行动党总理们在卖啥？

What's Selling?
Tan Tee Seng

While we are preoccupied with who will be Singapore's potential PAP 4th Prime Minister, there is a more important question for the citizens. What would he be selling to the nation? and can he deliver? Let's look at what the previous three PMs sold us and whether they delivered.

The first PAP Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew (1959 to 1990), a product of a tumultuous time in the era of new nation statehood in Asia, sold us “Merdeka” and wanted us to “pledge ourselves as one united people, regardless of race, language or religion to build a democratic society based on justice and equality so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress.”

Yes, we did achieve prosperity and progress even from a low economic base like many other port cities which made up the nodes of the maritime trade routes and the global supply chain. In an era of booming manufacturing and demand, the high tide lifted everyone who knew how to float. As for building “a democratic society based on justice and equality”, he watered it down to a statement of highfalutin, lofty causes in his defence of paying himself and his ministers' astronomical high salaries in Parliament in 1994.

The successive Prime Minister, Goh Chok Tong (1990 to 2004) was the key driver in transforming Singapore from a cheap, low wage labour force into a middle income beachhead of the region. He sold the idea that we had done well; well enough to be gracious (no need to be so high handed against opponents and critics of the government), but we can aspire to have Switzerland's standard of living (not just chocolate, cheese and wine).

Singapore did embark on an “asset enhancement” and “upgrading” euphoria - a cheese in a mousetrap for many individuals. Using myself as a case study, my 4 room HDB flat bought in 1986 for $60,000 was sold for $315,000 in 1996. I “upgraded” to a private apartment, borrowed from my future CPF savings and found myself $500,000 in debt, further worsened by the Asian Financial crisis. At the same time, they tried to “liberalise” that mass media by issuing only one more broadcast license. SPH was given the license to start MediaWorks. MediaCorp was also given the licence to print Today newspaper. So now we have a diverse selection of two state-owned newspapers to choose from in our very ‘liberal' media.

Economically, top line figures were still glittering despite the Asian Financial Crisis and SARS in 2003. The Singapore population grew from 3 million in 1990 to 4.2 million (with about 30% of the workforce being foreign workers). We got Swiss cheese made in Singapore, tasting a bit like salted fish made by fishermen in Pahang.

The third and current PAP Prime Minister came to office selling the continued success of the PAP government. To those who fell through the cracks, despair not, he extolled. For the new buzz words were ‘inclusivity' and ‘embracing diversity' and even ‘trampoline'. Things would pass down in good shape because PAP intends to rule for 10 thousand years!

So, what would the 4G PM be selling?

Even without the uncertainties exacerbated by pandemic, many young graduates find it hard to get their prospective jobs and have had to rely on government training grants to get started. In 10 years' time, about 50% of HDB (500,000 units) will be reaching the 50 years old mark by when rapid decay in value was forecasted. One of the PAP prospective PM candidates confirmed that the value of HDB flat will be zero when it reaches 99 years old. With the HDB as their only asset, many Singaporeans had committed so much of their retirement savings into this fast-decaying asset. So much in fact that in the last count, more than 70% of Singaporeans do not meet the minimum sum requirement in their CPF savings, and hence are drawing less than $350 per month when the decent living expenses is deemed to be $1300.

I look forward to a new PM who has a vision for the above issues, not one who is engaged in the politics of the inner and eastern palace.