NEXT year or the year after next, Singaporeans will go to the polls, a little over a year or two after neighbouring Malaysia chose to change chips from Barisan Nasional (BN) to Pakatan Harapan (PH).
Will they vote for change too, like their cousins across the Causeway? Or will they stick with the tried and tested? Maybe by then they will note what has really changed for Malaysians, and they too will be tempted to switch sides. Or will they feel differently by that time? They still have time to consider, and what happened in Malaysia will not be the only factor for them to take into account.
For the most part, since Singapore was led first by Lee Kuan Yew, the opposition against the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) has been about the nature of dynastic supremacy of the republic founder’s family through the ruling party.
Despite Goh Chok Tong becoming the second Prime Minister, Kuan Yew continued to be prominent as adviser and later on Minister Mentor. Kuan Yew’s son, Lee Hsien Loong, took over from Chok Tong as the third prime minister with his predecessor currently Emeritus Senior Minister, and these changes of leadership has seen Singapore into what it is today, a modern and dynamic economic powerhouse.
The other thing most mentioned by her detractors is that Singapore has some of the highest paid politicians in the world, partly to attract the best candidates to public service and to remove temptations of corruption.
For example, the prime minister earns S$2.2 million (RM6.71 million) a year. All in all, despite a few hiccups over the years, PAP continues to deliver. With history on their side, it is expected that the opposition will not be able to mount much of a challenge with the ruling party in power since 1965. To take advantage of this seamless continuity, the time has come again for the process of change in leadership since much has been said about who’s next after Hsien Loong, 66.
This was answered in an emphatically dull fashion recently when Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat, 57, was chosen as First Assistant Secretary-General of PAP and the person chosen by Heng to assist him as the future deputy prime minister is Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing, 49, as the Second Assistant Sec-Gen.
PAP is aware that what happened in Malaysia will not be allowed to happen in the republic, starting with assuring the public of their coming leaders profile, achievements and vision.
Continuous criticisms and vilification of BN leaders together with the hyping up of certain issues has in the end seen power changed hands in Malaysia with social media a big influencer among the younger voters, a large voting block in this year’s election with majority siding with PH for a “new Malaysia”.
This has not gone unnoticed in Singapore which experienced more or less the same. Already, the republic has started to debate and propose how to combat online falsehoods, rebuking Facebook about it. The media giant was asked by Singapore to delete alternative news website, States Times Review’s post, but it refused. The post was deemed fake news and defamatory when it connected Singapore and Hsien Loong to probes on 1MDB.
In this regard or with any other matters seen crucial to be tackled from the outset, PAP looks set to stick with a proven method — analyse and find a suitable solution — including when dealing with sentiments online.
Post 2011 polls, for example, saw postings that predicted worsening support for PAP after the party lost a constituency for the first time and also lowest vote share since independence (60.1 per cent). In 2015, however, PAP won with a bigger vote share of 69.9 per cent, the highest since 2001.
Currently to a certain extent, “new Malaysia” have been providing Singaporeans teasers of the possible impact if they do choose a different political bloc to govern. Already, seven opposition parties have met several weeks ago to discuss about co-operation for the coming polls ala PH.
Acknowledging trends while taking appropriate measures is key for former PAP lawmaker Inderjit Singh, who said the next election would be a referendum on the untested new leadership team.
“None of the 4G (fourth generation) leaders have delivered groundbreaking policy initiatives. So, it is important for the 4G leaders to show their own initiative of delivering policies that satisfy Singaporeans and they have to do it fast. If they fail, trust (in the PAP) will be eroded, and this could change the political landscape of Singapore,” said Inderjit.
Still, first things first. While saying Singapore and Malaysia are different, opposition-leaning website theindependent.sg hit out at the way the republic’s new leaders were chosen when it said: “Heng, Singapore’s 4th PM-to-be, is the product of an almost closed system that has little in common with the Malaysian one. In Malaysia, politics is played out in the open. Factions compete, party polls are public, party leaders take on one another.
The result: national leaders who make it are normally those who can carry the ground, having gone through the route of having to convince party members that they would be more than capable of fighting in the wider contest that lies ahead at district, state and national levels. No choreography, no leadership by tea session or appointment.”
On this point and about leadership, however, Dr Gillian Koh, deputy director (Research) at the Institute of Policy Studies, National University of Singapore, in an opinion piece recently, countered by saying: “In an age of uncertainty, it is ever more unreasonable to expect the government to be right in all things, at all times.”
Despite that and while hoping for an uneventful transfer of leadership depending on their partnership, she also pointed out that Heng and Chan will have to work hand in glove to prove to Singaporeans that they do get the policies right by getting the processes of governance right at the next general election.
As Singaporeans ponder and decide whether to go with the new or stay on with the tried and tested, this will also be the verdict for PAP’s choice of 4G leadership.
Azman Abdul Hamid is NST Convergence Editor (Foreign)