http://thestar.com.my/columnists/st...sightdownsouth/7276345&sec=Insight Down South
Saturday October 23, 2010
Election buzz is in the air
Insight Down South by SEAH CHIANG NEE
Elder statesman Lee Kuan Yew may not, for the first time in 51 years, take part in a general election – if one is called in the next six months as widely expected.
WITH election buzz rising, Singapore’s talking point these days centres around two questions: What will the future be like without Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew?
Will the young generation, whose voting strength is increasing, continue to support the People’s Action Party (PAP) under its present strategies without the founding leader?
An indication may come in the next few months from a benchmark general election possibly without the participation of the 87-year-old Lee for the first time in 51 years.
Still in grief over the recent passing of his wife, Lee is also weakened by a chest infection after a fall in Moscow. He is likely to recover but will be, in his own words, “a different man” without her.
Under the circumstances, Lee may decide to call it quits when the PAP announces its candidates.
“No one can tell for sure,” said a party insider.
“But he has already done so much for the country. He has often said he’ll step down if health forbids him from contributing. Regretfully, I think the time has come.”
If it happens, history will start a new chapter after 51 years of Lee’s powerful presence that helped to shape today’s Singapore.
It will also, for better or worse, lead to major changes after a period of continuity.
The result of the coming polls – as is Singapore’s future – will largely be decided by the younger generation of both leaders and the electorate.
Sensing a turning point, but not sure exactly how the longer term future will turn out, Singaporeans are awaiting the polls with some anxiety.
No date has been announced, but it is widely expected to take place within the next six months. Foreign Minister George Yeo has already told party activists to prepare for one at the year-end or early 2011.
In 2006, the PAP won 82 seats on 66.6% popular votes while the opposition got only two seats, but won one-third of the votes.
Some 47% of the seats were uncontested because there were no opposition candidates, resulting in many PAP MPs winning seats by walkovers.
Critics attribute it to a fear of Lee and his history of detaining or suing his political foes. The Government, however, attributes it to the poor performance of a fractious opposition.
Things will dramatically change in a post-Lee Singapore.
He himself had years ago predicted that after he quits, more and better quality Singaporeans would join the opposition to take on the PAP.
He also said that his successors would have no problem winning the next two elections (until 2016-17), but hinted that they could be voted out if they failed to measure up to rising expectations.
At the moment, the focus is on the ruling party’s self renewal, like whether Lee and who among the older staunch Cabinet supporters will leave to make way for new blood.
If it follows tradition, a quarter of its current 82 MPs will be replaced by younger men and women.
Even without Lee or the fear factor, the ruling party as the incumbent will still enjoy overwhelming odds over its fledgling rivals, including the power to change rules and the support of a compliant press.
Above all, the party is believed to retain broad support from older, conservative Singaporeans (especially housewives), the wealthy, the vast bureaucracy and upper middle class, who feel “safe” under PAP rule.
Few in this group appear keen to opt for the unknown.
But the same cannot be said of the lower income group, struggling wage earners and young professionals who have suffered from the foreign influx.
“There are many jobless or underemployed people out there who have become despondent and bitter,” one writer opined.
“And young professionals are worried at all times that ‘cheaper’ foreigners will replace them or retard their pay rise.”
Summing up this feeling was a recent letter “Linda” posted on the Internet, which said: “My family members were staunch supporters of PAP and Lee Kuan Yew who had improved most Singaporeans’ standard of living through hard work and education.
“But during these past 10 years, I have seen one by one, my siblings, relatives and friends, become jobless. A qualified accountant was told to apply for a job as chambermaid when she approached (an official job help body).”
Linda said she had not believed this could happen, until the past few years, “when I realised that so many foreigners were taking up most of the office jobs, and true-blue Singa_poreans were being displaced”.
“Sorry Mr Lee and PAP, I have now second thoughts about you. But thanks for the good years some of my generation had gone through – but not now for my children,” she concluded.
Rising discontent will make the approaching election one of the hardest to confidently predict by using past yardsticks.
In the wake of large-scale immigration, which was recently cut down, Singapore is now bigger, and divided so much that it is difficult to stereotype its people.
Lee’s old consensus society has disappeared long before him.
Despite this, Lee will leave behind a country that largely works – an efficient, purposeful civil service and a strong infrastructure. These will probably allow the PAP to retain a mandate for a while with or without Lee.
But with the ground souring, his party will likely lose popularity to a rising, more credible opposition both in votes and the number of seats.
The coming polls will be crucial because it will show how the young will vote and how political upstarts, both in the PAP and in the opposition, will fare when things get hot.
They could throw up a future prime minister.
Saturday October 23, 2010
Election buzz is in the air
Insight Down South by SEAH CHIANG NEE
Elder statesman Lee Kuan Yew may not, for the first time in 51 years, take part in a general election – if one is called in the next six months as widely expected.
WITH election buzz rising, Singapore’s talking point these days centres around two questions: What will the future be like without Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew?
Will the young generation, whose voting strength is increasing, continue to support the People’s Action Party (PAP) under its present strategies without the founding leader?
An indication may come in the next few months from a benchmark general election possibly without the participation of the 87-year-old Lee for the first time in 51 years.
Still in grief over the recent passing of his wife, Lee is also weakened by a chest infection after a fall in Moscow. He is likely to recover but will be, in his own words, “a different man” without her.
Under the circumstances, Lee may decide to call it quits when the PAP announces its candidates.
“No one can tell for sure,” said a party insider.
“But he has already done so much for the country. He has often said he’ll step down if health forbids him from contributing. Regretfully, I think the time has come.”
If it happens, history will start a new chapter after 51 years of Lee’s powerful presence that helped to shape today’s Singapore.
It will also, for better or worse, lead to major changes after a period of continuity.
The result of the coming polls – as is Singapore’s future – will largely be decided by the younger generation of both leaders and the electorate.
Sensing a turning point, but not sure exactly how the longer term future will turn out, Singaporeans are awaiting the polls with some anxiety.
No date has been announced, but it is widely expected to take place within the next six months. Foreign Minister George Yeo has already told party activists to prepare for one at the year-end or early 2011.
In 2006, the PAP won 82 seats on 66.6% popular votes while the opposition got only two seats, but won one-third of the votes.
Some 47% of the seats were uncontested because there were no opposition candidates, resulting in many PAP MPs winning seats by walkovers.
Critics attribute it to a fear of Lee and his history of detaining or suing his political foes. The Government, however, attributes it to the poor performance of a fractious opposition.
Things will dramatically change in a post-Lee Singapore.
He himself had years ago predicted that after he quits, more and better quality Singaporeans would join the opposition to take on the PAP.
He also said that his successors would have no problem winning the next two elections (until 2016-17), but hinted that they could be voted out if they failed to measure up to rising expectations.
At the moment, the focus is on the ruling party’s self renewal, like whether Lee and who among the older staunch Cabinet supporters will leave to make way for new blood.
If it follows tradition, a quarter of its current 82 MPs will be replaced by younger men and women.
Even without Lee or the fear factor, the ruling party as the incumbent will still enjoy overwhelming odds over its fledgling rivals, including the power to change rules and the support of a compliant press.
Above all, the party is believed to retain broad support from older, conservative Singaporeans (especially housewives), the wealthy, the vast bureaucracy and upper middle class, who feel “safe” under PAP rule.
Few in this group appear keen to opt for the unknown.
But the same cannot be said of the lower income group, struggling wage earners and young professionals who have suffered from the foreign influx.
“There are many jobless or underemployed people out there who have become despondent and bitter,” one writer opined.
“And young professionals are worried at all times that ‘cheaper’ foreigners will replace them or retard their pay rise.”
Summing up this feeling was a recent letter “Linda” posted on the Internet, which said: “My family members were staunch supporters of PAP and Lee Kuan Yew who had improved most Singaporeans’ standard of living through hard work and education.
“But during these past 10 years, I have seen one by one, my siblings, relatives and friends, become jobless. A qualified accountant was told to apply for a job as chambermaid when she approached (an official job help body).”
Linda said she had not believed this could happen, until the past few years, “when I realised that so many foreigners were taking up most of the office jobs, and true-blue Singa_poreans were being displaced”.
“Sorry Mr Lee and PAP, I have now second thoughts about you. But thanks for the good years some of my generation had gone through – but not now for my children,” she concluded.
Rising discontent will make the approaching election one of the hardest to confidently predict by using past yardsticks.
In the wake of large-scale immigration, which was recently cut down, Singapore is now bigger, and divided so much that it is difficult to stereotype its people.
Lee’s old consensus society has disappeared long before him.
Despite this, Lee will leave behind a country that largely works – an efficient, purposeful civil service and a strong infrastructure. These will probably allow the PAP to retain a mandate for a while with or without Lee.
But with the ground souring, his party will likely lose popularity to a rising, more credible opposition both in votes and the number of seats.
The coming polls will be crucial because it will show how the young will vote and how political upstarts, both in the PAP and in the opposition, will fare when things get hot.
They could throw up a future prime minister.
