Different strokes
To woo young and old
Active role of two ex-prime ministers a surprise feature in Singapore's election. By Seah Chiang Nee.
May 1, 2006

Cash that is part of the S$2.6bil budget giveaway has started moving into Singaporeans' saving accounts, a day after nomination of candidates for Election 2006.

It was originally due to go out only on May 1, just before the May 6 election. The government has denied the money is aimed at winning votes.

Just as Singaporeans banking accounts swelled by S$200 to S$800 each - with some poorer families getting several thousand dollars - workers were busy putting up posters and pictures of candidates.

The ruling People's Action Party (PAP) is facing its toughest fight, by Singapore accounts, in more than 20 years.

So whether intended or not, this money gift as well as billions of dollars in upgrading projects (in which opposition wards do not get) are expected to have a major impact on the way the 2.16 million Singaporeans vote.

The PAP polled 75% of the 29 contested seats in the 2001 election, winning 82 of the 84 parliament seats.

Singaporeans attach great importance to their property, and the threat to withhold upgrading is a powerful tool that will probably ensure Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong gets a good mandate. He may, however, not have things his way.

After 40 years, PAP policies and economic hardship have created a larger pool of disenchanted voters, young and old. In addition, the opposition has become stronger. These may steal some lustre from Lee's first electoral test.

His winning margin is expected to fall from 75% to probably 60-65%. By any measurement, this is a good grade but not here.

Ensuring his son consolidate power is probably one of the reasons why Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, at 82, is playing a big role in the campaigning.

Kuan Yew's influence among people of his age group, estimated at about 25%, remains strong. Many conservative middle-class Singaporeans still believe his - and now his son's - presence is necessary for Singapore's stability.

Many of the younger, liberal-minded youths, however, believe he should retire from the Cabinet to provide advice from the side.

The government, however, takes comfort that the critical excitement is limited largely to the Internet and the campaign rallies rather the broad general public.

Election here is unlike those in Malaysia, where people are more passionate, with kampung folks travelling for miles to attend a ceramah. Singaporeans prefer their food and shopping.

A quick survey of several areas show families thronging the food courts or shopping plazas and the younger set catching up with friends at the movies or swimming pools.

At the market near my home, a maid calls up her family in the Philippines while waiting by the shopping cart for her employer.

I board a shuttle bus, pay the fare with my card and count eight other passengers, seven of whom are in their 60s and 70s. The only young person was a maid.

I live in a 50-year-old estate, a middle-class, ageing, conservative and family town that Kuan Yew likes.

Here people take their religion and karaoke seriously; the men love their beer and their football. They exert a big bearing on elections here.

With few exceptions, politics is not widely talked about.

Ask the average Singaporean whom he will vote for, and he will likely reply: "Sorry, can't tell you. The vote is secret."

Critics attribute it to a sense of government-instilled fear, but I believe it is due more to a unique Singaporean reticence about discussing - let alone debating - politics.

Even those who support the ruling party - probably two out of three Singaporeans - are also reluctant to tell you their choice. Why? Surely, there's no need for fear?

Singaporeans who go through the school system here rarely has a cause with which he will argue passionately for.

This close-mouth apathy is a character weakness in a city that strives to be a world hub, as vibrant and creative as New York, Tokyo or London.

The hope lies in the future generation, people who are now in their 20s and 30s, especially those who have studied or lived abroad. This is the generation that Hsien Loong has to bond with.

There is a big problem, though.

These youths, many of them educated abroad, have mindsets that contrast sharply with the underlying principles that Kuan Yew had relied on to shape Singapore - and remain in place today.

It surfaced in a recent TV forum between Kuan Yew and 10 young Singaporeans (all below 30), seven of them journalists, which resulted in each side speaking over the other's head.

With more than half a century between them, the gap was too wide to breach. Lee was his usual articulate self but his views - on democracy, fair elections, role of opposition and the press - just couldn't get through.

There was little effort on his part to try to understand the younger people's viewpoints, while the latter seemed to find some of what Kuan Yew said difficult to comprehend.

He had said things like walkovers in Singapore spelled a strong mandate for the government or "politics is not about to vote or not to vote" did not impress many of them.

It's much like a grandfather talking to - or lecturing - his grandchildren.

Hsien Loong - aged 53 - could probably get through better. His group constituency (Ang Mo Kio) is facing a surprising challenge from a slate of six Workers Party candidates whose average age is just about 30.

Young Singaporeans, many voting for the first time, will have a strong say on the election result on Saturday.

(This article was published in The Sunday Star on Apr 30, 2006)