2011-05-08, 08:53 | Link #13561 |
Knight Errant
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Age: 36
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Is their a mature opposition party in Singapore? Someone who could feasibly take power and not mess up?
Seems to me that Singapore is very sound economically, it's the political side that needs reformed. Is there a good party that campaigns on liberalising the state, but preserving the economic status quo? How are civil liberties in Singapore? It's always seemed a bit constrictive from the outside looking in. |
2011-05-08, 10:27 | Link #13565 | ||
Moving in circles
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Singapore
Age: 49
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Politics back then were literally matters of life or death (I do not jest — given the passions of the time, politicians could have been lynched or assassinated had they played their cards wrong), so... some less than savoury tactics were used to "fix" the opposition. Some today would say that it takes a fiercer gangster to crush other gangsters. That said, it is far more important to note that men of exceptional quality and character — Toh Chin Chye, Goh Keng Swee, S. Rajaratnam and, of course, Lee Kuan Yew — formed the kernel of Singapore's first generation of political leaders. They literally were giants upon whose shoulders we stand today. They, in turn, managed to groom a team of hand-picked successors, all of whom were top-flight government scholars scoring the highest distinctions at top universities around the world. In short, the People's Action Party (PAP) managed, for some 40 to 50 years, to have almost complete monopoly of some of the country's top brains. In the early years, these men and women were driven by a deeply felt passion for nation building. Over time, that passion has evolved into a more subtle set of motivations, but still largely driven by the desire to preserve past success for future generations. Given such an environment, opposition parties simply couldn't thrive. It was only in the past 20 years or so that we began to see stirrings of discontent with the status quo. But, so long as the ruling PAP continued to deliver economic growth while remaining largely incorruptible, very few Singaporeans saw credible reasons to oppose the Government. Quote:
Singapore isn't anti-immigration. We are, however, concerned about the pace at which immigrant workers are coming in. The PAP has admitted as much, that it has miscalculated the rate at which foreign labour was allowed in, especially in the last two to three years. Our public-transport and housing infrastructure could not absorb the huge influx, leading to sharp spikes in transport and housing costs. All these served to sharpen what used to be only background resentment, hence making it an election issue this year. Last edited by TinyRedLeaf; 2011-05-08 at 11:16. Reason: typo, Sosialis with an "s" in the middle, not "c". |
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2011-05-08, 11:29 | Link #13566 |
Knight Errant
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Age: 36
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Regarding the PAP, it's my experience from my own country (Ireland) or other countries (Japan...) that parties that hold power for a long time descend into corruption and cronyism. The main party here (Fianna Fail) has had power on and off for the vast majority of the last 60 years, and were well in with Banks and Property developers, putting their interests before that of the state (cause they were "buddies"). Same goes for LDP in Japan. We were somewhat lucky in that we have an opposition which has occasionally been in power, though I don't love them much either.
Either way, a healthy opposition is vital for a functioning democracy, if the politicians don't think they can lose an election it's too easy for them to start taking their position for granted. Anyway, it seems to me that the obvious way to form a solid opposition in Singapore is to campaign solely on Civil Liberties, while trying to recruit people from the business community and whatnot to make the party more economically sound. Obviously, though, there's difficulties I'm not aware of in doing so. |
2011-05-08, 11:50 | Link #13568 | |||
Moving in circles
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Singapore
Age: 49
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Quote:
How was this clean record achieved? That's something for historians to ponder. I think it's a combination of leadership by example, astute judgment of character and the simple fact that we're just a city-state — the potential politicians we have to work with simply do not vary very much in terms of character and capabilities. Can the PAP decline? It's possible, especially if the politics of the future descends into short-term populism. No one denies the possibility, and it's something we do worry about. Quote:
Watch Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's post-Election press conference. Listen to what he says and, more importantly, read his body language. Then, tell me if you honestly believe that this is a man who takes his position of political supremacy for granted. That is before you even take into consideration that it was Mr Lee himself who pushed for more-relaxed electoral laws to allow for greater opposition representation, when he was under no obligation to do so. Quote:
Moreover, it's actually very hard to persuade people to join politics here, because they would have to sacrifice so much, in terms of pay and privacy. Grassroots politics is extremely time-consuming, and most career-minded people would rather not go through it, because it's mostly a thankless task. Anyways, I wouldn't want to derail the news thread further. Feel free to PM or VM if you have further questions about Singapore politics. |
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2011-05-08, 12:34 | Link #13569 | |
NYAAAAHAAANNNNN~
Join Date: Nov 2007
Age: 35
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Then there are property speculators driving up the price of housing, Singaporeans refusing to have children because they couldn't buy a house due to high housing prices and instead working and spending for themselves, driving up the cost of living, then using their spare cash to speculate in property.......bloody vicious cycle. Everybody wants a car and house but there isn't enough space in the whole of Singapore for everyone to do so (houses maybe if they build upwards and slow down in granting foreigner PR/citizenship).
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2011-05-08, 12:47 | Link #13570 |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 67
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Despite the mythology many Americans seem to be believe... it really *is* the economy in front of "civil liberty" in most of the human race. If everyone is doing well (or "well enough"), the majority of people tend to be content with whatever governmental system is in place. As long as it isn't stiff-arming the business (again, the "economy").
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2011-05-08, 15:26 | Link #13571 |
Knight Errant
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Age: 36
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Well, they do have 60% or so of the vote, surely the system would work well if they used Proportional representation or party list rather then FPP. And it wouldn't be that difficult considering they already have multi-seat consituencies. That would make elections more competitive.
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2011-05-08, 21:53 | Link #13572 | ||
Not Enough Sleep
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: R'lyeh
Age: 48
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Quote:
http://articles.cnn.com/2009-03-09/t...rms?_s=PM:TECH Quote:
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2011-05-09, 01:05 | Link #13577 |
NePoi!
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Ontario, Canada
Age: 44
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To go back to the UK for a bit, the Guardian have their own comment cartoon about the results of the various local and regional votes to have taken place last week.
No prizes for guessing which result stands as the most prominent! Oh, and there will be a referendum on independence (which the UK government will not attempt to forestall or pre-empt); the BBC have a preliminary Q&A on the topic here, if you are interested.
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2011-05-09, 04:51 | Link #13578 |
books-eater youkai
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Betweem wisdom and insanity
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Europe pressured to revise Irish and Greek bailouts
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...7471WV20110509
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2011-05-09, 05:51 | Link #13579 | |
Takao Tsundere Cruiser
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Classified
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2011-05-09, 11:27 | Link #13580 | ||
Not Enough Sleep
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: R'lyeh
Age: 48
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Quote:
put a engine on it and say it is a boat. Quote:
those are underwater cities, I don't think we can do those yet.
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current affairs, discussion, international |
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