TR EMERITUS

By Eugene Yeo, Consultant Editor [In this classic five-part series, Eugene Yeo will examine the inherent weaknesses of the ruling PAP, its implications for Singapore and possible scenarios in the post-LKY era.] EDITORS' NOTE: Please support Project Kasih to help elderly street scavengers here The lifeline of any political party depends on its grassroots support base comprising of party supporters and volunteers who help to spread its message in the community, recruit new members into the party and provide a ready source of manpower on the ground for major events such as canvassing for votes before general elections. The PAP has the most formidable grassroots machinery in Singapore which had contributed to its record number of victories at the polls since independence. Every single constituency is helmed by a PAP branch secretary who served as the middle man between the MP and the residents. He/she organizes the weekly Meet-the-People sessions, walkabouts and grassroots events to be graced by the MP. The Residents' Committees (RCs), Citizens Consultative Committees (CCCs) and Community Center Management Committees (CCMCs), though technically under the People's Association (whose Chairman is the Prime Minister himself) can be considered as part of the PAP's grassroots support base as well since local PAP leaders often wear two or more hats. They can sit simultaneously on different committees, thereby exerting the party's influence over all levels of the grassroots network. In the PAP's earlier days, its socialist idealogy, message of equality for all and vision of first achieving self-government from the British and later of building a democratic society in a union with then Malaya had attracted many young Singaporeans to join its ranks, some of whom eventually rose up the party hierarchy to hold leadership positions. This route of party membership and advancement through the grassroots support base has been scuppered in recent years due to the increasing political apathy of young Singaporeans and the lack of an attractive political goal to rally the masses. America's Barack Obama preached a message of "change", China's Hu Jintao pledged to build a "harmonious" society, Taiwan Ma Ying-Jeou swore to improve ties with China, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono promised to further democratize Indonesia and Malaysia's Najib Razak introduced his "1Malaysia" concept to appeal to the ethnic minorities. What message does the PAP leaders have for Singaporeans other than crass materialism manifested by repeated exhortations to bear more babies, postpone one's retirement age, work longer hours and embrace foreigners? Hardly the right stuff to inspire and motivate young, idealistic and passionate Singaporeans to join them. One need only attend a community dialogue session with a Minister held frequently in every constituency for the government to "feel" the pulse of the people to realize the gravity of the situation. Most of the participants are above 40 years of age. There are hardly any young Singaporeans between the age of 18 and 35. Where are they? Obviously they are not interested in the nation's current affairs and politics which is worrisome since this is the "politically charged" generation from where future leaders are born. The disconnection between young Singaporeans and the ruling party will the root of its downfall eventually. The PAP cannot depend forever on the pre-1965 Singaporeans for their undying support. Young Singaporeans born after independence owe no allegiance to the ruling party and they are more likely to be catalysts in the winds of change which have swept across much of Asia. As a growing voting bloc, young Singaporeans will be kingmakers in future elections and not winning their hearts and minds now may prove to be costly for the PAP. During the 2006 elections, only a couple of silver-haired elderly are seen attending the PAP rallies. In fact, they had to be provided with free transport and meals to turn up! In contrast, the rallies of opposition parties, especially that of the Workers' Party, attracted thousands of spectators including many Singaporeans in their 20s and 30s who attended them out of their own accord, including the Prime Minister's own son. Barack Obama's election campaign was driven largely by young Americans who spread his message of change through blogs, Facebooks, emails and physically on the foot. Small donors, rather than large corporates and lobbies account for more than half of his campaign funds enabling him to outspend and outfight his closest rival in the democratic primary, Hillary Clinton. Young Japanese helped organize the election campaigns for the (then) opposition Democratic Party of Japan which won the recent general election by a landslide victory, relegating the ruling LDP into a minor party in Parliament with many ministers and heavyweights losing their seats. Again the Malaysian youth is instrumental in bringing out the political tsunami last year where the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition was bloody-nosed at the polls, losing its traditional two-thirds minorities. Many young bloggers, human rights activists and professionals such as Jeff Ooi, Tony Pua and Hannah Yeo won seats in the Dewan Rakyat on their first attempt. The PAP clearly has a problem communicating with young Singaporeans which is not helped by the "holier-than-thou" and "I know better" attitude displayed by some of its leaders such as the MP who described ordinary Singaporeans who cannot afford a cooking trip to France as "lesser mortals" and the Finance Minister who insulted their intelligence by refusing to reveal the real reasons behind Temasek's CEO-designate Chip Goodyear's abrupt departure on vague grounds of "strategic purpose." The fact that the PAP has encountered difficulties in recruiting credible young Singaporeans into its ranks to stand for elections is a testimony of how narrow and perilous their grassroots support base has become without which the party base will become shaky and unreliable. Nowadays, it is no big deal being a PAP member as many are sleeping members who are connected only to the party via a membership number. In fact, most joined the party not out of a genuine political conviction, but as a matter of expediency to purchase a "talisman" to "protect" themselves, to acquire useful connections inside the ruling party and hence the government or simply to lay the groundwork for one's future career advancement, especially in the civil service. The party base cannot be counted upon to produce fresh batches of budding leaders to replace the geriatrician party which is fast becoming a mini "Soviet" akin to the post-Brezhnev era Soviet Union before Gorbachev took over with ex-leaders populating the echelons of the party and government therefore mandating the need to continue the search for talent outside the party through the now famous "tea-parties". Nowhere in the world do we see another country with two ex-prime Ministers holding ministerial positions in the cabinet with two deputy prime ministers. Due to the lack of prospects in advancing up the party hierarchy, most PAP cadres are unmotivated and dispirited. No matter how hard they try to prove themselves, they will never get noticed by the ruling elite who can easily pick somebody from nowhere to become the YPAP Chairman or a CEC member. The cadres are there for "wayang" only, to fill up the empty seats at the PAP's annual convention and the Prime Minister's National Day Rally to prevent another embarrassing scene like the 2006 election rallies. There are no capable leaders in the PAP at the branch level partly due to their limited power and say in the running of the party. Other than managing the mundane affairs of the branch such as registration and updating of memberships and organizing the weekly Meet-the-People sessions for the MP, the branch secretaries are literally branch "managers" with no real political clout. In 1962, some 35 out of 51 PAP branches together with 19 out of 23 branch secretaries crossed over to the newly formed opposition party Barisan Sosialist, which had split from the PAP, severely crippling the PAP's grassroots machinery. The bitter experience led then Secretary-General Lee Kuan Yew to curtail the powers of the PAP branch secretaries and cadres at the grassroots level. Branch secretaries can longer join other political parties without first resigning from the party. Instead of raising their own funds, the branches had to be contented with a monthly allowance given by the PAP's central treasury. Politically ambitious secretaries were removed from their positions and replaced with dour, uninspiring and insipid civil servants and technocrats. The wings of the PAP grassroots leaders were severely clipped. Though these series of measures ensured that the PAP would become a highly stable if not staid political outfit controlled directly from the upper echelons of the party, it weakened its party and grassroots support base considerably which was exacerbated by the lack of a formidable opponent during the elections held between 1968 and 1981 after the demise of Barisan Sosialists. As such, the PAP did not require charismatic, energetic and capable party leaders on the ground to campaign for votes. The evaporating support from its grassroots and party base will continue to spur the PAP leadership to recruit candidates from outside the party who may not necessarily shared the same political ideals and aspirations as the ruling elite. As these outsiders have to be "persuaded" to give up their otherwise lucrative careers to join politics full-time, they have to be given an adequate "compensation" of sort leading to the astronomical salaries and allowances of our ministers and MPs. Singaporeans no longer think it is a honor and privilege to serve their fellow citizens. The dictum" no money, no talk" has permeated through all aspects of our society starting from the top leadership down to the ordinary people in the streets. This is a damning indictment of the PAP's leadership of the country that after 44 years of independence, very few Singaporeans are willing to sacrifice the comforts of their civilian life to join politics unlike in the 1950s and 1960s when many idealistic, passionate and inspiring young men and women dedicated their lives to public service without expecting anything in return. Among them was Lim Chin Siong who won the respect of Lee Kuan Yew with his simple, spartan and incorruptible ways. Under "normal" circumstances, the PAP will not have to pay its way out of trouble to entice non-party members to join them as they will have a ready poll of potential successors to take over them within the party itself. However, with literally no party base to speak of, they will face a big succession crisis when the senior leadership pass on and there is nobody influential enough to hold the fort. Take for example the latest leadership crisis engulfing the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) which is split right down the middle between its President Ong Tee Keat and his deputy Chua Soi Lek. Though MCA has been severely weakened by political infighting, it can still make a comeback and reinvent itself because there are young leaders waiting in the wings to take over the the squabbling leaders. MCA has a strong party support base and an institutionalized system of party renewal where every party member has the right to contest in all the top posts as long one garners enough nominations from the delegates and the tenure of the President is limited to only three terms thereby preventing the occurrence of "dynastic politics" and its associated ills of cronyism and nepotism. In the case of the PAP, it has a highly centralized and uniformed organizational structure in which real power is held by only a few senior leaders who are disconnected from ordinary party cadres serving little purpose other than to follow the orders of their immediate heads. They are not involved in the decision making process or leadership selection of the party at all. When its senior leaders pass on eventually, there may be nobody left to fill the power vacuum left behind resulting in either a staid, conservative and rigid party clinging on to power through the unfair and undemocratic system left behind by the founders or a split into smaller parties, none of which can regain the party's original political hegemony. In part 3 of this series, I shall write on the third major weakness of the PAP - the lack of true political leaders in a party full of technocrats.  Read More →

From our Correspondent "China-Singapore relations have been growing smoothly under the care and support of leaders from both countries," said Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang to visiting Singaporean Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong. The two leaders met yesterday in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Singapore has enjoyed years of close relationship with China since the establishment of diplomatic relationships in the 1980s with a visit by then paramount leader Deng Xiaoping. ex-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew who used to be suspicious of China due to its support for the Malayan Communist Party in the 1950s, opened Singapore's doors to China. Students were encouraged to take up Chinese as a first langugage, SAP schools were selected to nurture a new Chinese elite and Singapore companies flocked to China to do business, epitomized by the Suzhou Industrial Park founded in 1994. Over the years, the exchanges had expanded beyond diplomatic ties to the personal level as Chinese students and workers arrived in Singapore to study and work, some of whom eventually settling down here. Li said the two countries enjoy a high degree of mutual trust in the political area and win-win cooperation in the economic field. He added that the two countries have maintained close coordination on regional and international affairs and achieved rich results in cooperation in various fields. Singapore's foreign affairs policies has largely mirrored that of China including its "non-interference" stance in the internal affairs of Burma. Goh said Singapore places great importance on relations with China. He expressed the willingness to further expand mutually beneficial cooperation so as to realize common development. Li Keqiang is ranked 7th in the powerful Politburo Standing Committee. Rising through the ranks of the Communist Youth League, he served as party secretary in the provinces of Henan and Liaoning before being transferred to the central government. He is widely expected to succeed Premier Wen Jiabao after his term expires in 2012. The Singapore government has always placed great emphasis to ties with China. Earlier this year, the YPAP led by Teo Ser Luck organized a study trip to China to learn from the Communist Youth League in political education and leadership development. (Asiaone, 4 March 2009)  Read More →

From our Correspondent Last weekend, the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) visited a nursing home as part of its effort to "perform community service." This is the first time SDP has done volunteer work. It is not known which nursing home they visited. From the photo posted on its blog, there appeared to be at least a dozen volunteers including its Chairman Gandhi Ambalan and CEC members Chee Siok Chin and John Tan, all donned in the red color of their party. SDP used to be vilified by the public due to its frequent altercations with the government, especially its Secretary-General Dr Chee Soon Juan and his sister. Dr Chee was convicted last Friday by a district court judge for speaking without a permit. He was fined $10,000 and will have to go to jail if he cannot pay the fine. Despite attempts by the state media to demolish SDP, it appeared to be given a fresh lease of life in recent years with the entry of younger recruits. As expected, the visit was not reported by journalists from the mainstream media. The only time SDP appears in the news is when Dr Chee is arrested or questioned in court. It is not sure if the latest move by SDP is a mere publicity gimmick or part of a well-thought plan to give itself an image makeover. While doing community service is a good way of winning goodwill from Singaporeans, it may backfire due to the party's already embattled image which is deeply etched in the minds of Singaporeans. Besides, the main purpose of a political party is to partake in the political life of the nation such as participating in elections, policy-making and raising public awareness of national issues and not social work. Given the limitations in resources and time, SDP may consider spending more time and energy on grassroots work. Without a strong grassroots machinery and support base, they will be staring down at defeat again in the next election. Nevertheless, it is commendable that SDP has been active on the ground. Its website is updated frequently almost once every two days. The Reform Party is also busy of late in preparation for its first dinner anniversary. On the contrary, nothing is heard from the Workers' Party or the Singapore People's Party which provide the only 2 opposition MPs in Parliament.  Read More →