TR EMERITUS

By Bhaskaran Kunju After concluding his attendance for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Trinidad and Tobago early last week, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made a surprise announcement regarding the next general elections. PM Lee proposed a change to the pre-electoral proceedings by including an extra day of non-campaigning just before the polling day. As it stands campaign proceedings are carried out all the way till the polling day itself when no campaign activity is allowed. One of the reasons, cited by PM Lee for the change was for voters to take time out to think rationally before making their decision on whom to vote for after an emotionally charged campaign period. He said,” I think 24 hours after the last excitement of the election campaign period, the rallies, the door-to-door campaigning, the adrenaline flowing, the clash in the mass media as well as in person, perambulating vans blaring away loud speakers, it's good to have 24 hours to just calm down, think about it - tomorrow we vote." The brief campaign period during General Elections is easily the most active period in Singapore politics and it wouldn’t be wrong to state it as being emotionally charged as well. So while there is some truth in that, it would be quite off the mark to conclude that the voters are just as emotionally affected to the point where they are judgement is clouded and rationality impaired. The last two elections have seen it’s fair share of emotional highs from Dr Chee Soon Juan’s public tangle with then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong in 2001 and the highly charged battle with Worker’s Party candidate James Gomez in 2006. While these events were widely carried and reported in the mainstream media and in cyberspace there was very little emotional spillover into the electorate. If anything the only resultant from the latter, was a largely negative turnover for the PAP for their role in the James Gomez saga with the public mostly being put off by the constant taunting by the incumbent party while the Worker’s Party carried on with their duties. It was a miscalculated strategy that very nearly backfired. But most importantly it showed how discerning the voters were in setting aside emotions and logic. Nevertheless the worry over emotional spillovers is something that has been present for the PAP quite sometime especially given the relatively large turnouts the opposition rallies command as opposed to that of the PAP. Just one day before polling day in 2006 PM Lee acknowledged this phenomenon but brushed it aside as nothing more than mere curiosity. He said, “"Coming back from Pasir Ris-Punggol last night, I saw my son at the dinner table and asked him 'where have you been?' 'Ang Mo Kio Workers' Party rally.' 'What were you doing there?' 'Wanted to know, brought friends, 20 of them from school in uniform and went to hear.' I asked him 'what did you hear?' Don't know what they were talking about but every time they said something, they cheered - he said that. I said 'why don't you come to the PAP rally?' He said 'so boring and logical'. So I think it's okay. Many more (are) like that, want to hear but when it comes to the moment to vote and decide, I think they know what's in their interest.” However even within the realm of curiosity it will be difficult to discern between emotions and rationality and that’s something that the PAP has been able to catch on to. In a P65 Blog entry one of the writers, Fredric Fanthome, criticised those who had found fault with PM Lee’s proposal. He suggests, that “opposition mouthpieces” who cry foul at the new proposal, since political broadcasts and news reports during the cooling off day will be in favour of the government as the media is “in the hands of the government”, are insinuating that voters are not aware of the media ‘misuse’ and in the process belittling voter intelligence. Firstly, his drawing of conclusion is one that is clearly lacking in understanding of the socio-political scene of Singapore, as seen in his rudimentary argumentation process. However he is always free to choose to write whatever he wants in his blog. But notably, going by that run of conclusion, then low ‘voter intelligence’ is also being insinuated by the PAP since there is now apparently a need to ‘cool off’24 hours before polling day lest they be so irrational that they get taken in by emotions and theatrics and not vote lucidly. The actual truth could be much more mundane, that is that no one, neither the opposition nor the incumbent party, really has anything tangible to benefit from it. The opposition parties on one hand have always favoured the internet as the medium of choice, something that will be difficult to regulate outside of official party broadcasts. Even PM Lee acknowledged it, "On the Internet, it's grey and also the policing is not so straight-forward but even then, in principle we should say today is a quiet day. I cannot control several million videos on youtube but your website, what you're putting up in your own name, I think that should end the day before the cooling-off day," But the possibility that state owned media, which will be fully functional regardless of the election period, still holds the upper hand in the dissemination of information, tilts discourse in favour of the establishment. How effective this will be however will only be seen in practice. A 24-hour period may ultimately not even be enough for a cooling-off period should the concerns of emotional highs be in fact real. The only telling sign of this new arrangement is that the PAP is indeed playing safe over the possibility of emotional envelopment of issues by the opposition. Especially given the fact that, relatively enough leeway is being given in the next elections as opposed to the last when podcasts were disallowed and the Internet treated with much dread. With the changes in the electoral system as proposed earlier this year coupled with the domestic worries over immigration and financial woes, there is every likelihood that the next elections could be quite unpredictable all the way till polling day. Copyright © The Temasek Review, 2009 Other articles by Bhaskaran Kunju: >> The saga of (dethroned) beauty queen Ris Low >> Is there room for more foreigners in Singapore? >> Why social cohesion is at the forefront of the Prime Minister’s National Day Rally >> Changes in political system to allow more alternative voices >> The untimely departure of Chip Goodyear >> Should universities be re-politicized? About Author: Bhaskaran Kunju is a political science undergraduate in a local varsity. He is a regular contributor to the Straits Times Forum and TODAY Voices.  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent In his latest blog entry, Mr Alex Tan upped the ante by sending his challenge to have a public debate at Speaker's Corner to the following YPAP members: Corns Tan, Foo Yoong Kheong, Alan Soh, Sear Hock Rong, Edgar Khieu and the moderator who banned him from posting on the YPAP Facebook, Law undergraduate Genesis Shen. In his message, Mr Tan urged the YPAP members to walk their talk and "don't be anonymous cowards on Facebook." Mr Tan had been posting on YPAP Facebook forum for the last six months before he was banned for "indulging in name-calling and vulgarities" which even made the headlines in The Sunday Times. It is not known if he was banned because of his combative style or because the YPAP members are unable to manage his relentless attacks on the government. Despite being discredited by YPAP members for being detained for 5 days during his National Service, Mr Tan continues to heckle them. There was no immediate response from the YPAP. It remains to be seen if any YPAP member dares to take up Mr Tan's challenge and have a "live" debate with him at Hong Lim Park. Mr Tan's courage is rare among Singapore youths who are largely apathetic towards the nation's politics, let alone express their disapproval of the government openly. Besides blogging, Mr Tan also set up a Facebook group "Vote the PAP out" to protest against the ruling party. Among the grievances listed on the Facebook are - influx of foreigners, disadvanages of National Service, sky-rocketing property prices, high medical costs and low CPF's interest rates. Faced with an electorate which has becoming increasingly flustered and disillusioned with its policies, the ruling party has introduced a "cooling-off" day to enable voters to ponder over their choices "calmly" and "rationally". The additional day will probably have no effect on its hardcore detractors like Mr Tan who has long made up their minds to vote for the opposition, regardless of who the candidate is. The unthinkable prospect of a "freak election" is "freaking" out the ruling party which has engineered overwhelming electoral victories for itself one after another since first winning power in 1959. With victory almost acertained for the ruling party, Singaporeans may be more inclined to cast a protest vote it. The uncertainty arises if large number of voters think in this manner and vote for the opposition. It is indeed worrying that the majority of netizens are supporting Mr Tan in his solo crusade against the YPAP which shows that the ruling party still has alot of work to do to win disaffected young Singaporeans to its side. Copyright © The Temasek Review, 2009   Related articles:  1. Alex Tan challenges YPAP to public debate at Speaker's corner 2. YPAP member slammed by netizens for revealing critic’s detention record 3. YPAP member resorts to smearing critic’s character to silence him 4. PAP MP De Souza: More robust debate from PAP than opposition MPs  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent In his latest blog posting, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan highlighted the inadequacies in Singapore's healthcare system such as its acute-care approach to healthcare and the lack of an integrated system linking the private GPs to the public hospitals. Mr Khaw wrote that with the aging of Singapore's population, there is a need to emphasize on the prevention of disease in healthy Singaporeans as the "traditional acute-care approach to healthcare will no longer be adequate." He used the example of an frail elderly whose acute ailments are treated by a hospital specialist will still require care by GP, nurses and other healthcare workers upon discharge from the hospital. "We need to improve care transition as patients are discharged from acute hospitals to their homes. The first week or two post-discharge are often critical in preventing re-admission to the hospital. Acute hospitals will need to do more to ensure that frail elderly patients are properly settled into their homes and care handed over to the home care team," he added. At the present moment, there is poor coordination of care between GPs and hospital doctors who seldom work in unison as a team in the care of their patients. "We also need to enhance links between acute hospitals and GPs in the community. Patients are best managed by GPs who are familiar with their medical history and able to provide holistic care," he wrote. Though Singapore is small, Mr Khaw felt it is a challenge to track the health status of at-risk groups as they are distributed across various parts of the island which made him decide to organize the healthcare delivery systems at the regional level. He expects the acute hospital to work closely with partners in the community to deliver healthcare which is hassle free to Singaporeans. He claimed that this "will make healthcare more convenient, safer, better and at the lowest possible cost." Mr Khaw, who started blogging only recently had been soliciting feedback from Singaporeans on the healthcare budget in 2010. More than 110 comments were posted on MOH's Facebook and the REACH website. In his own admission, there is still much more work to be done and he hopes to hear the views from Singaporeans on how he can make Singapore healthcare system serve "our needs better, and at lower cost." You can provide feedback to Mr Khaw on the MOH Facebook page here Copyright © The Temasek Review, 2009  Read More →