plenty of people who would otherwise have supported the PAP in the old era stand up against them. For example, while Ngiam Dow Tong may have retracted his harsh critique on the government, many people seem to be able to fully relate with his comments while the Vice-principal of a neighbourhood school - Pushparani Nadarajah - has openly doubted MOE’s efforts to make all schools equal. It would be interesting to see how such dissent trickles down to the average man and how this will translate into voting performance.
A post-LKY era?
Even as the man celebrates his 90th Birthday, more and more of the young and middle aged electorate seems to have a grievance against his authoritarian style. As each year passes, his chance of kicking the bucket increases by approximately 15%. Objectively though, he has much support from the elderly who are under the perception that he was the man who helped to build Singapore up. As the elderly diminish in number while more of the younger generation become eligible to vote, they would no doubt be willing to turn against the PAP in the absence of unifying figure and be more receptive to the opposition. What happens within the PAP in the absence of a unifying figure would also be interesting scene to watch.
Concluding remarks
The circumstances surrounding our political scene today has made the average electorate more intolerant of the nonsense that the PAP carries. Concurrently, it is also interesting to see how naïve our multi-millionaire ministers are, thinking that they are able to push through their nonsense without much resistance. Given such, conditions are very ripe for the opposition parties to stage a takeover. Given how badly the WP has performed, we should rally our support behind the fearless efforts of the SDP as well as the talent of the NSP.
Joseph Kheng-Liang Tan
*The author is a 21 year-old polytechnic graduate who is currently pursuing his law degree in Australia.