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When Lee Hsien Loong become Prime Minister, his father the former Prime Minister insisted it was Meritocracy and there was no nepotism. Many Singaporeans believed Lee Kuan Yew then, but after more than 10 years of leadership under his son with more screw ups than achievements, people are asking if Lee Hsien Loong is still fit to be Prime Minister.
By measuring the present state and events handled under Lee Hsien Loong's charge, we are able to extrapolate a leadership analysis on the boy born with a 24K golden spoon. Let's see how he measures up:
1) Infrastructural leadership 5/10
Under Lee Hsien Loong, several billion dollar luxury projects for tourists were built. His first big spending as Prime Minister was the Singapore Flyer worth $240 million in 2008, then the next one being Garden By the Bay worth $1.2 billion and two more upcoming billion dollar projects - Jurong Lake and Project Jewel. As a result of these big budget spendings, Singapore became the top tourist spot with foreigners having nothing but praises for the island state.
However, under Lee Hsien Loong as well, public housing quantity and transport were insufficient to meet the increased demand. Housing prices went up so high Singaporeans landed themselves in 30 year long debt. Transport costs went up and private cars become out of reach to most citizens. Medical facilities are also insufficient to meet the increased in population and patients have to sleep along the hospital corridors. Lee Hsien Loong failed exceptionally in infrastructural providence for Singapore citizens.
2) Integrity 2/10
Lee Hsien Loong raised ministerial salaries to millions and he remains unapologetic for it. Despite being the Prime Minister of only a small country with no natural resources, he is the world's most well paid office holder in the world. Despite holding a public appointment, Lee Hsien Loong and his compatriots continue to sue critics for defamation and demand unrealistic monetary compensations causing bankruptcy to the afflicted parties. Freedom of speech is discouraged and internet censorship is on its pipeline under the Ministry of Information and Communications. The Singapore Police is well known for knocking on doors at midnight. Although most Singaporeans fear Lee Hsien Loong and the PAP, very few respect him for his hardliner stance against his political opponents.
Under Lee Hsien Loong, democracy took a back seat. He continued the Group Representative Constituency system, election walkover system and also mandated a "cooling off day" in the most recent election.
Income gap is at its highest and there is an increasing number of Singaporean beggars (mostly elderly and disabled) on the streets. Lee Hsien Loong prefers to feign ignorance when it comes to arresting the poverty problem in Singapore.
3) Economic 4/10
Singapore progressed in GDP on paper but at the expenses of its citizens. Property prices and inflation went out of control as Lee Hsien Loong adopted a tax haven strategy to entice rich individuals and corporates here in Singapore. Despite having a very high GDP per capita, Singaporeans' purchasing power index is lower than those living in Kuala Lumpur. Businesses in Singapore flourish because of the loose immigration policies and availability of cheap foreign labour. This however hurt economic productivity and depress wages across all industries. GST was raised rapidly from 3% to 7% and caused a spiral of inflation and the economic relationship with Malaysia, a longstanding trading partner, hit the rocks as Singapore increased vehicle entry permit by 75%.
Currently Singapore is facing a credit crisis and on the verge of a financial meltdown. Property prices are sliding rapidly and Singaporeans hold an average debt of at least 2.4 times their annual salary. More people are defaulting on their mortgage loans and having their properties foreclosed by banks. Properties are not selling and property developers are on their way to bankruptcy as the combined $1.9 billion debt due in June 2015. Private loan firms are banned from raising interest rate as Singapore as the Monetary Authority of Singapore warned that the debt level today is higher than that of 2008 Economic Crisis.
4) Social 3/10
Singapore have its first strike and big scale riot under Lee Hsien Loong's leadership. Protests frequented at Hong Lim Park and protesters were eventually arrested and charged for "public nuisance" at the only government gazetted protest area. Discontentment among young people in Singapore built up due to the loss of opportunities in universities and employment prospects caused by the influx of foreigners. Cost of living is at its highest ever and Singapore's birth rate sank to its record low under Lee Hsien Loong's leadership.
Extreme injustice resulted from the loose immigration policies as new citizens and permanent residents are excused from National Service while enjoying the full benefits of Singapore citizenship. There is also a perceived injustice by Singaporeans believing that foreigners are excused harsh punishments, which the PAP government frequently squashed such allegations by charging critics for contempt of court.
Retirement has become impossible as the PAP increased the Minimum Sum unrealistically without accountability and transparency. Standards of living among Singaporeans have also dropped and the people made it to being the most unhappy nation in the world.
5) Consistency 3/10
Flip flop policies happen very frequently under Lee Hsien Loong's leadership. Singaporeans are discouraged from getting university degrees despite having a paper-chasing society that pays according to qualifications. Design-build-sell-scheme DBSS flats were implemented and removed. When Lee Hsien Loong first become Prime Minister, he encouraged people to share their views. Years later, he did exactly what his predecessors did by suing his critics. Lee Hsien Loong also apologized for his mistakes on the election day, but only to implement the same policies after he won the election.
Alex Tan
*Article first appeared on https://www.facebook.com/notes/alex-tan/lee-hsien-loong-the-worst-leader...