http://www.tremeritus.com/2013/12/29/tan-cj-pap-will-certainly-govern-sg-in-the-near-future/
People’s Action Party (PAP) will “certainly be governing Singapore in the near future”--yeah right
http://www.tremeritus.com/2013/12/30/rebutting-tan-cj-pap-more-likely-to-fail-in-2016/
I refer to the article: “Tan Chuan-Jin: PAP will ‘certainly govern SG in the near future’”.
The minister believes that the PAP has the support of many members of the electorate, who he believes see the PAP as the best party to lead and govern. I would like to express my disappointment at how much a minister is out of touch with the ground. Here are some of the key factors and political events which contradict the minister’s views as to why the PAP will be in the power in the near future.
Increased fallibility of and within the PAP?
Since the 2011 general elections, we have seen more and more flops within the PAP leadership as well as those who were once with it. Not only has there been issues such as the Michael Palmer affair as well as the AIM issue which are highly frowned upon by the electorate, there are also issues with the direction that Singapore has been pushed into in the latest population planning exercise. “Wither Singapore” as posted by George Yeo after the loss of Punggol East by-election does say a lot, whether or not they apply to this context.
Strong anti-PAP sentiment from younger voters?
The SMC of Punggol East has been a one where predominantly younger voters reside, and the by-election results reflect the unease the younger voters have for the PAP post-GE-2011. Even though it was initially predicted to be a tough fight for the WP, the WP still managed to get a 10.83% increase in vote swing. As 2016 comes, there will certainly be more of such incidents as they make a larger proportion of the electorate. In addition, it also helps that the opposition has managed to gain more high-quality people such as Paul Tambyah to provide a suitable alternative to vote against the PAP.
Navigating the political scene through a post-LKY era?
According to the Book Politics and Governance in Singapore by Bilveer Singh, the 2011 General Elections “would, by all counts, represent the last General Elections for Lee Kuan Yew”. Given that many mid and older-generation Singaporeans associate him with building success more so than the PAP itself, it would be interesting to see how this translate into votes for the younger generation PAP leaders rather than the old guards themselves. My guess is that this will lead the electorate to be more receptive towards alternatives as the god-like figure which they respect no longer exists.
Opposition-sympathetic impact of Social Media?
It was thanks to social media that the happenings that take place within our nation have spread faster than ever, and the PAP dogs has no place to hide from these sins they have committed against Singaporeans. We have seen more anger among Singaporeans, from news like $36 million a year spent on scholarships to foreigners and MRT breakdowns. As more social problems arise, more frequently and more extensively, this anti-PAP sentiment will be hard to contain and will certainly see more votes go to the opposition in the next general elections.
Population White Paper – diminishing the PAP’s standing?
On the surface, there have been increasing tensions with foreigners and the perceived cause of these foreigners has been that of the modern-day PAP leadership and their pro-foreigner policy. Political parties such as the SDP oppose such an increase while even someone like LKY puts the ideal number to be 5 to 5.5 million. On a deeper level, the fact that the party whip was imposed on the PAP dogs to vote in favour of the population white paper mean that there will be a deeper distrust for the PAP since we can no longer be assured of the PAP MP’s ability to act independently. Put together, this unease to the electorate will see more votes taken away from the PAP in 2016.
Concluding Remarks?
As with all elections, the decisions made by electorate will be based on the events in the past which have shaped their political views as well as the circumstances which they live in. The facts are clear that the PAP has let the voters down since the 2011 General Elections with more nonsense than even. With changing demographics and electorate compositions, the death of the PAP will be accelerated more than ever. Few people would have predicted that Punggol East would fall to the opposition, but they did anyway by a huge margin. In political uncertain times as today, the fall of the PAP will be bigger than previously thought.
Joseph Kheng-Liang Tan
*The author is an extremely homophobic 21 year-old polytechnic graduate who is currently pursuing his law degree in Australia. A believer of the free press, he has contributed extensively in his personal capacity to popular socio-political sites.
People’s Action Party (PAP) will “certainly be governing Singapore in the near future”--yeah right
http://www.tremeritus.com/2013/12/30/rebutting-tan-cj-pap-more-likely-to-fail-in-2016/
I refer to the article: “Tan Chuan-Jin: PAP will ‘certainly govern SG in the near future’”.
The minister believes that the PAP has the support of many members of the electorate, who he believes see the PAP as the best party to lead and govern. I would like to express my disappointment at how much a minister is out of touch with the ground. Here are some of the key factors and political events which contradict the minister’s views as to why the PAP will be in the power in the near future.
Increased fallibility of and within the PAP?
Since the 2011 general elections, we have seen more and more flops within the PAP leadership as well as those who were once with it. Not only has there been issues such as the Michael Palmer affair as well as the AIM issue which are highly frowned upon by the electorate, there are also issues with the direction that Singapore has been pushed into in the latest population planning exercise. “Wither Singapore” as posted by George Yeo after the loss of Punggol East by-election does say a lot, whether or not they apply to this context.
Strong anti-PAP sentiment from younger voters?
The SMC of Punggol East has been a one where predominantly younger voters reside, and the by-election results reflect the unease the younger voters have for the PAP post-GE-2011. Even though it was initially predicted to be a tough fight for the WP, the WP still managed to get a 10.83% increase in vote swing. As 2016 comes, there will certainly be more of such incidents as they make a larger proportion of the electorate. In addition, it also helps that the opposition has managed to gain more high-quality people such as Paul Tambyah to provide a suitable alternative to vote against the PAP.
Navigating the political scene through a post-LKY era?
According to the Book Politics and Governance in Singapore by Bilveer Singh, the 2011 General Elections “would, by all counts, represent the last General Elections for Lee Kuan Yew”. Given that many mid and older-generation Singaporeans associate him with building success more so than the PAP itself, it would be interesting to see how this translate into votes for the younger generation PAP leaders rather than the old guards themselves. My guess is that this will lead the electorate to be more receptive towards alternatives as the god-like figure which they respect no longer exists.
Opposition-sympathetic impact of Social Media?
It was thanks to social media that the happenings that take place within our nation have spread faster than ever, and the PAP dogs has no place to hide from these sins they have committed against Singaporeans. We have seen more anger among Singaporeans, from news like $36 million a year spent on scholarships to foreigners and MRT breakdowns. As more social problems arise, more frequently and more extensively, this anti-PAP sentiment will be hard to contain and will certainly see more votes go to the opposition in the next general elections.
Population White Paper – diminishing the PAP’s standing?
On the surface, there have been increasing tensions with foreigners and the perceived cause of these foreigners has been that of the modern-day PAP leadership and their pro-foreigner policy. Political parties such as the SDP oppose such an increase while even someone like LKY puts the ideal number to be 5 to 5.5 million. On a deeper level, the fact that the party whip was imposed on the PAP dogs to vote in favour of the population white paper mean that there will be a deeper distrust for the PAP since we can no longer be assured of the PAP MP’s ability to act independently. Put together, this unease to the electorate will see more votes taken away from the PAP in 2016.
Concluding Remarks?
As with all elections, the decisions made by electorate will be based on the events in the past which have shaped their political views as well as the circumstances which they live in. The facts are clear that the PAP has let the voters down since the 2011 General Elections with more nonsense than even. With changing demographics and electorate compositions, the death of the PAP will be accelerated more than ever. Few people would have predicted that Punggol East would fall to the opposition, but they did anyway by a huge margin. In political uncertain times as today, the fall of the PAP will be bigger than previously thought.
Joseph Kheng-Liang Tan
*The author is an extremely homophobic 21 year-old polytechnic graduate who is currently pursuing his law degree in Australia. A believer of the free press, he has contributed extensively in his personal capacity to popular socio-political sites.
