The idiosyncratic notion that a benevolent authoritarian regime is more suitable for Asian societies than a functional Western style liberal democracy is fallacious. The argument for the predisposition towards a single party rule for the sake of social stability and tranquility is misleading. One needs to realise that one is able to find tranquility even in the remotest and sinister dungeon.But does that make one feel satisfied with his current well-being?What if the very source of tranquility is the cardinal root of all miseries?Very often,when a single party rules unquestioningly ,stable rule comes at the expense of noble democratic ideals.This dulls the political landscape of a country where stiff political competition is substantially curtailed,thus entrenching tyranny of a single party and the debasement of democracy.
It is totally unsurprising that in the recent Democracy Index report released by The Economist Intelligence Unit,only two Asian countries,Japan and South Korea,were deemed to be full democracies.To be honest,these two countries have done sterlingly well in fostering a maturing democratic culture and the cultivation of fertile soil for a flourishing participative citizenry. Unlike these two nations,Singapore(ranked 81st amongst 167 countries) and the other Southeast Asian nations were ranked terribly in terms of fulfilling the paramount democratic requirements.These are the perpetrators that ceaselessly mutilate democracy in the name of Asian "values".I would gleefully dismiss these values as pestiferous vices that afflict our societies.
Criteria for a full democracy
1)Political pluralism
2)Conscientious protection of minorites
3)Free and fair elections
4)Independent judicial institution
Firstly,the lacklustre political culture in Singapore is a product of the government's own manufacture.To all intents and purposes,im not going to discount the fact that youths may intuitively steer clear from engaging in political discussions,deemed to be mundane where dissenting opinions are arrogantly dismissed.However,the apathy and indifference towards politics is nurtured by the government's political machinations in entrenching its position.Politicial pluralism is greatly circumscribed by the introduction of the GRC scheme that further perpetuates gerrymandering which in turn acts as a credible bulwark against opposition parties from entering into parliament.The lopsided nature of the electoral system was ostensibly manifested in the 2011 GE where oppositional forces made significant gains in terms of the popular votes.However,the gains only translated into less than 10 percent of the parliamentary seats for the opposition ,notably the Workers Party.The skewed political landscape is manifest and such an injustice is frequently practised by czarist regimes.Likewise in Malaysia,the BN government systematically hamstrings the opposition coalition by establishing artful political impediments to thwart opposition parties from attaining significant gains.The recent 2013 GE saw the opposition PKR winning 51 percent of the popular vote but only occupying 40 percent (87 out of 222 seats)of the parliamentary seats . Fear and intimidation is also wielded by the Najib administration to imprison opposition titans such as Anwar Ibrahim who fights for democratic ideals and rails against the endemic corrupt practices with conviction.Having said that,if democracy was a pristinely beguiling lady,the two regimes would behave as the ones who exploit on her naivety to defile her purity.
Undoubtedly,Singapore has been working perpetually to safeguard the interests of the ethnic and religious minorities by adopting zero tolerance towards hate crimes.In the name of safeguarding the interests of religious and racial minorites,the ruling party hijacks the GRC system to parachute some whom many would consider ivory tower candidates into parliament by just planting a heavyweight minister,hoping to obtain electoral approbation based on his clout.Instead of enriching democracy,such a pretense lacerates the democratic fibre of this country in which the ruling party takes fiendish pleasure in doing ,just like a sadist sinisterly torturing his helpless victim.
Based on international standards,the elections here are conducted in a free manner but certainly not fair.One of the elementary requirements for a democracy to mushroom is for all parties to have an access to the national media . The current situation is abysmal.The coverage given to the opposition parties across Malaysia,Singapore,Taiwan,Hong Kong and etc is minuscule if not non-existent.In Singapore,its absolutely tokenistic,where only the day before the election day,opposition leaders are given less than 5 minutes each to convince the electorate.Other than that,there would be sporadic coverage of opposition activites shown on national TV.To further exacerbate the deficit in democracy,journalists are subliminally pressured to practise self-censorship and this is evident as reports that are unfavourable for the ruling party are eclipsed . Recently,Singapore has been ranked 5th in terms of crony capitalism which means that the success of businesses here depends on the connections of the business leaders with the government despite the applaudable attempts by the government to stamp out corrupt activites.Such reports do not seem to penetrate into the national newspapers . The minimal media penetration by the opposition parties ,primarily referring to mainstream media platforms such as the national channels,greatly renders its ability to reach out to voters nationwide. Similarly in Malaysia,the national media is greatly predominated by the BN government that seems to manipulate it to pervade nefarious lies to discredit opposition figures .Surprisingly,Indonesia seems to perform better than Singapore and Malaysia in promoting a culture of free media coverage for all the parties contesting in the recent 2014 legislative elections.Asian autocratic regimes in general are clearly corrupting democracy by poisoning it with creative political inventions,turning democracy into" demoCRAZY" dictated by Machiavellians.
Unlike the widely prostituted judicial system in Malaysia,the judicial system in Singapore is fair and free from the the influences of the powers that be.This is a laudable stance taken by the government.To condemn the PAP government and brand it as a dysfunctional government is evil but at the same time, to exalt it as a role model for democratic countries to follow,knowing the egregious mistreatment of opposition parties is like cursing the blind for the rich.
"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark".This is a prominent line which describes the sordid nature of the Kingdom of Denmark in Hamlet where Shakespeare famously siffused it with elements of political tyranny under the ruthless King Claudius.
What this country sorely needs is the diversification of the political landscape to proscribe the despotism of a single party.This is also to equalise the level playing field for all parties and to stop using race and religion as a pretext to maintain the GRC system which is clearly a political machinery which favours the ruling government. The culture of checks and balances which is pervasively nurtured in many western style democracies is paramount as Cicero, a renowned Roman philosopher once said,"Even noble kings when their reign remains unchecked become tyrants".On that note,political autocracy contaminates societies like parasites that slowly gnawing an innocent victim.
Singaporean
TRS Contributor