This is a jaw-dropping election. For the opposition. SDP’s Dr Chee and PSP’s Leong were deeply disappointed. In fact, Leong was “very shocked”.
The heaviest casualty was PSP and SDP. The former lost its NCMP seats, and I guess Parliament will be less noisy without Leong’s “show me the money” provocations.
And the 33-year wait for Dr Chee has resulted in him losing by a whisker (just 1 percent) a chance to enter Parliament as a consolatory NCMP. That two seats go to WP, namely, Andre and another to be selected from WP team in Tampines.
If there is any consolation, WP came in slightly stronger at the margins for its two GRCs. As for the rest of the opposition parties, teams from NSP and PPP will lose their deposit of $13,500 with low vote counts.
For his first electoral foray as PM, PM Wong has improved from the last GE2020 with 65.57% of the popular vote, up by more than 4%. PAP has also won 1.5m of the vote share out of 2.49m vote cast, thereby securing 87 of the 97 seats. And WP has retained their ten seats as before.
There is no underdog cheer this time unlike the last GE in the pandemic years of 2020, when WP’s Pritam Singh was officially recognised as the Leader of the Opposition. I recall that that had caused quite a stir in this generally tranquil and docile electoral teacup.
Tbh, on a political richter scale of 1 to 10, this GE2025 was at best 3.8. For Singapore politics, by now, we should know that rally attendances do not translate into ballot box results. Numbers have thus far been misleading. Never conflate the two, unless it’s a robust two-party system like the US.
I suppose PAP will be celebrating with the many chicken wings on their banquet table. Those disappointed will just have to clutch on to the whole chicken freely given and bring it home to make warm chicken soup for the soul.
Anyway, during the 9-day election campaign, I noted that this LKY quote spoken in 2011 had gained some groundswell: –
“I think there will come a time when eventually the public will say, look, let’s try the other side, either because the PAP has declined in quality or the opposition has put up a team which is equal to the PAP and they say, let’s try the other side.”
LKY said: “It must come.”
Well, maybe it’s a slow double-boil before that which must come will come. Mind you, it took a runway of 55 years after the demise of most of the old guards for the one-party-dominant parliament to crack a little under the weight of the liberal clamour in 2020.
So, whether it will come or must come, there must still be a reason to come. For the ennui of the prevalent status quo or the excitement of novelty can only take us so far in a functional, results-oriented democracy like ours, especially when we are winning a stream of international awards, which also includes the “World’s Best Airport Washrooms” award for 2025”.
And as LKY puts it, it takes two to clap. First, it’s when “PAP has declined in quality” and second, it’s when the ”opposition has put up a team which is equal to the PAP.” That decisive tilt has yet to be reached, or the electorate in the majority have yet to be convinced.
As for timeline, LKY added: “Whether it will be 15, 20, 30 years depends on them getting a team of players very soon. Part of the team is in place but you need a leader man.”
“You need somebody who can communicate, who can mobilise people, move people. It’s not enough to have a good policy. You got to convince people.”
I sense a hidden third hand here; for a good rival team is one thing, but a galvanizing leader is another. You will need a leader man (or woman) to move people, convince people. He or she has to be a consummate communicator. This would be a rare find, and he or she usually arises from the crucible of a trial.
And we are still very far from the current disarray politics of US, where desperate times call for desperate measure. For us, our silent majority, who would rather stay at home during election rallies or go to rallies only out of curiosity, is still a discerning lot, who prioritises safety above risk-taking.
For them, these two unspoken democratic manifesto rule: “if it ain’t broken, leave it alone” and “better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.”
Michael Han
