The taste of my own words

The last thing I expected was WP losing Punggol-East SMC.
Evidently, hype from rallies and campaign performances are not complete indicators of the electorate's sentiment. It is possible that the inane fear of a "freak result" caused many people to vote conservatively. The fact that the opposition was able to attract strong candidates probably contributed to this.

However, I do hold to the opinion that the PAP's campaign performance was underwhelming as mentioned in my previous post. I think the achievements of the PAP over the past few years was enough to mitigate their dismal campaign.

I am disappointed that large sections public chose to vote for a party's legacy instead of a party's new ideas for the future. No doubt, the PAP was able to maintain a non-corrupt government that generally did its best for Singaporeans. A one-party system may have worked for our first 50 years, but is such a system sustainable?

The reason for my cynicism is because we are voting for the PAP leaders of tomorrow, not the ones that have ruled us in the past 50 years. They are the ones who will govern us, not the founding fathers of old. And the PAP "4G" (4th Generation) is vastly different from their predecessors in a number of ways.

1. Lack of tenacity

PAP were originally an opposition party. They managed to trump David Marshall and Lim Yew Hock's Labour Front in their 2nd attempt (1959). Their victory was an "uneasy alliance" between the moderate PAP members and communists as Lee Kuan Yew describes it. Lee Kuan Yew then had to weed out the communists who then formed their own party - Barisan Socialis. The PAP of the past had tough opponents in the communists, David Marshall and Ong Eng Guan. The PAP also had to convince the British to grant independence to Singapore. After that had tough political battles in Malaysia. The PAP of that generation fought hard to win their seats, contesting the same electoral divisions multiple times without success.

Today, PAP candidates are snuck into parliament through the GRC system. The GRC system is of course necessary for the minority race quota but the size of the GRCs and the parachuting of candidates are of course questionable. Koh Poh Koon the son of Punggol was adopted by Ang Mo Kio GRC. Desmond Choo (Hougang 2011) and Ong Ye Kung (Aljunied 2011) had backdoors into Tampines and Sembawang GRC. Besides Sitoh Yih Pin who was voted into Potong Pasir on his 3rd attempt, PAP candidates opt for the easy way in and are unwilling to stand against strong opposition candidates.

2. Short-sightedness

The PAP in the past had a clear vision of where they wanted to take Singapore. They wanted Singapore to become a metropolis. They wanted every Singaporean to own a house, have clean water and have different races integrate well.

The PAP of today do not have a clear vision for Singaporeans. They need a new vision to inspire Singaporeans to do their best for the country and a clear overall plan for what they intend to do to help Singaporeans. They rely too much on their track record.

Too often have the PAP and civil service been contented with making minor changes to the system here and there. The PAP does not dare to make big policy changes or restructuring, as exemplified through our education system. Small tweaks to various parts of the curriculum and examination system. Little bits of tinkering here and there with external programmes. This brings me on to the third point.

3. Same-old, Same-old

I think the reasons for the lack of courage to make major policy overhauls are that the system which has worked so far is still working (for now) and that their PAP MPs are largely from the same places - Civil Service and SAF. The tried and tested route. There are few candidates from different backgrounds to offer fresh insights.


The idealist in me would like a new vision for Singaporeans to work towards. Our stagnation and then decline will come not so much because of the challenges we face such as the ageing population and economy stagnation but because we are using an old system to due with new challenges. The PAP government seems to be too content with taking the easy way and are getting too comfortable with their overwhelming majority. A new direction is needed for SG 100.

I concede that I am a WP supporter, wherein my bias lies. WP draws crowds to its rallies because they inspire people with new ideas and most importantly a new direction - building up the Singapore core. A dynamic population for a sustainable economy. The WP today delivers powerful enthusiastic speeches and this is reminiscent of the PAP old guard.

Congratulations to the PAP on their victory. But what will they do with the strong mandate?