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[h=2]A fractious opposition[/h]
October 20th, 2012 |
Author: Contributions
The Workers Party is no more an aggressive party like during the days
of its former leader, the late J.B. Jeyaratnam, and its supporters have been
turning against it on the grounds that it is too meek or timid in its enhanced
role in parliament.
Two months before last year’s election, Singapore’s largest
opposition did something rather unusual in the history of electioneering.
The Workers Party (WP) admitted publicly that it didn’t have enough leaders
to form the government – and ended up with its best ever result.
The seemingly unwise self-appraisal appeared not to have hurt its fortune one
bit.
“I am against all kinds of empty promises,” explained WP leader Low Thia
Khiang, adding that he did not want to mislead the public.
The declared weakness did not surprise many people. After all, WP could only
field 23 candidates to contest the 84 seats.
As public disenchantment rose, the left-of centre WP, formed by the late
David Marshall in 1957, emerged with an unprecedented six seats in
Parliament.
In contrast, People’s Action Party (PAP) votes fell to a historic low
60%.
Since then Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has worked hard and succeeded in
cementing some of the government cracks, but resentment against a few of his
policies remains.
It is topped by the immigration issue. Part of this anger has apparently
shifted to WP, which is accused of doing too little.
“What the heck have you guys been doing since you were voted into
Parliament?” demanded an irked supporter.
Instead of major issues like the high cost of living and alleged treatment of
Singaporeans, another fan accused WP of being more interested in flippant
subjects like bird droppings and traffic offences.
“The WP performance has so far been disappointing to people who are hoping it
can be the PAP counter-weight,” said Harry Li.
“Patience is already wearing off. Please WP, be mindful of those supporters’
hope and don’t further erode this hope.”
Most are, however, sticking to their faith in the party appealing for
patience because it had only six Members in Parliament.
The leadership, led by secretary-general Low Thia Khiang and chairman Sylvia
Lim is largely non-confrontational, contrary to the former leadership of the
late J.B. Jeya­ratnam.
The public expectation of a more aggressive performance partly stems from
WP’s history.
JBJ, as Jeyaratnam was popularly known as – was often known to slug it out
toe-to-toe with Lee Kuan Yew in Parliament exchanges.
At various times it also had anti-PAP fighters like Francis Seow and Tang
Liang How, who, like JBJ, were severely punished for their efforts. These two
are still in exile unable to return.
Low, a child of the times, was a good learner on how the ruling party under
Lee Senior exercised its powers on its foes.
When he took over, he probably told himself he wasn’t going to be put in the
same predicament.
He stayed away from the confrontational politics, preferring to work on the
grassroots to consolidate his Hougang constituency.
As a close aide said: “His first priority is to survive before he can fight
for votes.”
JBJ was a good debater but a poor political organiser. His was a virtually
one-man party, largely shunned by the well-educated professionals.
His No. 2 being Chinese-educated spoke with simple logic but was not a great
English speaker.
He once talked of leadership in an interview: “Being a leader to me is about
responsibility, when the party entangles, you demoralise everybody, you also
discourage people who may be interested.”
JBJ built the power base of his leftwing party around Singapore’s poor and
blue-collar workers who provided a rich ground in the 60’s and 70’s.
But with Singapore’s rapid affluence, this base was steadily whittled down as
the majority of poor moved to the middle class.
These days WP has its fair share of problems and criticisms.
Of late, some of its own supporters have been turning against it on the
ground that it was too meek or timid in its enhanced parliament role.
They charge the six WP Members of Parliament with failing to take up the
bread-and-butter grouses and other big concerns of Singaporeans.
Critics have reminded Low of his pledge to become society’s watchdog which
would raise government shortcomings even if they were embarrassing.
The criticism has evoked quick defences from party representatives.
Replying to comments that his party was not aggressive enough and too similar
to the PAP, Low said WP is confident of its approach.
Its duty is to check on the government to make sure democracy works in
Singapore, he said.
Indirectly agreeing WP is timid, MP and committee member Pritam Singh said:
“Don’t mistake timidity for inaction. With more experience, we hope to get
better.
“That may not be enough for you, but I have seen how the government has dealt
with those who choose a more aggressive path.”
What is the future for Workers Party in the new Singapore?
The answer is the same that is facing the ruling PAP and other parties – how
to attract qualified Singa­poreans to join them.
Nevertheless the WP has a long history and it retains a strong heartland base
among the majority non-English speaking voters.
All parties have a common problem – a mass reluctance of educated
Singaporeans to join politics. “Most Singaporeans love to talk politics but few
want to join a party, including the PAP,” said a retired banker.
Given the obstacles along its path, it is already a wonder that the fractious
opposition can field enough candidates to contest in the 84-seat Parliament.
The majority has rotated towards moderate, non-confrontational parties like
WP, National Solidarity Party and the Singapore Peoples party.
But recent trends are beginning to favour the more aggressive Reform Party
(RP) and Singapore Democratic Party (SDP).
.
Seah Chiang Nee
Chiang Nee has been a journalist for 40 years. He is a true-blooded
Singaporean, born, bred and says that he hopes to die in Singapore. He worked as
a Reuters corespondent between 1960-70, based in Singapore but with various
assignments in Southeast Asia, including a total of about 40 months in (then
South) Vietnam between 1966-1970. In 1970, he left to work for Singapore Herald,
first as Malaysia Bureau Chief and later as News Editor before it was forced to
close after a run-in with the Singapore Government. He then left Singapore to
work for The Asian, the world’s first regional weekly newspaper, based in
Bangkok to cover Thailand and Indochina for two years between 1972-73. Other
jobs: News Editor of Hong Kong Standard (1973-74), Foreign Editor of Straits
Times with reporting assignments to Asia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and
The United States (1974-82) and Editor of Singapore Monitor (1982-85). Since
1986, he has been a columnist for the Malaysia’s The Star newspaper. Article
first appeared in his blog, http://www.littlespeck.com.
The Workers Party is no more an aggressive party like during the days
of its former leader, the late J.B. Jeyaratnam, and its supporters have been
turning against it on the grounds that it is too meek or timid in its enhanced
role in parliament.
opposition did something rather unusual in the history of electioneering.
The Workers Party (WP) admitted publicly that it didn’t have enough leaders
to form the government – and ended up with its best ever result.
The seemingly unwise self-appraisal appeared not to have hurt its fortune one
bit.
“I am against all kinds of empty promises,” explained WP leader Low Thia
Khiang, adding that he did not want to mislead the public.
The declared weakness did not surprise many people. After all, WP could only
field 23 candidates to contest the 84 seats.
As public disenchantment rose, the left-of centre WP, formed by the late
David Marshall in 1957, emerged with an unprecedented six seats in
Parliament.
In contrast, People’s Action Party (PAP) votes fell to a historic low
60%.
Since then Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has worked hard and succeeded in
cementing some of the government cracks, but resentment against a few of his
policies remains.
It is topped by the immigration issue. Part of this anger has apparently
shifted to WP, which is accused of doing too little.
“What the heck have you guys been doing since you were voted into
Parliament?” demanded an irked supporter.
Instead of major issues like the high cost of living and alleged treatment of
Singaporeans, another fan accused WP of being more interested in flippant
subjects like bird droppings and traffic offences.
“The WP performance has so far been disappointing to people who are hoping it
can be the PAP counter-weight,” said Harry Li.
“Patience is already wearing off. Please WP, be mindful of those supporters’
hope and don’t further erode this hope.”
Most are, however, sticking to their faith in the party appealing for
patience because it had only six Members in Parliament.
The leadership, led by secretary-general Low Thia Khiang and chairman Sylvia
Lim is largely non-confrontational, contrary to the former leadership of the
late J.B. Jeya­ratnam.
The public expectation of a more aggressive performance partly stems from
WP’s history.
JBJ, as Jeyaratnam was popularly known as – was often known to slug it out
toe-to-toe with Lee Kuan Yew in Parliament exchanges.
At various times it also had anti-PAP fighters like Francis Seow and Tang
Liang How, who, like JBJ, were severely punished for their efforts. These two
are still in exile unable to return.
Low, a child of the times, was a good learner on how the ruling party under
Lee Senior exercised its powers on its foes.
When he took over, he probably told himself he wasn’t going to be put in the
same predicament.
He stayed away from the confrontational politics, preferring to work on the
grassroots to consolidate his Hougang constituency.
As a close aide said: “His first priority is to survive before he can fight
for votes.”
JBJ was a good debater but a poor political organiser. His was a virtually
one-man party, largely shunned by the well-educated professionals.
His No. 2 being Chinese-educated spoke with simple logic but was not a great
English speaker.
He once talked of leadership in an interview: “Being a leader to me is about
responsibility, when the party entangles, you demoralise everybody, you also
discourage people who may be interested.”
JBJ built the power base of his leftwing party around Singapore’s poor and
blue-collar workers who provided a rich ground in the 60’s and 70’s.
But with Singapore’s rapid affluence, this base was steadily whittled down as
the majority of poor moved to the middle class.
These days WP has its fair share of problems and criticisms.
Of late, some of its own supporters have been turning against it on the
ground that it was too meek or timid in its enhanced parliament role.
They charge the six WP Members of Parliament with failing to take up the
bread-and-butter grouses and other big concerns of Singaporeans.
Critics have reminded Low of his pledge to become society’s watchdog which
would raise government shortcomings even if they were embarrassing.
The criticism has evoked quick defences from party representatives.
Replying to comments that his party was not aggressive enough and too similar
to the PAP, Low said WP is confident of its approach.
Its duty is to check on the government to make sure democracy works in
Singapore, he said.
Indirectly agreeing WP is timid, MP and committee member Pritam Singh said:
“Don’t mistake timidity for inaction. With more experience, we hope to get
better.
“That may not be enough for you, but I have seen how the government has dealt
with those who choose a more aggressive path.”
What is the future for Workers Party in the new Singapore?
The answer is the same that is facing the ruling PAP and other parties – how
to attract qualified Singa­poreans to join them.
Nevertheless the WP has a long history and it retains a strong heartland base
among the majority non-English speaking voters.
All parties have a common problem – a mass reluctance of educated
Singaporeans to join politics. “Most Singaporeans love to talk politics but few
want to join a party, including the PAP,” said a retired banker.
Given the obstacles along its path, it is already a wonder that the fractious
opposition can field enough candidates to contest in the 84-seat Parliament.
The majority has rotated towards moderate, non-confrontational parties like
WP, National Solidarity Party and the Singapore Peoples party.
But recent trends are beginning to favour the more aggressive Reform Party
(RP) and Singapore Democratic Party (SDP).
.
Seah Chiang Nee
Chiang Nee has been a journalist for 40 years. He is a true-blooded
Singaporean, born, bred and says that he hopes to die in Singapore. He worked as
a Reuters corespondent between 1960-70, based in Singapore but with various
assignments in Southeast Asia, including a total of about 40 months in (then
South) Vietnam between 1966-1970. In 1970, he left to work for Singapore Herald,
first as Malaysia Bureau Chief and later as News Editor before it was forced to
close after a run-in with the Singapore Government. He then left Singapore to
work for The Asian, the world’s first regional weekly newspaper, based in
Bangkok to cover Thailand and Indochina for two years between 1972-73. Other
jobs: News Editor of Hong Kong Standard (1973-74), Foreign Editor of Straits
Times with reporting assignments to Asia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and
The United States (1974-82) and Editor of Singapore Monitor (1982-85). Since
1986, he has been a columnist for the Malaysia’s The Star newspaper. Article
first appeared in his blog, http://www.littlespeck.com.
