The futility of speaking up in a totalitarian one-party state

The futility of speaking up in a totalitarian one-party state

In a full page interview with the Straits Times, NMP Siew Kum Hong urged Singaporeans to speak up if they believe in active citizenry.

With due respect to Mr Siew, he is one of the more credible NMPs around. In fact he initiated many debates on controversial issues which the elected opposition MPs had conveniently chosen to turn a blind eye to such as the losses incurred by GIC.

Though he had earned himself a reputation as an outspoken NMP, what did he achieve politically in the end? In spite of the issues he had raised which were debated in Parliament and given extensive publicity by the media, the status quo remains.

Nothing ever changes in Singapore once the ruling party has made a decision. Parliament is a mere “wayang” which they can easily do without. What’s Parliament to them when they can decide whether it is in their interest to hold a by-election? What’s there to “debate” when the key decision-makers had already made a decision?

Active citizenry is a myth in a totalitarian one-party state like Singapore where the rubber-stamp Parliament passes legislation according to the wimps and fancies of a tinpot dictator with scant regards for public opinion.

When the Prime Minister first mooted the idea of setting up casinos in Singapore, there was a huge backlash. Many MPs, including some vocal PAP backbenchers voiced their opposition against the proposal. What happened eventually? They simply bull-doze it through.

Again in 2007, there was widespread opposition to the PAP’s proposal of raising their own salaries by over 80% to peg it to the 8 highest earners in the private sector. There was literally no support on the ground even from the PAP grassroots. So what? The unpalatable pay hike was still forced down our throats.

Let’s admit it. The PAP HATES active citizenry. It doesn’t like any form of opposition to its rule. All it ever wanted is to have a subservient, docile and in a way brainless, unquestioning and unthinking populace to make life easier for itself. Since they work solely on “trust”, we are expected to trust them to run the country with little accountability or transparency.

The interview with NMP Siew is nothing more but another publicity gimmick of the state-controlled media to paint a positive image of the PAP as an understanding, tolerant and liberal government.

Mr Siew quoted himself as an example to insinuate that as long one is sincere, honest, and polite, the PAP will reciprocate in kind. Has he forgotten about Francis Seow, Jeyaretnam and Tang Liang Hong?

The PAP is not fixing Siew yet because he is not a threat to them. If Siew set up his own political party and start campaigning for the PAP system to be overhauled like Jeyaretnam, he will find his trivial mistakes made 10 years ago being dredged out, sensationalized and he will soon be out of job.

There’s no need to be polite with political hooligans like some leaders in the PAP. We speak up not to engage them, but to expose and embarrass them for who they really are - a bunch of shameless shenigans taking taxpayers’ monies to serve their own party’s partisan interest at the expense of Singapore’s.

For those of you who disagree with me, ask yourself why so few Singaporeans are willing to step forward to join politics. The PAP can easily solve the problem by abolishing the GRC system, refrain from launching defamation suits against opponents and liberalize the media. It is absolutely in the interest of Singapore to have a more pluralistic political landscape, but of course it is against the PAP’s own interest to do so. What is good for the nation isn’t necessarily good for the party and when a choice has to be made, the party’s interest will easily override that of the nation anytime.

While I respect NMP Siew for his courage to step forward, I do not share his enthusiasm and belief that speaking up will make any difference in a totalitarian one-party stalinist state like Singapore where the seat of power still lie pretty much in the hands of one power-hungry man who simply refuse to go away though he has overstayed his welcome.

Not too long ago, the Malaysian Barisan government behaves like a rogue state to its own citizens like the PAP government too, ignoring the pleas from the ethnic minorities to perpetuate racist policies in order to maintain its political hegemony.

After its customary two-thirds majority was denied by the opposition in the general election last year, it now has to eat the humble pie and listen to the electorate. It is even singing the tune of the opposition in a desperate attempt to win back lost ground.

The only way to make the PAP sit up and listen to us is to vote in enough opposition into Parliament to deny them their customary two-thirds majority. Only then will the PAP MPs start to pay attention to what NMP Siew is saying. Otherwise he is merely speaking to a stone wall.

When will we have a strong, credible and fearless opposition in Parliament to check on the PAP? It will forever be a dream unless the PAP system is completely dismantled and the people will have to heap political pressure on the PAP either to reform itself or get forced out of office by the sheer might of People Power which explains why ridiculous laws will be introduced soon to forbid public assembly of one person. (this is not a grammer mistake, it is the truth)

We do not believe in engaging the PAP and neither do we encourage netizens to step out of the cloak of anonymity to score some meaningless “credibility” points. It is a pure waste of time and will defeat the purpose instead as it will inevitably cause one to impose self-censorship on one’s speech.

Speak up only when we have real bargaining power in Parliament and not now under the thumb of a fascist state which pays lip service to democracy and will not hesitate to ride roughshod over us as and when it desires.

We have a Prime Minister who openly proclaimed he will fix the opposition if more of them were to be elected into Parliament, one who defended the merits of a one-party state and whose father threatened to send in the army if the opposition gains power via a “freak election”.

A leopard never changes its spots, and don’t pin any hopes on its cub too. I sincerely wish NMP Siew all the best in his second application for another NMP term. Unfortunately, his presence will do nothing more other than putting the opposition MPs like Low Thia Kiang to shame.

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