Building a more people-oriented, diverse, inclusive, participatory and freer Singapore
Posted: 12th June 2010By Alec Tok
I have been making a living, since 1990, as an actor, producer and director in Singapore’s theatre and film scene. In the year 2000, I left for the US to pursue a Masters degree in Fine Arts at Yale University. I graduated in 2003. Thereafter I stayed on in the US, to hone my skills, broaden my horizons and widen my experiences.
I have always considered the need to contribute to Singapore’s political development and to our fellow Singaporeans as something that, everyone who was born and had grown up here, had to address and consider. It’s our responsibility.
I have seen, since the eighties, the slow erosion of our justice system; I have experienced how Singapore became more and more expensive to live in – I had a car accident in 1994, just before I got married; my car was wrecked beyond repair; it had to be scrapped; after that, I could not afford to buy another one – the COE had become beyond my reach.
These past few years, on my frequent trips back, most times enroute from Shanghai or Beijing, where the majority of my work is these days, I have experienced the crowded MRT trains, the visible difference in the mix of people around me and the general air of confusion, about why we have come to this state – living seems harder, things seem more expensive, work, not so easy to find and the government, speaking in terms that, I don’t quite understand.
“We need foreigners to grow our economy.” Grow for who?
“Public housing is still affordable.” Affordable for who?
“We are small, so we need to move fast, so we cannot have too much debate.” So fast, for what?
In the end, so many policies, laws – many that affect our daily lives, our futures – get made, get passed – without an equal emphasis on preparing our population for what was to come – we don’t know, nobody can know – what it means when we grow from 3.5 million to 5 million in 4, 5 years – we needed to be prepared, from the start. Everyone should have had the benefit of being given a clear idea what the repercussions would be, how to prepare for that, what we must do to anticipate some of the problems – less public space, more expensive housing, more social friction…
In my view, this government could have done a lot better for its citizens.
Three factors made me decide to put myself forward as a candidate to contest the next elections with The Reform Party.
One : A picture. In 2006, I was living in a small studio apartment on St Mark’s Place in New York, feeling passionate and emotional about the general elections – I was watching and following everything online, on mylaptop. And that picture by Alex Au – after all the warnings not to post any more articles or blogs or videos – that picture by Alex Au, of The Yawning Bread, posted in defiance – showed me that the people in Singapore know, in a way that was unmistakeable – I mean, that picture of them, more than a hundred thousand, gathered in Hougang – they know that there was a need – a need for some among us to stand up against, in opposition to, the government of the day.
Two : A group of young Singaporeans. Of the Workers’ Party. Coming forward. Standing in Ang Mo Kio. They made me feel ashamed of myself. Here I am in New York, there they are doing something for their fellow Singaporeans.
Three : A new party, led by a new Secretary General – saying for the first time, in a long time – in public – that he was focussed on building a party that was interested in eventually offering itself as the Alternative Government to what we have today. I said to myself, “This is the Party that I have been waiting for.”
With my candidacy, I bring with me my sincerity, my energy and my willingness to work towards the long term goal of a two-party system in Singapore and bringing the possibility of an alternative government – a better government – one step closer to reality. I want to play my part to help build a more people-oriented, diverse, inclusive, participatory and freer Singapore. For Singaporeans.
19 Responses to Building a more people-oriented, diverse, inclusive, participatory and freer Singapore
Well said, Alec!
Alec,
I’m so glad that Theng Wei Gan posted your link on FB. I’m a new member of RP, newly joined towards the end of June 2010. Through the link I learnt more about one of RP’s candidates for MP. On your FB, I have followed RP’s walkabouts. It is my regret that my not exactly robust health has prevented me from joining. I’m a Senior Citizen & I work. Recently, the MM mentioned about no need to retire if fit. One of the issues here is that years ago when we the older generation contributed CPF, we were told about when we can draw out our cpf. This seems to be continously pushed back. I think the time has come for all Singaporeans to actively participate in Govt decisions, and not always let the Govt to impose rules on them.
Thanks for the comments NS65 and Elice Tan. Yes, citizens should not be expected to leave decisions affecting birth, death, working, retiring, living and growing to the government. Through helping more people who share your views get into Parliament to scrutinize and debate law and policy on your behalf, you participate in the making of the very laws and decisions that impact yours and your family’s well-being, security and future. This is too important a task to abrogate to any one selected group of citizens. A more participatory way to settle our future is what The Reform Party stands for and will fight for.
I want Government to back off and stop controlling all aspects of citizen’s life. I want LKY’s political as well as social engineering practices to stop. He thinks he has monopoly over wisdom. In reality, Singapore is paying price for his ill-advised policy of population control of 70’s (?).
Quick comment/question: Do you have any specific reasons or thoughts as to why you would like to try and steer Singapore politics toward a 2-party system (as your declared long-term goal)?
My constant concern with the US system of politics is the unfair entrenchment of the Democratic/Republican axis, not unlike the entrenchment of the PAP in Singapore politics. It is a system where small alternative parties are effectively shut-out by the two established parties and mainstream media. It is also a system where Republicans are stereotyped as right-wing and Democrats as the liberal left where in reality, both are pretty much centrist (depending on your definition of “center”).
What do you think of a system where stable coalition governments can thrive and be built based on reasonable compromises along a broad base of ideologically-cohesive parties, some big, some small? Do you think that is a better long-term goal to strive for?
@Chee Wai
I see why the idea of some form of broad corporatist coalition appeals but this will be merely pap+little subservient bits tacked on. The important thing here is to have an alternative so that a) all voters actually have a choice (this is a moral argument); b) the ruling government is not complacent (this is the efficiency argument). And you are already see the government bungling things up being complacent – flooding, certain comments made on mother tongue, social welfare payments, etc.
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all the best….
but do u know where u are going to stand?
haha this is the problem with those damn rules….eh?
Possibly he means two-party system as a practical first step to a vibrant multi-party democracy.. just a guess, but I think it would be hard enough for a second party to garner enough votes to make a difference.
We need time to build the presence of that second party, given our flexible election boundaries.
Also, maybe we need to perform Inception on someone’s son 😉
i am confident the opposition will have a sweep in the next general election. so far based on discussions with people, 90% of the ground feedback is against the ruling party. if the opposition work together and contest all the GRCs and single wards, the current ruling party will no longer be in power after the next general election.
it is way ahead of LKY prediction of after 10 years.
perhaps next time during the Q&A session with MPs or ministers, can ask them what they plan to do after the election (after they have been defeated).
right now is actually the best time to align with the opposition parties as the ground is very positive for the opposition and negative against the ruling party.
it is important for the opposition to have a vision on how to improve the lives of fellow singaporean further. steer clear of the ruling party goal of GDP growth and population growth, as these 4 years the people have seen how it leads to failure.
importantly, if they can lead by example such as coming up with clear strategies to lower the cost of living (e.g. properties, inflation) and improving the standard of living (e.g. overcrowding in transportation, flooding resolution), your capability will be far better than the current ministers.
Hi Alec,
Thanks for sharing. I like what I have read so far. We do need some form of effective opposition that is able to obstruct the current gov’t free wheeling and steamrolling of policies, good and bad onto the citizen. We need check and balance of every aspect of governance. Issues like CPF withdrawal, influx of so called FTs, hiring of foreigners versus locals, housing affordability, recent flooding after only hours of downpour compared to almost 20 years of relatively flood-free, over spending of hundreds of millions extra from the original budget on the YOG as oppose to additional S$30 subsidiary for the left-behinds and heaps. The current government seemed so detached from the ground. We hope to ‘uncover a gem in you and your team,’ to help reclaim what is rightfully belonging to the citizen. More power, Alec!
IF you choose to contest in tampines against that shorty mah bao tan,you and any other opposition will get my vote.
Time to get that good for nothing out of my estate and someone who desn’t raise prices in.
Thank you for your comments. For reasons of space contraint here and not wanting to monopolise bandwidth, please allow me to be brief.
Without a group of people committing to learning the rudiments of the parliamentary process – how to change laws, scrutinise policy, amend budgets, build consensus among non-PAP MP’s in Parliament; as well as studying the work of each ministry in depth and getting familiar with the policies in place, and being able to offer cogent, well researched and clearly articulated options; Singaporeans will always be held ransom to the threat of, “Who else have you got to run this place?”
The Reform Party may be a new Party, but we have been Singaporeans for a very long time. We are starting on a long road – we all know that – but in believing in providing a viable alternative that can ultimately lead to a Two-Party System, thereby returning to Singaporeans their Right To Choose, we are only seeking to restore what had been promised to us at the inception of self-rule – Governing Ourselves With People Whom We Choose. In the medium term, we must aim for Zero Walkovers and in the long run, we must become Experienced Enough to Govern.
@Chee Wai There may come a time, after the stage of Two Strong Parties, has been reached, when the majority of the electorate cannot be serviced adequately or when the spectrum of their views cannot be represented accurately, except by necessitating the presence of a Third Party; in which case, the group of people more amenable and capable of building consensus and coalition amidst certain compromise, will be the group most able to form a stable government.
The Reform Party in still believing in the possibility of Open Dialogue, has to stand resolved to the eventuality that a stable coalition government is achievable.
Thanks Alec for standing up for S’pore. We need folks like yourself. Same here, should you stand for election in Tampines, you will have my whole family vote. It is time to get rid of that joker MBT
We are not power hungry,money gobbling citizens. All we Singaporean want is the capability to have a roof over our heads (i can’t imagine people struggling to afford a PUBLIC HOUSING flat,its meant for the public isn’t it?), a decent job after graduation, a proper transportation system and basic control we should have over our own monies (not compulsory contribution to CPF and being FINED if you do not do so).
Before we go on a higher level of human rights like freedom of speech and anti-death, lets fulfill our weary fellow citizens of the basic needs of Shelter/ Job Security and if you are well-off enough, a parking lot when you are a season holder. (PS. raising carpark rates does not help, to start with,HDB should not sell 550 season tickets when you only have 500 parking lots.) Imagine buying a golf resort annual membership and driving down to see: “Sorry,Fully Occupied” – We will raise your annual membership rates to prevent such from happening again.
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Hi Alec,
Glad that you made your stand,but remember talk is cheap and doing is the difficult part somewhat like the A’Stars and SAF scholars seconded into politics with degrees as long as a monkeys tail but idiotic when time to perform at times or clownish to entertain the public who are definitely not receptive.
Best wishes and stay true to your call.
Well said, Alec.
However, forming a Government right off the bat seems a tad premature. (I may be wrong!)
First off, the Reform party should campaign in a few select GRCs and not leave themselves to overstretch and the constraints on resources it entails. We need to break the stranglehold on estate affairs held by the elected-or-unelected grassroots “advisers” and put them in the hands of those people who were ELECTED to do so – the MPs, whether incumbent or opposition.
Only then can the playing field be somewhat levelled, and the opposition can prove, to US, Singaporeans, its true mettle and capabilities. If it is successful in doing so, it would not be surprising that the votes would tip in your favour.
Remember that, at the end of the day, according to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, it is not high-flown (or “highfalutin”, as others would have it) rhetoric that is our primary concern – it is the bread-and-butter, grassroots issues. If your party can prove that it can deliver on that front, victory cannot be that far off.
First, though, we as Singaporeans need to give them the chance. I will now say this: if the chance is given me, I am willing to take it. Convince us that you can, sir!
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