Singapore election!

Everyone’s excited about this, because of the 87 seats in the Singapore Parliament, 80 are being contested.  In the U.S., that would be like 89 Senate seats and 398 House seats being up for grabs simultaneously.  And for the first time there are a lot of people opposing the single-party system, and they’re not just the usual superannuated communists left over from 1963.  There’s a lot of discontent among young and educated people, who seem to feel that those in government are paid far too much compared to anyone else.  Why all this discontent in such a well-run country?  A general perception, I think, that those in power are reluctant to share the goodies or let anyone else in.  And that they’re corrupt: for every four good Members of Parliament, says a colleague, there’s one cockroach – a crony MP, a wife or cousin who shouldn’t be there.

It doesn’t help that the ruling party also rules the media and airwaves.  You never read or hear of the activities or platforms of the opposition parties, although they do exist.  Several years ago the ruling party had a rally in a stadium, and a long shot appeared on TV showing the crowd.  An even greater crowd filled the stadium at the opposition Workers’ Party rally, but no long shots were shown; the crowd was too big for government comfort, because so many people went to the rally to hear the speakers – that was the only way they could find out what the opposition was saying. So nobody knew how popular the opposition rally was until some brave soul put a long shot of it on the internet.

Recent government policy – surprise! –  outlaws putting political events on the internet.  It’s widely anticipated that in the wake of this election there will be many lawsuits against violating Youtube account holders, as the government follows its traditional policy of slowly, legally squashing the opposition through use of the law.

The system is modelled on the British Commonwealth one, where candidates are nominated (tomorrow) and campaigning occupies about 2 weeks. Long enough, says my friend, for nasty rumors to really get going but not corrected.  Then on May 7 the election is held, with teachers and other civil servants required to man the polling stations (they get a holiday some other day in May), and we’ll see what happens when the dust settles.  Will the PAP (People’s Action Party) retain its majority in the Parliament?  I think they currently have 90% of the seats.

So on the eve of nominations, everyone in the office is really excited, chatting of little else. It’s contagious.

3 Responses to “Singapore election!”

  1. 1
    jedediah:

    Any chance of a Singapore Spring – a la the Arab Spring?

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/06/singapore-elections-internet

  2. 2
    Lara:

    Well, I don’t know if Singaporeans are as oppressed and bullied as Arabs. But the election results are in, and I think the PAP (usual governing party) has got 81 seats and the opposition 5 or 6. I’ll see what my office mates say about this. It doesn’t look like a revolution, but the results don’t reflect the actual voting patterns. I think the PAP got only 60% of the vote, but because SIngapore (like Britain and NZ, among other countries) has a first-past-the-post electoral system the party got more seats.

    On the other hand the PAP lost two ministers, so at least some taxi drivers I’ve met are feeling very excited, as if the people have triumphed. “We don’t hate the government,” said one very excited driver last night: “We support it 70%. But it must change, must reform! It must show that its policies benefit everyone, not just millionaires. How is it that a 160 square meter flat cost $60K in 1985, while a 50 square meter flat costs $300k today? and these are houses for the poor! How are the poor to afford these?”

    He also is annoyed at the cronyism in government, because it directly affects him. He is a retired policeman, and like many people paid faithfully into a CPF (Citizens’ Provident Fund) retirement account. But at his retirement he is not allowed to withdraw the interest on the full amount, and cannot touch $200k of his capital – which was supposed to be his under the terms when he paid in. Why? Because the Lees (current prime minister, and his father, Lee Kwan Yew, and Lee Kwan Yew’s wife’s family) have their tentacles in everything; the PM’s sister-in-law (I think) was put in charge of Temasek Holdings, the big investment corporation that was to manage CPF money. “She lost $60 billion last year! And that’s why I can’t use my money – why instead of $1,000 a month I get only $400! Now I cannot touch my capital and I get very little to live on, because of government policies. So I drive a cab and when I have saved another $200k I will buy a townhouse in Thailand and go live there!”

    This man was very excited about the election, but sounded quite reasonable; he feels that once Lee Kwan Yew dies (and the man is 88, still running for office under the PAP banner) his coattails will vanish and things will really shake up. “I revere Lee Kwan Yew- he built Singapore; he is a great man. But he is too old for politics now! He used to hold rallies where he spoke for two hours – now he has to be helped by his bodyguards to get off the dais and he rests every 15 minutes. He cannot last much longer, and once he is gone all his allies in the PAP will strike out for themselves and join the other parties.”

    Speaking as an american, it is really wonderful to listen to Singaporeans talk about politics. They don’t demonize; they don’t belittle the accomplishments of the current regime; they talk about progressive changes in a long-run scenario, and they are very engaged. Such a difference from the psychotic maelstrom of American political discourse!

  3. 3
    ThomasJoync:

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