Introduction
2011 will be remembered as the year of Singapore’s political “awakening”. Campaigning during the General Elections was fast and furious. Along the way, a new media darling was born and a prominent cabinet minister was voted out. For the first time since 1965, an opposition party took control of a GRC and at the end of it all, the casualty list included one veteran opposition MP and two former Prime Ministers. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his People’s Action Party were comfortably returned to government, but it remains to be seen how he will respond to the challenge of winning over a public that now wants a greater say in how the country is run.
And so the nominees are...
Lee Hsien Loong
Prime Minister
The message from voters to the PM was clear: Change, or be changed. Lee’s response was swift and decisive. Barely two weeks after the May Elections, he relegated three senior Ministers from his Cabinet, including his own father Lee Kuan Yew and political mentor Goh Chok Tong. He also ordered his Ministers to take what is effectively a back-dated pay cut. Faced with an increasingly demanding electorate, the 59-year-old Cambridge and Harvard graduate knows exactly what’s at stake -- for him, for the party and for the country. Not everyone may agree with the eldest son of Singapore’s founding father but for quickly understanding and embracing the need for a clean break from senior Lee’s legacy, Lee Hsien Loong deserves respect. Away from politics, Lee, who survived cancer in the 1990s, also guided the economy to a blockbuster 14.5% GDP growth this year. He did all of this while having to publicly deal with the loss of his beloved mother Kwa Geok Choo.
George Yeo
Former Foreign Minister
Perhaps the highest profile casualty of the May Elections, the former foreign minister came up short in the battle for the Aljunied GRC. But the 57-year-old’s subsequent decision to retire fully from politics sparked massive outcry from all corners. A former President’s and SAF scholar, Mr Yeo was among the first ministers to embrace social media. A self-declared “free spirit”, his parting shot to the PAP – that it “needs to take a hard look at itself” -- may be the wake-up call the ruling party needs. The devout Catholic and father of four may have ruled himself out in the upcoming Presidential elections, but few would bet against him making a comeback.
Nicole Seah
Opposition election candidate
If the May elections was the “social media” election, then this 24-year- old Victoria Junior College and National University of Singapore alumna was the public face of it. The advertising executive shot to fame immediately following her introduction as a National Solidarity Party candidate. Her rally speeches – direct, passionate and sincere – drew armies of young citizens who previously held no interest in politics but in some way saw their aspirations in her. They quickly added to her growing mystique resulting in a Facebook page that, to date, boasts over 105,000 fans. Fiercely outspoken but surprisingly mature in dealing with the media, the Marine Parade GRC candidate may have lost the May elections but much, much more is expected of this lady of Peranakan descent in the years ahead.
Chiam See Tong
Veteran opposition politician
At 76 years of age, Chiam's passion for serving the people of Singapore remains undiminished despite suffering a stroke in 2008. This year, Singapore’s longest-serving opposition Member of Parliament was forced to call time on his political career after losing the Bishan Group Representation Constituency in the May Elections. His active political career may have been halted, but for 27 years he was the lone voice of dissent in PAP dominated parliaments. And for that service his place in Singapore’s political history is assured.
Vincent Wijeysingha
Opposition election candidate
As one of the new faces in local politics, this civil activist and election candidate from the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) was thrust into the limelight during an hour-long televised political forum where he comfortably held his own against Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam. The son of a highly respected former Raffles Institution principal, the younger Wijeysingha received his doctorate from the University of Sheffield and is currently the executive director of non-profit organization Transient Workers Count Too. Wijeysingha became embroiled in one of the main disputes during the elections with then-Minister of Community, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan, who had publicly insinuated that the former was harboring a “gay agenda”. Dr Wijeysingha drew praise for exercising restraint while Balakrishnan’s controversial remarks drew sharp rebuke from the general public. So for excellent oratory, for showing us that partisan politics is not a bad thing and that we can disagree with our government without being disagreeable, Vincent Wijeysingha rounds out the nominees in this category.
2011 will be remembered as the year of Singapore’s political “awakening”. Campaigning during the General Elections was fast and furious. Along the way, a new media darling was born and a prominent cabinet minister was voted out. For the first time since 1965, an opposition party took control of a GRC and at the end of it all, the casualty list included one veteran opposition MP and two former Prime Ministers. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his People’s Action Party were comfortably returned to government, but it remains to be seen how he will respond to the challenge of winning over a public that now wants a greater say in how the country is run.
And so the nominees are...
Lee Hsien Loong
Prime Minister
The message from voters to the PM was clear: Change, or be changed. Lee’s response was swift and decisive. Barely two weeks after the May Elections, he relegated three senior Ministers from his Cabinet, including his own father Lee Kuan Yew and political mentor Goh Chok Tong. He also ordered his Ministers to take what is effectively a back-dated pay cut. Faced with an increasingly demanding electorate, the 59-year-old Cambridge and Harvard graduate knows exactly what’s at stake -- for him, for the party and for the country. Not everyone may agree with the eldest son of Singapore’s founding father but for quickly understanding and embracing the need for a clean break from senior Lee’s legacy, Lee Hsien Loong deserves respect. Away from politics, Lee, who survived cancer in the 1990s, also guided the economy to a blockbuster 14.5% GDP growth this year. He did all of this while having to publicly deal with the loss of his beloved mother Kwa Geok Choo.
George Yeo
Former Foreign Minister
Perhaps the highest profile casualty of the May Elections, the former foreign minister came up short in the battle for the Aljunied GRC. But the 57-year-old’s subsequent decision to retire fully from politics sparked massive outcry from all corners. A former President’s and SAF scholar, Mr Yeo was among the first ministers to embrace social media. A self-declared “free spirit”, his parting shot to the PAP – that it “needs to take a hard look at itself” -- may be the wake-up call the ruling party needs. The devout Catholic and father of four may have ruled himself out in the upcoming Presidential elections, but few would bet against him making a comeback.
Nicole Seah
Opposition election candidate
If the May elections was the “social media” election, then this 24-year- old Victoria Junior College and National University of Singapore alumna was the public face of it. The advertising executive shot to fame immediately following her introduction as a National Solidarity Party candidate. Her rally speeches – direct, passionate and sincere – drew armies of young citizens who previously held no interest in politics but in some way saw their aspirations in her. They quickly added to her growing mystique resulting in a Facebook page that, to date, boasts over 105,000 fans. Fiercely outspoken but surprisingly mature in dealing with the media, the Marine Parade GRC candidate may have lost the May elections but much, much more is expected of this lady of Peranakan descent in the years ahead.
Chiam See Tong
Veteran opposition politician
At 76 years of age, Chiam's passion for serving the people of Singapore remains undiminished despite suffering a stroke in 2008. This year, Singapore’s longest-serving opposition Member of Parliament was forced to call time on his political career after losing the Bishan Group Representation Constituency in the May Elections. His active political career may have been halted, but for 27 years he was the lone voice of dissent in PAP dominated parliaments. And for that service his place in Singapore’s political history is assured.
Vincent Wijeysingha
Opposition election candidate
As one of the new faces in local politics, this civil activist and election candidate from the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) was thrust into the limelight during an hour-long televised political forum where he comfortably held his own against Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam. The son of a highly respected former Raffles Institution principal, the younger Wijeysingha received his doctorate from the University of Sheffield and is currently the executive director of non-profit organization Transient Workers Count Too. Wijeysingha became embroiled in one of the main disputes during the elections with then-Minister of Community, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan, who had publicly insinuated that the former was harboring a “gay agenda”. Dr Wijeysingha drew praise for exercising restraint while Balakrishnan’s controversial remarks drew sharp rebuke from the general public. So for excellent oratory, for showing us that partisan politics is not a bad thing and that we can disagree with our government without being disagreeable, Vincent Wijeysingha rounds out the nominees in this category.
