Beyond the PAP: Thinking aloud
February 15th, 2010 | 
Author: By Richard Lu
I am apolitical. It is not important who or which party or parties gets into power ultimately. So long the government of the day gives back our dignity, our rights to freedom and restores true democracy to our beloved Singapore.
Singaporeans are always fearful and skeptical – fearful that if an opposition were to wrest power from the PAP, Singapore would sink and we are doomed; always skeptical that the opposition would not be able to do the job, let alone a good one.
Let us consider what would happen if, in the best or worst case, an opposition (a party or a coalition of parties) gets into power:
The new government may find it uphill initially. You see, the organs of the state – the legislature, the executive and the judiciary are so intertwined with the PAP after 47 years of uninterrupted PAP rule.
Consider these:
a. We have a first-class civil service and administration but unfortunately the civil service is less than independent. They do not even think independently as it is too tied to the PAP’s apron strings. Separation may be may be difficult initially. Look at the PKR state government in Selangor. The civil service there (including the head) was less than cooperative to their new political master
The situation is worse in Singapore. The PAP hand-fed the civil service and so generously remunerated them that the lines between the legislative and executive are often blurred.
b. The judiciary has been PAP-leaning. Why, our Chief Justice is appointed by you-know-who! The “elected” president must get his approval as well. As a mater of fact, PM Lee Hsien Loong is not even his own man. Do you see the problem?
c. The People’s Association is a grass-root organization and along with its branches are almost all PAP operated despite being funded by our taxes. How independent is the PA? Even LKY admitted “……they see the PAP in the RCs (residents’ committees), CCCs (citizens’ consultative committees), and the CCs (community clubs).” (source) Would the PA and these grass-root organizations – the RCs, the CCCs and CCs stay independent and co-operate with the new government? Readers please see TR’s article:
d. The Town Councils should independent bodies running the HDB estates. However, many are so “programmed” by their PAP Mayors that they are now thinking for PAP. Would these PAP Town Councils work smoothly with the new government?
e. The meshing is so complete in the Police that they view opposition members as their enemy. Look at what happened to Chee Soon Juan and Gandhi Ambalam in court three week ago ! The Police treated them worse than common criminals !
And all this despite the Policemen’s pledge “to serve our community and our country and to be courteous and humane in our dealings with every fellowman.”
f. Finally, the Military – the PAP Government has had a very cozy relationship with the military. The Military leaders are heavily be-medaled, decorated, titled and honored by their political masters . As a matter of fact, several Ministers have been drawn from the Military.
In political shifts, the Police and the Judiciary initially hold the balance. The Military however must absolutely independent or we will see a Thai-solution in Singapore. Singaporeans often underestimate themselves. We are a product of the “fear” syndrome that LKY and the PAP has imbued us with. Workers, citizens and students are the ultimate arbitrators of power. We have seen in the Philippines and Indonesia that dictators were brought down by “people power’.
Other factors in Singapore’s favor in the event of an opposition victory – Singapore is a financial hub, aviation, education and medical centers. We have a world class airline, seaport and an airport that have been consistently rated the best in the world. We are a Research and Development hub and a Law Center for Arbitration and other legal practices. Younger Singaporeans habitually go to Cambridge, Harvard and the Ivy League universities and win accolades. Do we lack the talents and abilities? Would we sink and fail?
Please do not for one moment think the opposition is going to take over the Government immediately . This is not possible due to the GRC mechanism and gerrymandering by the PAP. Neither is this desirable. Ideally, opposition members need to be elected into Parliament, learn the ropes, earn the trust and respect of the people and maintain some continuity before taking over the Government.
What alternatives beyond the PAP? Companies close, investors pull-out and unemployment? Singaporeans faced many crises in the past and stood at the cross-roads on many occasions. Between 1955 and 1963 and again in 1965 we faced challenges that were monumental and had thought that these challenges were beyond us. We rose on every of these occasions, did not cringed and did not wallow in self-pity. We picked up the cudgels! To be sure, there will always be challenges and Singaporeans will always rise and overcome.
I place my faith on our younger Singaporeans……and to the doubters and quitters – please migrate now.
“It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.”…….. Aung San Suu Kyi
Other articles by Richard Lu:
1. Yes Singapore, you deserve a dose of incompetent government
2. Singapore: Morality and freedom
Posted in 
Great sharing on a Chinese New Year day. The fact that you took some time off Chinese New Year to write such an insightful article shows that you care
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worse case scenario,i doubt whoever takes over the PAP will lose more than what the GIC/Temasek lost($40 billion in the next 5 years or so).
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Spot on!
Unfortunately, the Singapore situation is unique, and one that I fear cannot be corrected unless a new generation of leaders amongst the PAP really wants to do whats best for both the Country & it’s people, and introduces political changes that empowers real constructive opposition.
There absolutely is a middle-ground between the current autocratic regime and a truly democratic one, no one is asking for the pendulum to swing completely to the right.
However, I suspect it may take the end of the Lee Dynasty before we see any such political change.
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Happy Chinese New Year to all Singaporeans!
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I want the PAP out of my face forever, come what may. I want the Lee family answer for all the failures created by them!
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Why Temasek could lose more.
Man running Seatown was mastermind behind Shin investment. I kid you not.
http://atans1.wordpress.com/2010/02/12/the-link-between-shin-and-temasks-new-toy/
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Did anybody discover that all the current craps start to occur after our beloved Old Leader successfully purged all the first gen leaders? From that point onwards, singapore has become a familee property and business! I was blind not to see it coming!
But not anymore!
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When our first gen leaders are around, the old leader dare not do anything funny. And those times are the best times of Singapore! We are fast growing & all the people are becoming Singaporean! We are beginning to become a true nation & I am proud to defend that Singapore!
But things change when the rest of the first gen leaders are purged from power leaving you-know-who running the place. And that is when major changes are made to suit his fancy culminating to what we experience today!
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Serfs and even obedient slaves are HABITUALLY fearful of ALL MASTERS – never mind the colour or complexion of the new masters. If not, Hougang and Potong Pasir already went under long ago.
Ingrained indoctrinated fear does not evaporate and morph into love or resistance overnight
The strongly functional civil service will simply toe the line when the time for change come and the Opposition walks in.
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I have some alternate views…
1. A splinter group will appear from within the PAP – these young fellows are the ones currently pissed off with their bosses for not listening to them and continuing their communists behavior.
2. Already young perm sects and ministers, they will easily win mandates.
3. Already with foot holds in government sectors – the civil service will not be rocked.
Unless I am mistaken, these “few good men” are already hibernating and brewing their missions within the civil service or main ministries already. 1 or 2 of them may even be in the inner cabinet by now.
I like this scenario much better than voting in the current stable of opposition leaders now.
Happy New Year, Singapore and Singaporeans (not the same thing!)
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When Dr Soekarno and Dr Suharto crashed, did Indonesia collapsed into chaos in the aftermath of the destruction of dictatorship and the rest of Asean on fire??
Indonesian politics are MUCH MORE volatile and fragmented – they rebuild each time, so why Singapore an exception?
Singapore’s survival in an internet-digital world of competition FORCED ALL SINGAPOREANS TO WORK TOGETHER when there is a change of political landscape. It is far better to work together then fight AFTER THE ELECTION OUTCOME -people will realize that soon enough. What else could one expect otherwise??
SCAREMONGERING!!
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This you MUST ALWAY KEEP IN MIND that there are many SMART, CAPABLE & CARING PEOPLE in among our local bred singaporeans, AND THATS WHAT THE PAP IS ALWAYS AFRAID OF!
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Interesting that you call Singaporeans who migrate “quitters” when so many contributors and readers of TR are living overseas, often having surrendered their Singaporean citizenship…
Another post to censor!
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@ Chinese moniker @ 11.06am
That I believe is the case and should be the way out for Singaporeans and Singapore.
Should a “freak” election take place,it should not go to the heads of the opposition that they have succeed but the PEOPLE who wanted the change and work closely with whoever in the system willing to share the responsibilities to make Singapore what it should truly be.A REPUBLIC that cares for its people FIRST & FOREMOST especially the poor,sick and less privileged.
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Richard Lu is a far from being apolitical and should not be ashamed of it. I think in a developed society no one should be
apolitical. Everyone should be interested in politics and partisan politics if they wish to.
The article is a reasonably thought out piece and highlighted many relevant points and some with his personal bias which is perfectly understandable and acceptable.
It can form a basis of intelligent debate for those who care about this society including those from both ruling and opposition parties and I hope they do engage the netcitizens here on this blog.
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“So long the government of the day gives back our dignity, our rights to freedom and restores true democracy to our beloved Singapore.”
—-
Democracy cannot be given, it has to be built.
The conditions must be right in order for a country to have meaningful democracy.
Countries such as Somalia and Haiti will not be able to set up meaningful democracy, because the conditions for that to happen do not exist.
Those people who believed that democracy is about one-man-one-vote do not understand the complexity.
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Those opposition candidates can’t even hold a proper board meeting for a company, how can we expect them to lead the country.
Will they be able to manage the civil servants?
Will they be able to manage the top brasses of GLCs?
Will they be able to manage the leaders of various religion organisations.
The list goes on…
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a. We have a first-class civil service and administration but unfortunately the civil service is less than independent.
PAP’s leadership builds up this system. This system will collapse, once it is being controlled by incompetent political party.
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b. The judiciary has been PAP-leaning. Why, our Chief Justice is appointed by you-know-who! The “elected” president must get his approval as well. As a mater of fact, PM Lee Hsien Loong is not even his own man. Do you see the problem?
If the democratically elected government of the day cannot control the judiciary then who should?
An independent judiciary will open itself to abuse too. For example, the opposition parties can ‘buy’ the judges so that its decisions will be biased against the ruling party.
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yah. i’m a doubter and i intend to become a quitter.
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no doubt, there will be ppl strongly aligned to pap who will create trouble for the new govt, but there are also ppl who will support the new govt and ppl who sit on the fences to see where the wind blows.
so long, the army is not sent to stage a coup or repress ppl, any chaotic situation (if there is one) will disappear once the new govt implements laws to dismantle the PAP machine.
There will be resistance from PAP hardliners but futile as the majority will be against them.
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we are not talking about opposition taking over here at the moment. actually, what the opposition needs is the opportunity to BALANCE that power.
how can any bills, policies or act passed without much debate in the parliament?
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Why write an article full of anti-PAP rhetoric and claim to be apolitical!
What a jerk!
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Hmm on Mon, 15th Feb 2010 12:39 pm
Sir, to quote you :”how can any bills, policies or act passed without much debate in the parliament?”
Please go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Seow and http://presspedia.journalism.sg/doku.php?id=cases:1986
In 1986, Francis Seow became the President of the Law Society. “He had envisaged a restoration of the role of the Law Society to, inter alia, comment on legislation that the government was then churning out without any meaningful parliamentary debate, a role which Prime Minister Lee took especial exception to.
In the result, Prime Minister Lee caused special legislation to be passed depriving the Law Society, inter alia, of any powers to comment on any legislation unless the government specifically asks the Law Society for its comments.”
“The The Law Society of Singapore, then led by Seow, criticised the 1986 amendment to the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act (NPPA), which sought to restrict circulation of foreign publications deemed to be “meddling in Singapore’s domestic politics”.
The government accused the Society of “seeking to act as a pressure group on an issue that fell outside its purview.” The government also claimed that the Society was “being manipulated to confront the government.”
Lee told the Council: “It is my job as prime minister in charge of the government to put a stop to politicking in professional bodies. If you want to politick, come out… You want to politick, you form your own party or join Mr Jeyaretnam… You think you can be smarter than the government and outsmart it, well, if you win, you form the government. If I win, we have got a new Law Society. It is as simple as that.”
Amendments were made to the Legal Profession Act which controlled the election of candidates to the Council, which according to Bell comprised almost exclusively “government appointees.”
You got the picture?
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In my view, there is no beyond pap to speak of. the reason is the people may have many good reasons to ask for more transparency but they choose not to do anything about it.
I mean the general population.
So, like the author, they are apolitical.
But 1 change is guaranteed : final retirement.
Lets see what happens after that.
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Can’t an apolitical write something that he feel and see wrong ?
What a brainwash Sinkee !!!
No different from the sheeps from the “infamous” church.
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For those who has already given up their singaporean citizenship or has already decided to give up their citizenship, pls place a disclaimer at the end of the msg.
This is to enable local singaporean to decide fairly for themselves the comments they read on TR or TOC. Local singaporean need to be clear that those exes are making comments from faraway lands whereby the decision make here, whether for good or worse, will never affect them.
Disclaimer: I am a local Singaporean.
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My honest/humble comments as a 62-year old Not-Stupid/Not-Senile Native Singaporean:
> PAP-induced “Political Cancer” (“Fear of Speaking Up”) = yes-man citizens.
> PAP-controlled Mainstream Media = yes-man journalists.
> PAP mollycoddling of Civil Servants = yes-man bureaucrats.
> PAP political flirtation with Trade Union Movement = yes-man workers.
(a) Million-dollar Question for Muddle-headed Million-dollar Ministers:
Pray Tell Us — HOW to breed self-reliance, innovation, creativity, productivity, entrepreneurship, blah, blah…. in yes-man bureaucrats, yes-man citizens, yes-man workers and yes-man journalists ???
(b) Simple Political Equation:
yes-man bureaucrats + yes-man citizens + yes-man workers + yes-man journalists
= “Singapore will SINK into nothingness and YOUR WOMEN will become maids” (in the words of the Wise Old Man-cum-Minister Mentor)
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DavidSeeLeongKit on Mon, 15th Feb 2010 5:56 pm
David
You hit the nail on the head.
The PAP was good until 1986. Since then, it has regressed and LKY has since became more introspective in his political views. I suspect he feared losing his grip.
The turning point? Amendment to the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act. He started sledge-hammering the opposition and bankrupting them. My respect and perception of LKY began on a downslope side since then.
The GRC was introduced in 1988. I thought there was some relief when Goh Chok Tong was made PM in 1990. The situation did not change. In 1997, Tang Lian Hoong was made to flee Singapore. In 2001 Chee Soon Juan was first taken to court and in 2005 he was made a bankrupt.
LHL as a PM is a disappointment. He is weak and is hardly heard on important issues.
If Singaporeans do not take the “bull by the horns” or “bite the bullet”, yes we will become second class citizens in our own country and maids and laborers in others.
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the british monarchy has lasted for 1000 years since 1000AD and is still ongoing in Britain. The british people still bow to the queen. The queen still lords over them
even in singapore alone, the british were here for 150 years.
the pap has only been in power for ~50 years. they still have 950 years to go.
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By the time that Singaporeans do vote the oppositions into the Government, the oppositions would have been strong enough to take over the Government. At the same time, the incumbents would have deteriorated to the state that they might not be capable of governing. Do have confidence in Singaporeans that they know how to vote wisely.
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