A rebuttal to Shanmugam’s remarks that “Singapore needs a strong leadership and a political system for speedy decisions to be made”
December 18th, 2009 | 
Author: OPINION
In his interview with the PAP mouthpiece Petir which was strangely given extensive publicity by the Straits Times yesterday, Law Minister K Shanmugam said that the PAP has to convince younger voters that “Singapore, more than most countries, needs a strong leadership and a political system that allows for effective and speedy decisions to be made.”
Though Mr Shamugam did not elaborate more on what he meant specifically, it appeared that he was referring to Singapore’s one-party system which allows the PAP to dominate the political landscape for fifty continuous years without any checks and balances.
While it is true that such a system of governance allows for “effective and speedy decisions to be made” since there is no opposition to challenge the ruling party, it doesn’t mean that the decisions made are always sound or beneficial to the people.
In fact, many problems besieging Singapore today is a result of hasty decisions made by leaders in the past with little or no deliberation at all. Neither were the citizens consulted on major decisions concerning the fate of their nation.
For example, when the “Stop at Two” policy was introduced in the 1970s, nobody questioned its long-term implications for Singapore. There was no opposition in parliament then which enabled the PAP to pass its bills and policies quickly and easily.
Unfortunately, the unwanted effects of the policy only manifests itself years later resulting in Singapore’s low birth rate which caused the ruling party to turn to immigration to boost the population, thereby creating another problem in the process.
Had there been an opposition in parliament, it would have challenged the “Stop at Two” policy and forced the ruling party to rethink about it. Though it might take months of debates which would delay the policy’s implementation, we can save ourselves from being stuck in the quagmire we are in now years later.
Another policy blunder was admitted by MM Lee himself lately – that of Singapore’s “bilingual policy” which would not be necessary if Lee did not crack down on Chinese education years earlier.
Singapore used to have the best Chinese education in Southeast Asia before independence.
After the PAP came to power in 1959, it tried to control and co-opt the Chinese educated elites, many of whom were affiliated with the opposition Barisan Sosialist.
Chinese schools were shut down, independent Chinese newspapers were closed and journalists were thrown into jail. Eventually, even Nan Tah or Nanyang University, the beacon of Chinese education in Singapore was forced to merge with Singapore University to form the National University of Singapore in 1980.
Due to the lack of career prospects for those schooled in Chinese education, many Singaporeans switched to English schools and the Chinese medium schools, deprived of state support, were left to flounder.
Lee were to make a stunning policy reversal a few years later after he realized the importance of the Chinese language with China opening its economy to the world, but it was too late.
The last-minute introduction of SAP schools and a bilingual language policy to place more emphasis on the Chinese language as a mother tongue was not enough to create another generation of Chinese educated elite as young Singaporeans grew up speaking English rather than Mandarin as their lingua franca.
The solution to a problem was to become another problem by itself years later and this would not have happened if the government had taken time to ponder over its policies again and again after consulting with the relevant experts and the people.
There is an old adage – “more haste, less speed” which cannot be more true in this instance when the ruling party had demonstrated its “effectiveness and speed”, but the end result is less than desirable.
Nobody in this world has a monopoly on wisdom. Being humans, everybody will have their own blind spots. That’s why it is crucial to have an opposition in parliament to constantly remind leaders of their blind spots, especially in the formulation and implementation of policies which affect millions of people.
A “strong” leadership or government is not one which dominates parliament and controls all institutions and pillars of the state including changing the Constitution at its wimps and fancies.
A government which thinks it is right all the time and acts arbitrarily on behalf of the people is not exhibiting strong leadership but tyranny.
A strong government is one which dares to face the opposition in parliament and uses persuasion to win its detractors over rather than dirty underhanded tactics to “fix” the opposition should more of them get elected into parliament.
A strong government is one which adheres to the laws of the country and allows for free and fair elections instead of using the GRCs to ensure and perpetuate its dominant position.
A strong government is one which is accountable and transparent to the people and whose leaders will apologize and resign to take responsibility for their mistakes.
A strong government is one which is not afraid of criticisms and will not resort to controlling and muzzling the media to serve as its mouthpiece.
And lastly, a strong government is one which respects the will of the people and leaves office peacefully should it be voted out of office one day instead of calling in the army to remove the legitimate government by force.
By all accounts, the PAP government is not a strong government at all. In fact, it is a weak, cowardly, insecure, paranoid and repressive government which can only maintain its gripe on power through rampant gerry-mandering, pork barrel politics, fixing of opposition, silencing of critics and manipulating public opinion through the control of the media.
As Law Minister, Mr Shanmugam should lead by example and show us how “effective and speedy” he is by abolishing the unfair laws and rules which favors the ruling party:
1. Announce polling date 6 months in advance to give the opposition adequate time to prepare for the elections.
2. Announce the electoral boundaries 6 months in advance so that the opposition can decide on the seats to contest.
3. Increase the duration of the campaign period from the minimum 9 days to at least a month in line with other first world democracies like Australia, Japan and Canada.
4. Allows all political parties equal access to the use of the media to reach out to the voters.
5. Refrain from using defamation lawsuits to cripple political opponents at the slightest sign of disagreement or dissent.
Is Mr Shanmugam a strong leader on his own or is he simply following the orders of others? It is time for him to walk his talk.
Copyright © The Temasek Review, 2009
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Posted in Opinion
PAP ministers are not chosen because of their outstanding intellectual qualities or charisma but for their determination and resolve to say ‘yes’ to the old man.
you dont need speed to make good decisions.
you need wisdom to make good decisions.
To protect Singapore from poor decisions by dim wits even if they get into office, we cannot allow decision making to be super fast.
No multi-party democratic system will result in decision making to be so long (five years, ten years, twenty years) that opportunities are lost forever. Should that happen then its not the fault of multi party democratic system but hopeless politicians. The remedy is not single party system but voters being able to get rid of hopeless politicians who delay progress and good policy decisions.
Shanmugam is just giving all sorts of excuses to get the electorate to vote for him and all his PAP MPs in all constituencies except in 2 constituencies once again for the millionth time.
There was a time when there was promise in PAP and so voters gave them all the power. Now PAP is as promising as the opposition. Its fair game
PAP government always think they are right and have done a great job for the people. If this is the case, why are they worried about being challenged by the opposition parties ? Instead of asking critics of PAP government to leave Singapore, like some of the brain-washed PAP support have suggested, I suggest PAP party members to migrate to country like China, Vietnam, North Korea, etc where the state has complete control over it’s people.
So where are the good decisions ???? Decision can only be from 1 person . FT policy is the worse decision by any country and by any standard .
Public policy formulated on speed consideration rather than policy content merit/demerit considerations?
Sounds more like the ” we-know-it-all wisdom” preachings of magicians looking for speed deceptions to beat us to their sly of witchcraft-making and fortune telling. Or is it not so?
More worried.
Pap worried because the ground sentiment is not in their favour.They might lose a couple of GRCs due to swing of votes to oppositions
He is just 1 of the many lame ducks around unde PAP wings. I firmly believe he himself knows he is speaking hyprocritrically just to please his bosses and secure his millions dollar salary…in fact like many of those who never really speaks on behalf of S’poreans’ frustraions and wishes, their retribution would arrive 1 day in level equivalent to their exorbitant pay…especially if one’s speeches, actions are affecting millions of heartlanders..a simple example: the ft policy had made many s’poreans unable to build better career prospect and own a resale flat close to their parents who can help them conveniently take care of their kids…
hi there
1. yes, sinkieland is some strong establishment, with everything of half-baked std.
2. keling selling same old same old news.
3. this is not surprising of some bootlicker hissing hot airs via the rear end.
he is not doing his job so far . i could not help but compared him to the past law ministers . there is indeed a wide chasm between them. in short he do not deserve the salary accorded to him as he is ineffective and indecisive locally as well as on the global stage.
“Singapore, more than most countries, needs a strong leadership and a political system that allows for effective and speedy decisions to be made.”
Ye, effective and speedy decisions to be made for them to legally corrupt and lose billions of state-owned money without any accountability.
The PAP will win the next election and at least the next three elections after that. The will secure less than 50% of the votes by using the GRCs and the carving up of constituencies to balance out opposition votes and retain the majority in Parliament. This is sad, really sad. The reasons are well known. The media only sings praises of them and overlooks any mistakes. Potential credible opposition is sought out and bought over. Those people in previous positions of authority in government and government linked companies have cushy well paid jobs to retain their silence. They have a tight stranglehold on all the institutions in society. What is not so well known is:
a. A large number of the women voters will invariably vote for them. Women are generally conservative and will accept the status quo however bad it is, better the devil you know then the one you don’t know. Matters such as freedom, democracy and human rights are of less consequence than things such as personal safety and clean toilets. Women understand and accept inequality and inequity better than men. A large proportion of revolutionary and anti-establishment heroes in history have been men.
b. A large number of Singaporeans have a crushing burden of home loans that literally take a lifetime to pay off. When it is paid off, they are retired and without any funds for retirement. The high cost of living, high consumer prices, indirect taxes such as GST, high home prices, expensive medical coverage and the absence of a welfare safety net means that the ordinary Singaporean has little time for anything else. His eyes are focused on the ground and his shoulder to the grindstone just to make ends meet. He cannot afford the slightest change to the status quo. The ruling party will surely remind him that any change in government will affect him and his wife/mother/sister will also remind him to vote PAP.
Shanmugan, wouldn’t a vigorous civil society debating the pros and cons of different alternative policies create a higher level of involvement and commitment amongst its citizens. Isn’t the ’strong leadership and the political system for speedy decision making’ already in existence for 50 years? And what have you got to show for it? Failed policies in education, population growth, immigration and language to name a few. Isn’t the duty of the government to engage its citizens in arguments and counter arguments rather than to steamroll over them? Isn’t the role of government to lead public opinion rather than to position itself as the sole repository of truth? Are you asking for more power to run the country? Don’t you already have enough? What else have to go? The elections maybe.
Let’s by all means have the PAP in government. It looks like it’s going that way anyway. But let’s have a government that listens to the people, is accountable to them and treats them as partners and not as morons to be tolerated every four or five years during election time. Sure it is a harder thing to do, to live with opposing views and the Opposition rather then spend time ‘fixing them’. It requires a whole new thinking. For LKY, it is like turning the whole world upside down.
But it must be done for the sake of Singapore. Otherwise when change comes about it will be cataclysmic and downright painful for all, PAP or otherwise.
PAP itself knows that they are losing popularity. Instead of finding the problems and rectify them, they are trying to find other tactic to ensure that they will not lose e.g. cooling off day. I forecast that the GRC will be redrawn to protect the heavy -weight ministers like MBT, WKS and even the PM itself !!!
There is something called the legislative process, it doesn’t magically change when there is an opposition in parliament.
Regardless of whether we have a single or multi party system, this process should not be subject to any fundamental changes – unless it is flawed to begin with.
efficient governance doesn’t equate to a fair governance.
pragmatic goverment w/o moral compass will just be short-sighted and machiavellian.
indeed, female votes (as written by wizrd of id) is inclined towards pap due to political apathy and more tolerance of unfairness. However, if one day PAP governance fails badly for all to see, i am sure even the female votes will swing. but,that is in the future, meantime opposition badly needs a morale-booster win in 1 GRC so as to keep the flame burning.
well,indeed STRONG leadership is needed in any country for its progress and the welfare of the citizens.
STRONG does not however equate to ‘STRONG-ARMED’ AS STRONG-ARMS
TYPESare not necessarily strong and good leaders.
just look at idi amin,saddam hussein and those around the region and compare them to a Gandhi,nelson mandela or some other humble but strong leaders and you at once can see for yourself what makes a truly strong leader and strong leadership.
i hope singapore leaders remain strong,be strong for the citizens…yes, for the CITIZENS?!!!
if you forecast correctly, why do you need to change course all of a sudden?
As if changing course if free?
Try doing that on a phone line under contract, you will have to pay a fine.
LKY has been using this crap reason for decades.
Who is he trying to kid us?
especially he gets millions a year out of forecasting.
Bad bad taste
strong leadership starts with having your dad to hold your hands.
Enough of talking.. Do something when you can. But most of us just talk….a couple of hundred $$ of Restructuring Share payouts and we vote for PAP. Pathetic.
In typical PAPspeak, ’strong leadership’ means that the leaders in this country are able to make any decisions without being questioned, without any accountability and to ride roughshod over any opposing views. They gamble away our reserves and like gamblers they take extreme positions to recover their loss, losing more in the process.
‘Speedy decision making’ is a factor of strong leadership and it means that decisions can be made quickly. Singaporeans are just bystanders in the decision making process. They ask for feedback so long as it agrees with their conclusions.
There is a long list of examples of their ’strong leadership’ and ’speedy decision making’. Here are a few. Based on a fear that Singapore will turn into a litigious society if there are too many lawyers around, entry into the law school in NUS was restricted. Now, faced with a shortage of legally trained people, they bring in lawyers from all over the world. Meanwhile, those Singaporeans who were refused entry into law school had to do subjects that they had little interest in. Our children who dreamed of becoming doctors (and were more than qualified) were also not given entry into medical school in Singapore based on a fear that an excess of doctors would mean more medical tests would be conducted. Now we are told that we only produce 40 dentists a year and we actually need more than three times that number to cater to Singaporean’s dental needs. So we bring in all the chapalang doctors and dentists from anywhere in the world who have difficulty conversing with the patients, don’t understand our local culture and have no affinity with Singaporeans. All of a sudden they can produce figures and statistics that justify their current action to say what a wonderful decision that they are making, correcting errors that they made in the first place!
So parents end up mortgaging their homes and blowing their retirement funds to send their kids overseas, millions are spent every year to support them and many of these students graduate with honors, are offered great jobs and never return to work in Singapore.
But is this really the result of strong leadership and speedy decision making? I don’t think so. It is the result of unquestioned obedience to the flights and fancies of one man. This man who thinks he is perfect and always right. Who as a result of something that he observes, hears or reads somewhere decides to apply it in Singapore. His underlings carries out his instructions with blind obedience. We Singaporeans become guinea pigs and laboratory rats to be experimented on. Singapore is the result of the greatest social engineering project in history. Here is an example of how people can sacrifice their individual rights and freedom for the sake of a bowl of rice and the promise of a great future. Here is an example of how tight control over the media, social institutions and all the instruments of the government can ensure success at the polls for 50 years. Here is an example where corruption can be eliminated with money (sounds ridiculous doesn’t it!).
When the world leaders meet this man, they are not paying him tribute. They want to know his secret of absolute power and then staying in power forever.
And Mr Law Minister, you can say without so much as a blink or a thought, that Singapore NEEDS more strong leadership and speedy decision making! How do you face yourself in the mirror every morning? I’ll bet you paste your salary slip next to your shaver.
The strongest leadership and fastest decision-making is my suburban streetside fortune-teller.
When I consulted him about my business luck for 2010, he made his forecasting recommendation with no challenge. He saID with CALCULATED BREVITY “very good. “. So he does not have to explain the brevity – simply just “very good”
How do I know he is pulling my legs or my tail of suspicious thoughts?
And it was quick alright!. He just burnt 3 jossticks to appease the supernatural (??) , mumbed a few words inaudible to me, asked a few questions of my personal details and came to that “very good” conclusion. It was all over in a little over a minute.
GOOD TIMES ARE AHEAD!!!!. I HOPE OBAMA DON’T TRIP OVER in 2010 AND FELL INTO THE DITCH causing me financial ruin of misplaced optimism of self-enlightenment!!
..”strong leadership and a political system for speedy decisions to be made”” ???
Just ask both MSK and WKS. EIGHT months all the strong leaders and fast decision-makers could NOT figure out where that laughing “lame one” disappear to enjoy a AWOL vacation.
Now we got VERY DISTINGUISHED PRs working as massage palour and cleaner foreign talents.
STRONGER LEADERSHIP AND FASTER DECISION MAKING will guarantee us a tsunami flood of prostitutes and petty conmen and women farking the reputation of this little red dot built over 44 “suay” (unlucky) years.
Soon we will have to believe in miracles, UFOs and even “GOD” is male or female as told to us.
What more do you want from we – the oppressed?? Is it if you are disenchanted with this NO COUNTRY, please leave NOW????
I second to the author’s view on the monopoly of wisdom. We need someone to play the devil’s advocate else groupthink would get the better of any decision making party.
There is a piece of news telling a story about a guy being charged GST when he returned from Malaysia and having bought some new clothes there.
This is a sign of desperation.
The pigs needs monies so much and wanted to prop up the exchange rate so they are using this technique to have some income and to discourage people from spending overseas.
This is a technique used by countries to discourage spending overseas.
We never hear this kind of thing even when the GST was 5%.
Yes the amount is small in this case, but the idea is to frighten people from spending overseas.
IF you compare electronic goods between Malaysia, and Singapore, don’t be surprised to find out that it is cheaper in Malaysia.
The exchange rate is artificially prop up.
The old guy sure knows the following must happen for female votes to swing. And so he will keep ‘feeding’ them with little-goodies near GE times.
“Joseph Goebbels, the spin doctor of Nazi Germany once said:
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
What the hell is this…
Real leaders lead by example and actuate feasible plans based on their talk…
Double Hyprocrite leaders do the double talk and get others to do the real work or doing the real leading…
That is leadership one O one…dun just talk air lah…real leaders don’t…and they come with loads of humility, real true hearts and real presence/character….what we have here are a bunch of yes men who will only lead when the shadow they are in tell them to move then they move…
Leaders…more like leechders to me…they better buck up for the amount of “public” money they are takeing from the peoples of singapore…instead of doing more leeching from their leechingship.
Leeches are as leeches does.
Finally i repeat this quote from a REAL LEADER who earns a pittance…
Quote from Thomas Jefferson
“We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt.
We must make our election between economy and liberty
or profusion and servitude.
If we run into such debt, as that we must be taxed in our meat and
in our drink, in our necessaries and our comforts, in our labors and
our amusements, for our calling and our creeds…
[we will] have no time to think,
no means of calling our miss-managers to account
but be glad to obtain subsistence by hiring ourselves
to rivet their chains on the necks of our fellow-sufferers…
And this is the tendency of all human governments.
A departure from principle in one instance
becomes a precedent for [another ]…
till the bulk of society is reduced to be mere automatons of misery…
And the fore-horse of this frightful team is public debt.
Taxation follows that, and in its train wretchedness and oppression.”