After attending a rally...

On the first of May, I visited the Singapore Democratic Party’s rally at Clementi. The candidates who spoke were contesting in the Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, which is quite fiercely contested, as the SDP has fielded highly qualified candidates such as Dr Ang Yong Guan, an ex-army psychologist and Mr Tan Jee Say, the former principal private secretary to our Senior Minister, Mr Goh Chok Tong. They contest a PAP team that includes Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, who has come under fire for not understanding the plight of the poor and for overspending on the Youth Olympic Games. Prior to this elections, I did hear of vague news now and then about the SDP, only because of one of its especially infamous members, Dr Chee Soon Juan was in the news for holding protests and getting arrested. The image portrayed to me of the SDP seemed to be one of a party which just opposed the PAP for the sake of opposing it. Honestly, I went to the rally expecting just a lot of shouting for freedom of speech, and nothing but criticisms for the PAP, with not much actual concrete plans and candidates who did not really understand the peoples’ issues but instead just wanted to pick a fight.

The crowd

On arriving at the rally venue around an hour in, it was evident that there many people interested in what this party had to say with regard to our future. It was estimated that there were 7000 people who attended that rally, which is significantly more than most PAP rallies, where even in the media, crowd numbers are estimated at around 1000. In comparison with the 2006 election, which I vaguely remember, the opposition is now seen as an opportunity for change rather than simply a spectacle. The crowd was evidently very rowdy too, and occasionally there would be sounds of whistles and shouts of, “SDP! SDP!” For me, this shows a different side to Singaporeans compared to what I normally see, complaints just made during small talk, and the flaws of the PAP being mentioned directly seem to be a completely taboo topic. I feel that this is perhaps because not only do Singaporeans feel much more strongly about daily issues, but they wish to exercise their right to its full extent, and wish to see what an opposition party can potentially do to improve our lives. This is especially evident in people who proudly turn up in SDP colours, with SDP flags. I passed by a Worker’s Party rally near my neighbourhood once, and I even saw a family, toddler and baby in a pram included, dressed in light Worker’s Party blue, complete with Worker’s Party flags. This shows Singaporeans not only want to have a say, but dare to stand up against the system which has been widely respected but also feared all these years. However, I do believe that some of these people are also there just to absorb in the excitement, and go there just for the action and the shouting.

The candidates

The first candidate I heard was Michelle Lee, a young teacher and mother of three. I was especially interested in listening to her speech because one of my friends attends tuition classes under her. I wanted to try and find out how an ordinary Singaporean like Mrs Lee could conduct herself under a situation as big as this GE, and how she could contribute as an alternative voice in parliament. She spoke with confidence, and addressed issues which are very important to Singaporeans, such as how wages are not rising with the inflation, and a very valid point, how we are seeking after higher GDP, while forgetting true happiness. She also touched on government overspending. I feel her speech was very convincing, and used many stunning figures on government spending, such as the YOG spending exceeding budget by threefold, that make even me sit up and notice.

Next was the speech by Dr Ang Yong Guan. I feel that he managed to appeal to the emotions of voters very well. He referred to the crowd as “voters of Singapore”, to loud cheers. He addressed the controversy that there was a split in the SDP. He also managed to relate to the voters by speaking in Mandarin and Hokkien, a dialect which many ordinary Singaporeans identify with. He managed to bring out a sense of national pride, by mentioning how Singapore will have a brand name internationally, and how that comes from a high self-esteem.

Mr Tan Jee Say, the former principal private secretary to Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong spoke next. He first addressed Mr Goh Chok Tong’s claims that he resigned because he was not capable of his role, and rebutted that he wanted to resign very early, and stayed on to help Mr Goh, and eventually left with his blessings. This highlighted to me the amount of rather irrelevant issues that politicians talk about, simply to smear the other party or reduce their credibility. Next, he presented part of his economic plan for Singapore. This was a surprise to me, as I had always had the impression that the opposition parties did nothing but criticize the PAP’s policies, without offering better alternatives. I went to the SDP website, and they have written a shadow budget, a complete and thorough alternative to Singapore’s 2011 budget.

Lastly, I heard part of Mr Vincent Wijeysingha’s speech before leaving. His public speaking skills impressed me quite a lot, and he injected some wit into his speech claiming how the PAP does not understand Singaporeans, instead thinking of citizens as incapable and unintelligent.

Issues

Firstly, a candidate brought up the SDP’s plan on reducing class sizes from 40 down to 20, or even 15, to relieve stress of teachers and enhance learning for students. I believe that a reduction of class size is definitely beneficial to students and teachers, but the feasibility of such a plan is quite doubtful. It would require twice the number of physical facilities, as the number of students who would normally fit into one class, would now be in two classes. Recruitment and training of teachers will also need to take some time, so some short term milestones, perhaps such as converting a certain age group of students into 20-pupil classes within a few years, then progressing on to the whole system.

Secondly, I have seen through this election that many politicians use smear tactics and launch personal attacks on their rivals in order to make them seem less credible. The SDP candidate Mr Vincent Wijeysingha was referred to as a homosexual, and Mr Chen Show Mao of the Worker’s Party, who is born and bred a Singaporean was called to “return to China” just because he worked there for a few years. I believe that in an ideal system, politicians should be voted in or out simply based on how they can contribute to the people and improve our system. However, it seems quite a shame that politicians will do anything they can just to win votes. It also shows how someone’s personal life can come under close scrutiny and criticism simply after becoming a politician. For example, the PAP’s Tin Pei Ling, a very young female candidate, was slammed simply for holding a box of branded items, even though it was simply a gift from her husband. I feel that people should concentrate on the candidate’s ability and contributions rather than use irrelevant issues from their personal lives to unnecessarily criticize them. It also shows that in order to be a politician or any role that comes under a lot of public attention, one needs to have a clean record and also the ability to take criticisms in one’s stride.

Lastly, the issue of Singaporeans chasing economic growth and success at the expense of real happiness and welfare is one that has made itself very obvious in the past few years. Many Singaporeans sacrifice their health and time with their loved ones just so that they are able to keep up with demands of society, which pushes them to work beyond their limit. Though this creates economic growth, it is ultimately useless if the people do not have any satisfaction in their stress-filled lives. Bhutan, which has a GDP more than ten times less than us, was shown to rank much higher than Singapore in the world happiness index. We should make sure we always make time to relax and make sure we take care of our own health, before working for academic success and money.

Personal reflection

I feel that the rally was an eye-opening experience for me. It shows a growing change in Singapore, that more people wish to look at alternatives to the current government. In all the shouting and jeering, it seems very easy to me to get caught up in the excitement and immediately get swayed. Before this, reading the newspapers which are known to be slightly swayed towards a certain opinion, I had a totally different opinion compared to after watching an opposition rally. However, I feel that I should take a step back, and keep up with current affairs so that I can examine the exact issues at hand, and which side can offer the better solution, rather than which party triggers more shouts and bigger crowds.