A sensible and well-articulated piece that echoes the sentiments of many of the young people joining the SDP .
What the SDP Means to Me (Version 2)
Submitted by convexset on Sun, 05/05/2013 - 02:06
(This is a revision of an earlier version.)
I am from the SDP and help out in the Policy group and also the Ground Operations team (most of my involvement has been with the former though). Let me describe my interpretation of the broad party platform. We want to make necessities like housing and healthcare affordable so people have a secure base to stand on, which gives them the capacity to take risks in business ventures, create value through social causes, and generally lead fulfilled lives with the basic security of a sturdy base to stand upon.
It is well established in economic circles that a society can only succeed if there is a strong middle that has the capacity to take risks and the assurance that the gains from taking those risks are not taken from them (rule of law; reasonable tax rates). (This includes high ranking bankers[SUP]1[/SUP] who, I suppose, have some credibility in discussing business and macroeconomics. So we are on solid economic ground here.)
The SDP wants to level up the economy through improving the education system and raising the level of capability in the economy through improved technologies and process. The PAP wants to do this, but does not behave like it recognizes the economic rut we are in because the prevailing environment discourages productivity investments[SUP]2[/SUP].
While bread and butter issues are what most Singaporeans are concerned about, I think it is important to talk about party principles. Policies flow from principles, and outcomes on bread and butter issues depend on policy. The SDP is at core a party that desires civil rights for Singaporeans. This means individual and group liberties are respected while being harmonized with group welfare. Needless to say, the SDP is a party that promotes democracy, meaning that we believe the people should have a strong say in policy making. (This is how we think of democracy, which some caricature as tyranny of the many over the few.) Finally, the SDP believes in ensuring the material well-being of Singaporeans today and the viability and dynamism of the Singapore economy extending into the future. This is my view of the SDP and would not be too different from how many other SDP members view the principles of the SDP.
I'd like to propose a concise formulation of the SDP's principles in a similar form to 孙中山's (Sun Yat Sen's) 三民主义 (Three Principles of the People).
This is what the SDP means to me. Many fellow SDP members think along similar lines. I guess what I am trying to say is this: The SDP alternative is sensible and principled; do consider us.
Jeremy Chen is currently a PhD student at the Department of Decision Sciences at NUS Business School.
What the SDP Means to Me (Version 2)
Submitted by convexset on Sun, 05/05/2013 - 02:06
(This is a revision of an earlier version.)
I am from the SDP and help out in the Policy group and also the Ground Operations team (most of my involvement has been with the former though). Let me describe my interpretation of the broad party platform. We want to make necessities like housing and healthcare affordable so people have a secure base to stand on, which gives them the capacity to take risks in business ventures, create value through social causes, and generally lead fulfilled lives with the basic security of a sturdy base to stand upon.
It is well established in economic circles that a society can only succeed if there is a strong middle that has the capacity to take risks and the assurance that the gains from taking those risks are not taken from them (rule of law; reasonable tax rates). (This includes high ranking bankers[SUP]1[/SUP] who, I suppose, have some credibility in discussing business and macroeconomics. So we are on solid economic ground here.)
The SDP wants to level up the economy through improving the education system and raising the level of capability in the economy through improved technologies and process. The PAP wants to do this, but does not behave like it recognizes the economic rut we are in because the prevailing environment discourages productivity investments[SUP]2[/SUP].
While bread and butter issues are what most Singaporeans are concerned about, I think it is important to talk about party principles. Policies flow from principles, and outcomes on bread and butter issues depend on policy. The SDP is at core a party that desires civil rights for Singaporeans. This means individual and group liberties are respected while being harmonized with group welfare. Needless to say, the SDP is a party that promotes democracy, meaning that we believe the people should have a strong say in policy making. (This is how we think of democracy, which some caricature as tyranny of the many over the few.) Finally, the SDP believes in ensuring the material well-being of Singaporeans today and the viability and dynamism of the Singapore economy extending into the future. This is my view of the SDP and would not be too different from how many other SDP members view the principles of the SDP.
I'd like to propose a concise formulation of the SDP's principles in a similar form to 孙中山's (Sun Yat Sen's) 三民主义 (Three Principles of the People).
- 民尊 (Respect for the People) to represent the SDP's commitment to Civil Rights, which means, precisely, respect for citizens and treating the citizenry with dignity[SUP]3[/SUP].
- 民权 (Democracy) to represent our commitment to democratic values.
- 民生 for the material well-being of Singaporeans today, and the long term viability and dynamism of the Singapore economy into the future.
This is what the SDP means to me. Many fellow SDP members think along similar lines. I guess what I am trying to say is this: The SDP alternative is sensible and principled; do consider us.
- 1.In February, was at a dialogue with Navtej Nandra from Morgan Stanley and I asked the closing question on what would be an appropriate level of social and economic security for a society. I cited the example of a society where healthcare and housing were unaffordable and the middle class has no more capacity to take risk. He did not answer my question. Instead, he spent five minutes reinforcing the point, highlighting that this is an important question to be asked.
- 2.Since the policy discourse in Singapore seems to be fixated on growth numbers, in the language of growth accounting, the SDP promotes investments in the two of the three elements of GDP growth (capital and productivity), leaving out the easy bit which is labour supply. Labour supply expansion should be a short term adjustment tool, not a long term growth strategy as the PAP uses it now.
- 3.This replaces the principle of Nationalism (民族). My own sense is that it is preferable to let a Singapore identity emerge organically from the interactions between Singaporeans (and foreigners) in Singapore.
Jeremy Chen is currently a PhD student at the Department of Decision Sciences at NUS Business School.
