Singapore goes to the polls this Saturday, and while the result is unlikely to be an upset, the vote could still prove consequential for Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and his People’s Action Party, which has won every election since the city-state became a fully independent country in 1965.
Mr Wong and his colleagues will be judged not just by the majority they secure – they won 89 per cent of seats in Parliament in 2020 – but by the percentage of the vote they garner. In that last election, the PAP was rewarded with 61.2 per cent of all votes, which in most democracies would be considered an overwhelming mandate. In Singapore, however, that was a cause for soul-searching among the victors. The context is this: between 1965 and 1981, the PAP won every single seat in Parliament, and it received 84 per cent of the vote in the 1968 election.
The long-term trend for the PAP, then, is incremental decline. If it dips below 60 per cent on Saturday, there will be serious questions asked. PAP rule has been seen as key to Singapore’s stability. What if it looks as though it could, one day, lose power? The experience of neighbouring Malaysia, which went through four years of extreme political instability after the Barisan Nasional coalition lost power in 2018 for the first time since independence in 1957, is a cautionary tale.
As one of the city-state’s leading public intellectuals Kishore Mahbubani put it in his 2015 book, Can Singapore Survive?, “Any political scientist will tell you that it is ‘normal’ for most states in the world to have a political crisis every few decades. By not having a political crisis for several decades, Singapore has demonstrated that it is not keeping within statistical norms. If over time we conform to statistical norms, the laws of statistical probability will kick in and we will inevitably have a political crisis.”
And that, in the eyes of Mr Mahbubani and others, could lead to irresponsible governance and the loss of all that this little island has so far achieved over the past 60 years. So if the PAP wins bigger than in 2020, which was a near-historic low, there will be great relief in the corridors of power.
The result will also be considered a verdict on Mr Wong, who has only been Prime Minister for just under a year, and has some pretty big boots to fill. There is not just the ineluctable shadow cast by Singapore’s founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, a giant of 20th-century Asia. Mr Lee’s son, Lee Hsien Loong, also a long-time former prime minister, sits in Mr Wong’s cabinet as Senior Minister. A resounding victory would allow Mr Wong to claim the personal authority to take whatever steps he deems necessary to deal with an increasingly unsettled economic and geopolitical landscape in the Asia-Pacific.
And warning of the dangers of instability has been one of the notes Mr Wong has sounded in the election campaign. “A vote for the opposition is not a free vote for more alternative voices in Parliament. It’s a vote to weaken the PAP team, and it will do so at a time when I have just taken over,” the Prime Minister told a crowd on Monday. “It will weaken us at a time when our country is facing real and serious challenges.”
Given the uncertainty caused by US President Donald Trump’s startling announcements – especially on tariffs – Mr Wong’s argument may cut through. But although by any measure Singapore is still a huge success, the PAP cannot rely indefinitely on its record of having moved the city “From Third World to First”, as the elder Mr Lee titled the second volume of his memoirs. Consumer prices are up by 17 per cent since 2020, with public housing costs also rising fast. Does the PAP contain the only members of Singapore’s highly educated population who can deal with the challenges of today?
The debate, however, is not really about who is going to win – almost no one doubts that will be the PAP – but about the merits of having a “more balanced Parliament”, as Pritam Singh, the official Leader of the Opposition and Secretary General of the Workers’ Party, puts it. “You can have us on committees. We can make our contribution,” he said of his MPs. “I believe, when you have a diversity of views in Parliament, as long as we are rowing in the same direction, this red dot will continue to be a bright, shining red dot.”
Critics of Singapore often claim that it isn’t a real democracy: that the PAP has effective control of all the supposed checks and balances, and that the electoral maps are drawn to make it hard for the opposition parties to break through. This time around, PAP leaders have warned that if key figures were to lose their seats it would weaken the government.
Mr Singh addressed both points in mentioning the most famous instance of a PAP leader being ejected by the voters, when the then foreign minister George Yeo and his colleagues failed to win the Aljunied multi-member constituency in 2011. Yes, the opposition did win the seat. But “Mr Yeo – I have full respect for him – has continued to serve Singapore in so many different ways,” said Mr Singh, presumably in reference to the numerous roles in the public and private sectors Mr Yeo has undertaken since.
It’s hard to disagree with Mr Singh that, after all this time, a little more diversity in Singapore’s Parliament might not be a bad thing. With all parties committed to maintaining harmony in the multiracial, multifaith country, would it really be a disaster if the PAP didn’t win the two thirds majority in Parliament necessary to pass constitutional amendments? I, for one, don’t think it would. For Mr Wong and his colleagues, however, it would be hard not to consider it exactly that.
And that’s the Singapore dilemma in a nutshell. Can the country exhale, loosen up, and still maintain its success? Or is it vital that the PAP remain firmly in charge, because, as Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong likes to say, “Only the paranoid survive”? We’ll find out what Singaporeans think this weekend.
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MATCH INFO
World Cup 2022 qualifier
UAE v Indonesia, Thursday, 8pm
Venue: Al Maktoum Stadium, Dubai
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
Honeymoonish
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Schedule:
Pakistan v Sri Lanka:
28 Sep-2 Oct, 1st Test, Abu Dhabi
6-10 Oct, 2nd Test (day-night), Dubai
13 Oct, 1st ODI, Dubai
16 Oct, 2nd ODI, Abu Dhabi
18 Oct, 3rd ODI, Abu Dhabi
20 Oct, 4th ODI, Sharjah
23 Oct, 5th ODI, Sharjah
26 Oct, 1st T20I, Abu Dhabi
27 Oct, 2nd T20I, Abu Dhabi
29 Oct, 3rd T20I, Lahore
THE BIO:
Favourite holiday destination: Thailand. I go every year and I’m obsessed with the fitness camps there.
Favourite book: Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. It’s an amazing story about barefoot running.
Favourite film: A League of their Own. I used to love watching it in my granny’s house when I was seven.
Personal motto: Believe it and you can achieve it.
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
Emergency phone numbers in the UAE
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre
Emirates airline – 600555555
Etihad Airways – 600555666
Ambulance – 998
Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Read more from Mina Al-Oraibi
Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
House-hunting
Top 10 locations for inquiries from US house hunters, according to Rightmove
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Westminster, London
- Camden, London
- Glasgow, Scotland
- Islington, London
- Kensington and Chelsea, London
- Highlands, Scotland
- Argyll and Bute, Scotland
- Fife, Scotland
- Tower Hamlets, London
PROFILE BOX
Company name: Overwrite.ai
Founder: Ayman Alashkar
Started: Established in 2020
Based: Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai
Sector: PropTech
Initial investment: Self-funded by founder
Funding stage: Seed funding, in talks with angel investors
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
More coverage from the Future Forum
Top investing tips for UAE residents in 2021
Build an emergency fund: Make sure you have enough cash to cover six months of expenses as a buffer against unexpected problems before you begin investing, advises Steve Cronin, the founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com.
Think long-term: When you invest, you need to have a long-term mindset, so don’t worry about momentary ups and downs in the stock market.
Invest worldwide: Diversify your investments globally, ideally by way of a global stock index fund.
Is your money tied up: Avoid anything where you cannot get your money back in full within a month at any time without any penalty.
Skip past the promises: “If an investment product is offering more than 10 per cent return per year, it is either extremely risky or a scam,” Mr Cronin says.
Choose plans with low fees: Make sure that any funds you buy do not charge more than 1 per cent in fees, Mr Cronin says. “If you invest by yourself, you can easily stay below this figure.” Managed funds and commissionable investments often come with higher fees.
Be sceptical about recommendations: If someone suggests an investment to you, ask if they stand to gain, advises Mr Cronin. “If they are receiving commission, they are unlikely to recommend an investment that’s best for you.”
Get financially independent: Mr Cronin advises UAE residents to pursue financial independence. Start with a Google search and improve your knowledge via expat investing websites or Facebook groups such as SimplyFI.
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 650hp at 6,750rpm
Torque: 800Nm from 2,500-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 11.12L/100km
Price: From Dh796,600
On sale: now
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The%20specs
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Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
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