What will Singapore’s future be like without MM Lee?
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By Seah Chiang Nee
With election buzz rising, Singapore’s talking point these days centres around two questions: What will the future be like without Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew?
Will the young generation, whose voting strength is increasing, continue to support the People’s Action Party (PAP) under its present strategies without the founding leader?
An indication may come in the next few months from a benchmark general election possibly without the participation of the 87-year-old Lee for the first time in 51 years.
Still in grief over the recent passing of his wife, Lee is also weakened by a chest infection after a fall in Moscow.
He is likely to recover but will be, in his own words, “a different man” without her.
Under the circumstances, Lee may decide to call it quits when the PAP announces its candidates.
“No one can tell for sure,” said a party insider. “But he has already done so much for the country. He has often said he’ll step down if health forbids him from contributing. Regretfully, I think the time has come.”
If it happens, history will start a new chapter after 51 years of Lee’s powerful presence that helped to shape today’s Singapore.
It will also, for better or worse, lead to major changes after a period of continuity.
The result of the coming polls – as is Singapore’s future – will largely be decided by the younger generation of both leaders and the electorate.
Sensing a turning point, but not sure exactly how the longer term future will turn out, Singaporeans are awaiting the polls with some anxiety.
No date has been announced, but it is widely expected to take place within the next six months.
Foreign Minister George Yeo has already told party activists to prepare for one at the year-end or early 2011. In 2006, the PAP won 82 seats on 66.6% popular votes while the opposition got only two seats, but won one-third of the votes.
Some 47 per cent of the seats were uncontested because there were no opposition candidates, resulting in many PAP MPs winning seats by walkovers.
Critics attribute it to a fear of Lee and his history of detaining or suing his political foes. The Government, however, attributes it to the poor performance of a fractious opposition.
Things will dramatically change in a post-Lee Singapore.
He himself had years ago predicted that after he quits, more and better quality Singaporeans would join the opposition to take on the PAP.
He also said that his successors would have no problem winning the next two elections (until 2016-17), but hinted that they could be voted out if they failed to measure up to rising expectations.
At the moment, the focus is on the ruling party’s self-renewal, like whether Lee and who among the older staunch Cabinet supporters will leave to make way for new blood.
If it follows tradition, a quarter of its current 82 MPs will be replaced by younger men and women.
Even without Lee or the fear factor, the ruling party as the incumbent will still enjoy overwhelming odds over its fledgling rivals, including the power to change rules and the support of a compliant press.
Above all, the party is believed to retain broad support from older, conservative Singaporeans (especially housewives), the wealthy, the vast bureaucracy and upper middle class, who feel “safe” under PAP rule.
Few in this group appear keen to opt for the unknown.
But the same cannot be said of the lower income group, struggling wage earners and young professionals who have suffered from the foreign influx.
“There are many jobless or underemployed people out there who have become despondent and bitter,” one writer opined.
“And young professionals are worried at all times that ‘cheaper’ foreigners will replace them or retard their pay rise.”
Summing up this feeling was a recent letter “Linda” posted on the Internet, which said: -
“My family members were staunch supporters of PAP and Lee Kuan Yew who had improved most Singaporeans’ standard of living through hard work and education.
“But during these past 10 years, I have seen one by one, my siblings, relatives and friends, become jobless. A qualified accountant was told to apply for a job as chambermaid when she approached (an official job help body).”
Linda said she had not believed this could happen, until the past few years, “when I realised that so many foreigners were taking up most of the office jobs, and true-blue Singaporeans were being displaced”.
“Sorry, Mr Lee and PAP, I have now second thoughts about you. But thanks for the good years some of my generation had gone through – but not now for my children,” she concluded.
Rising discontent will make the approaching election one of the hardest to confidently predict by using past yardsticks.
In the wake of large-scale immigration, which was recently cut down, Singapore is now bigger and divided so much that it is difficult to stereotype its people.
Lee’s old consensus society has disappeared long before him.
Despite this, Lee will leave behind a country that largely works – an efficient, purposeful civil service and a strong infrastructure.
These will probably allow the PAP to retain a mandate for a while with or without Lee.
But with the ground souring, his party will likely lose popularity to a rising, more credible opposition both in votes and the number of seats.
The coming polls will be crucial because it will show how the young will vote and how political upstarts, both in the PAP and in the opposition, will fare when things get hot.
They could throw up a future prime minister.
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马照跑，舞照跳
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We can't do without MM Lee
. We will degenerate to a 4th world country. Beggars will roam the street. Drugs will be openly for sale... ahem unless we have a new leader greater or at least equivalent to MM Lee. 
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ok i hear u.
i try to be available lah ok?
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when lky isnt around......all those that were highly dependant on him will join him too.
the logic of it is ......if the window where the the sunlight is blanked off...the plants that depended on that window will wither n die.
sure the plants will wheel itself to another window to survive....but the other windows are already occupied....so plant will be weak......
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that means people groups and entire country if everyone soley depended on him..in otherwards....parasites will die off as the host is no more there.....so .............
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when the old fuck conks off............
the sun will longer shine on S'pore.................birds will no longer lay eggs..............
even the tides will cease...............and there'll be no wind..............
PEOPLE WILL EAT SHIT...............AND PASS OUT RICE............
but there's a silver lining..................there'll be snow......................
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Originally posted by ShyGuyIsNotGay:
We can't do without MM Lee
. We will degenerate to a 4th world
country. Beggars will roam the street. Drugs will be
openly for sale... ahem unless we have a new leader greater or
at least equivalent to MM Lee. we'll be poorer than beggars in Bangladesh....................all men will be beggars.........and women be prostitutes.............
there will be no one else to replace the old fuck................he's the greatest man to ever walk the earth................
LKY IS EVEN GREATER THAN GOD HIMSELF........................
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okie okie.. no one is indispensable ... lky, dont try so hard to be available... becos we got the sunshine from the other window and also snow ... beautiful snow flakes... first time in singapore...
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as romanista.....no......there is another one.......sees the ghost of yoda talking to ghost of obi wan kenobi.....
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no....lky is just another man......just given task of leveling the land before its true building functions.......the real singapore has yet to be built......its just the begining of singapore and not the end.it may be the end for some...but singapore will be better.
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however if spore is made up of narrow minded,poor knowledge, no skills all frying kuay teow and driving a taxi for a living...then thats an entirely different story.......please see nostradamus apocalypse chapter for detailed info.
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Originally posted by Hitman 778:
however if spore is made up of narrow minded,poor knowledge, no skills all frying kuay teow and driving a taxi for a living...then thats an entirely different story.......please see nostradamus apocalypse chapter for detailed info.
hmm... damn... hey.. hey... we do have majority of narrow minded, lousy knowledge, do "kuay teow", drive "taxi" ...30% are foreign talent
70% are local talent, where
a) 10% don't have bre4ad and butter to survive
b) 89% do "kuay teow"
c) 1% got the brain, but help themselves only
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Sinkapore future will be bleak, not because he is gone, but because of the repressive manner he ran Sinkapore. He forced clever bright locals to emigrate to other countries, he killed off creativity with state-run companies. Without giving real ownership of the country to citizens, citizens simply do not feel any need to sarifice, it has become LKY Inc. It made citizens behave in the same manner. How much R&D work, which require many selfless man hours to produce something remarkable can any citizens scarifice in the name of this country? How many innovative products can we really say out and foreigners will nod? Soundcards anyone? Will any one stand out and question anything if injustices are found. Helplessness is bliss has regressively destroyed this country, we can only be cheaper, better and faster, and if locals can't do it, then let the third world country guy do it.
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I think he will still stand up for elections, but probably his last before he retires.
More opposition parties maybe.. and there might be an internal split ....
But life goes on in Singapore... -
Without mm lee, pap will still carry on till one day, a stronger bigger opposition will take over pap. But at present, I cant see opp throw in a good fight. But, still can push down the 66.6% of votes. That will be good isnt it?
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with all the nonsense the MIWs created these few year, it will be lesser than 66.6%
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It will be 60% or lesser.
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i give them 55% at the max.............don't forget.......... a lot of the old ignorant people have died..........
many young people will more balls are now old enough to vote...........
even if PAP only get 45% of votes also i'm not surprised...............
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Do we want to tolerate his nonsense since he is dying any time to vote PAP and give them another chance?
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Originally posted by kengkia:
with all the nonsense the MIWs created these few year, it will be lesser than 66.6%
I say 85%.
Singaporeans are daft.
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My vote is definitely for any other party... if I were to be given a chance to vote. It is definitely not against PAP personally but I do not see any good coming out for the nation during these few years where ft floods sg and sg'rean suffer the consequences while the gahmen still enjoy their gigantic salary increase and bonuses while some of the sg'rean are left jobless....
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Originally posted by caleb_chiang:
My vote is definitely for any other party... if I were to be given a chance to vote. It is definitely not against PAP personally but I do not see any good coming out for the nation during these few years where ft floods sg and sg'rean suffer the consequences while the gahmen still enjoy their gigantic salary increase and bonuses while some of the sg'rean are left jobless....
Hey, they gave you affordable hdb flat (only cost half a million now)
Gave you low gst (only might rise to 10% soon after elections)
Gave you low ERP (only a few dollars per entry)
What's there not to like about them?
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Originally posted by caleb_chiang:
My vote is definitely for any other party... if I were to be given a chance to vote. It is definitely not against PAP personally but I do not see any good coming out for the nation during these few years where ft floods sg and sg'rean suffer the consequences while the gahmen still enjoy their gigantic salary increase and bonuses while some of the sg'rean are left jobless....
Not to mention, they gave you the secret of holding on to your low wage job - Be Cheaper, Better and Faster.
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Originally posted by caleb_chiang:
My vote is definitely for any other party... if I were to be given a chance to vote. It is definitely not against PAP personally but I do not see any good coming out for the nation during these few years where ft floods sg and sg'rean suffer the consequences while the gahmen still enjoy their gigantic salary increase and bonuses while some of the sg'rean are left jobless....
But.....foreigners create jobs for Singaporeans, at least that's what PAP says.
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