Was having a chat with a friend the other day, and he asked me why I am in favour of having more opposition MPs in Parliament. He later said he expected me to rant off a list of grouses, but I didn't. I gave him only one reason, and I cited this headline on the front page of the Straits Times in 2010. The headline said:
"Govt preparing for nuclear power option".
I told my friend:
"I do not believe we have evil men and women from the PAP in Parliament who spend every waking second scheming to screw Singaporeans. I know some believe this but it is nonsense. I do believe there are good people in there, just as there are good people in the opposition.
"But having "good people" is no longer enough, as you can see from all the shortcomings, failure to plan, inability to foresee, to anticipate problems and issues can lead to very serious consequences.
"It is not because these ministers are evil or money-minded or whatever. It is simply because they re human beings who re not infallible. Look at the immigration/population catastrophe. They have no idea how widespread the consequences would be, across the board, at all levels, and not just the physical infrastructure inadequacy.
"The last 3 years since GE 2011 all that they have been doing is run after problems, not preventing them. The more they do, they more problems arise. They tighten the foreign workers quota, now we have so many other problems arising.
"This brings me back to the nuclear power options they are studying. On 24 April 2014, it was reported that the National Research Foundation (NRF) is setting aside S$63 million to train 100 scientists and engineers under the 10-year Nuclear Safety Research and Education Programme. These will be the 'core of 100 nuclear experts in Singapore'.
"So you ask yourself: With a population explosion to 7m in 2030, and with all the development masterplans in the pipeline, that is where we are headed, and where are you going to get your energy sources?
"So, nuclear power is a very real possibility for Singapore. The govt is not going to spend so much money for nothing.
"Given all that have happened in the last decade under Lee Hsien Loong, all the mishaps, the failures, the lack of foresight, the lack of checks and balances in Government, lack of a free media, of independent researchers, etc, do you really trust that this government - which could not even foresee infrastructural needs of an increased population - you trust them to make decisions about nuclear power on your behalf without any checks and balances in Parliament?
"We may not be around when that decision need to be made. Lee Hsien Loong himself may not be around, but our children will be. And it is our responsibility to help install a political system where their lives are safeguarded, where major decisions which will affect them are intensely scrutinised. And this cannot be done by having a Parliament of MPs who all wear the same colour.
"How many of them raised the red flags of overpopulation until it was too late and we all suffered and are suffering the consequences?
"You really think a House made up of an overwhelming number of PAP MPs will say no to nuclear power, or even raise serious questions about it? But more importantly, even if they do raise serious questions about it and they may even object to it, there is absolutely nothing they can do if the party Whip is in place.
"As Hri Kumar recently said: 'Many people come to me and say, oh but the PAP you know you have the Whip, and so all of you must vote the same way. That’s true. That’s the system we inherited, for party discipline.'
"His party discipline will not save your children when the time comes."
That was what I told my friend, basically.
Andrew Loh
*Article first appeared on https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=802657563092528