Singapore, 2020.

Today marks the day Singapore’s government has dominated the country’s elections once again. As a Singaporean, this has been no surprise to anybody. You got to be pretty idealistic to have expected otherwise and the same sentiments were voiced with every opposition party that ran.

Now there are many things that people hear, read about and assume about Singapore. The local media paints a narrative. The overseas media paints another narrative. The local consumer absorbs one end while the exposed consumer absorbs the other end.

The PAP has been in power since 1965. Although only had 61.2% of the vote, will hold 83 out of 93 of parliamentary seats. While The Workers Party will hold the 10 remanding seats.

Through the eyes of many, this election is a sign of progress. It is also a massive indicator that the alleged methods used by the PAP is soon coming to an end. I won’t get into the details. But even I am optimistic about Singapore’s future.

PAP

The power held by the PAP is undeniable. Under the late LKY (look him up), Singapore has turned into a powerhouse many would not mess with. Seeing that we are merely a dot on the map, this is saying something. Singapore grew big with many from the older generation benefiting from the opportunities available from the country’s fast paced growth. With the rich & “elites” happy to continue voting them in and why not? If you’ve benefited in anyway you have pretty much no right to complain about the PAP. You have had a fantastic life free from crime, war and more. The PAP have been instrumental in building strong foundations in a country as small as Singapore.

However, with this rapid growth, they have forgotten many aspects of what makes us human.

First, through their firm control of the media, they have notoriously managed to always paint the narrative in their favor. Although in the past it has been easy to do, social media changed the game & has proven to always be a leveler. This current election has shown that taking a communist approach with the media will not last in the long run. You can continue to silence people through POFMA & lawsuits but more heads will always reappear.

Second, the rapid growth of the country as created a massive divide. Massive businesses has erupted all over Singapore and without putting the right policies in place to protect the people, they decided to focus on the financial growth of the country. The need and urge to grow has been fantastic but has severely blinded them as a whole to the soul and nature of their own people. Idealistic & leftist as it may sound, as a country, we should want better.

In my personal opinion, the introduction of a minimum wage would have countered a lot of these issues. Preventing the people on top from making at times 50x what the last person at the bottom in a corporation is crucial for long-term success. It would have stopped the heavy reliance on overseas low-waged workers and would have even given Singaporeans a less elitist perspective when it comes to jobs like construction, cleaners, you name it. <-A current issue I see snowballing in the years to come.

However, that little consideration would have hindered growth massively wouldn’t it? We have always been sold through the media that a minimum wage would have been impossible. We have been taught through our education to not ask why. But really? Would it have been that crazy?

Frankly speaking, do people really need to take home 30k a month? 50k a month? Are you spending 90% of your salary on saving lives or are you just blinded by greed?

The salaries that ministers in Singapore take is in many ways a crime and their reasons to justify the salaries even more so. Seeing that a lot of them aren’t serving their roles full-time is even MORE criminal if you truly think about how much they pocket. For a country of our size to pay them MORE than most politicians globally? Something is just not right there.

The half-hearted approach towards their duty has led to a complete disregard of what is needed internally and although they are starting to realize this divide in thinking, they are continuously playing catch-up rather than being in the driver’s seat on most issues.

I personally feel that a lot of these factors have led to a massive social and racial divide in the country. Although we’re continuously sold to be multi-racial, it feels like we’re always ticking boxes rather than truly understanding the words being preached.

Imaging paying $350 dollars for a meal and getting a $50 valued meal in return. While being taught, educated & told by the media that we should be thankful.

Finally, the conflict of interest on every level. Not going to get in detail here mainly because there is just too much to get into. But…

1. Decisions made in government positions & the lack of accountability and responsibility taken when there are major glaring mistakes.
2. Putting “qualified” people from the family & friends in/only high positions in companies/organizations.
3. The policies created to “protect” Singaporeans without giving the people to chance make decisions.

Are there more things? Absolutely. But these are the glaring issues slapping a lot of people right in their faces without them even seeing it because we are given some $$$ right before elections. I’m too stupid to go deep into the issues, numbers etc but hey. These are just my thoughts & opinions.

The PAP will always have a seat on the table. They are experienced and have qualified people. They need to stop changing the game out of fear of losing seats.

Just like how Steve Jobs had to step away from Apple for a few years to find new heights, the PAP needs to spend less time being afraid of losing power and more time focusing on what made Singapore a powerhouse.

The PAP severely needs a new vision. One that is bold, daring and lasting for the next 50 years because as of right now, they are too happy living paycheck to paycheck.

The Workers Party

The Workers Party came into this election campaign prepared. Their strategy was clear, their message was strong and their vision gave Singaporeans something to cheer about. They had a social media strategy and showed everyone, even the PAP, that the future of Singapore is the online game.

Not once did they rely on the potential star power of their candidates and they spent time reinforcing their policies. They showed Singapore that you don’t have to back down. They showed the people that we need to spend less time thinking about ourselves and more time focusing on the future.

The Workers Party have shown Singaporeans that they are human and more than that, they won’t take a top down approach but rather a bottom up one. The human in them can be seen as weakness, but I believe is a major strength. They are the human side that the PAP continuously fail to be.

The PAP can call them “PAP Lite” all they want. They can continue saying “we could have written it ourselves.” But the truth is simple. They didn’t. And the people who continuously say that so & so lack the experience. I say this. How are they supposed to gain experience if they never get the opportunity?

The Singapore Democratic Party & Peoples Progress Party

While Dr CSJ is a “victim” of the media, Dr Tan Cheng Bock is one that is loved by many. But both started poor campaigns in my opinion. Their online game was non-existent. As the days past(there weren’t many), they grew stronger and both ended strongly. In my opinion, being unprepared for the online game impacted their campaigns and although they gained ground in the end, fell short at the finish line.

Also, by being too focused on one or two of their party candidate’s star power, both these parties failed to showcasing their less famous people and spent too much time on those famous few.

A victim of the very traditional thinking that throwing a bigger brand name will be enough.

The Workers Party have shown them that the game can be changed. Like the PAP, the SDP and PSP can sometimes feel reactive. In my opinion, they sometimes look too comfortable playing the PAP’s game rather than taking the first step in being proactive towards things the PAP aren’t doing.

Negatives aside, listening to them both have been enjoyable. They both want whats best for the people. They are willing to sacrifice, introduce new policies and challenge the bigger power.

There is a lot to do for both parties. A complete change of mindset will be required moving forward and updated policies need to be considered and introduced. Their strategy even more so needs to be changed moving forward.

I have no doubt in my mind that both the SDP and the PSP will get a seat on the table sooner rather than later.

At the end of the day, the next generation have spoken. The battle is lost but the war is never truly over.

While the PAP are still doing what they do best. Being reactive to things & playing catch-up.

The WP, SDP and PSP are proving to be parties for the next generation. They are in it with a vision for the future. Even the older generations are slowly changing their minds. I hope these alternative voices never stop fighting the good fight and continue pushing the PAP to think about the people over their pockets.

I am honestly not anti-PAP & Singapore but the people need to realize that if you truly love your country, you need to have an opinion. You need to recognize and talk about improvements. You need to have a clear view of the future for our children and the generations after. You need to stop accepting comfort and acknowledging that the PAP was good for the growth of Singapore but that growth stopped the moment LKY’s vision was achieved.

Singapore is just too small to sit on the fence. Singapore is too small to live in comfort and not have an opinion. We’re surrounded by future powerhouses.

Times are changing faster than we can handle and if we aren’t ready, in a blink of an eye we are going to fall too far behind to catch-up.

Singaporeans need to ask themselves.

Whats next?