Polling Day is around the corner and I never really gave a hoot about Singapore politics before, but I reckoned that this being my first time having a hand in deciding which party takes over leadership of the constituency I'm in (Aljunied by the way), I decided that it would be good to start taking a little bit more interest in the politics arena. Of course the greatest hoohah surrounding the Elections this time is the James Gomez issue. Ok fine, I only read about my constituency so maybe there are bigger issues elsewhere which I'm not aware of. Anyway back to the Gomez brouhaha. I won't call myself a faithful follower of this issue from the onset, but I've read enough to get the gist of it and I've been following up on it eversince, and I've got to say that I'm thoroughly disturbed by the whole saga, especially with the response of the PAP towards the whole incident.
With all due respect, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew is a great man, and it was due mainly to him that this small country is where it is today. However, his accusations of Gomez are, in my opinion, unfounded, unjustified, and unfair. Whatever happened to the very principle of any judicial system: Innocent until proven guilty? Sure the evidence from the CCTV and the statements issued by the 2 men (from PAP) whom Gomez spoke to are incriminating. But they are all one-sided. What's more, Gomez and the Worker's Party (WP) have already issued an apology. Is there really a need for the PAP to keep harping on this issue? I'm sure there are bigger and more crucial issues to be dealt with and which voters are more interested in rather than watch how much further the PAP has delved into the whole issue and watch more ugly accusations being thrown into the face of the WP. Really, this whole issue is so way past its expiry date that it's not even remotely stirring anymore. It is time for the PAP to move on.
Politics is a dirty game. Parties trying to discredit one another with unfounded accusations and finger-pointing will always be the name of the game. It is inevitable. But in this most recent case, I won't say that the PAP is trying to muddy the name of the WP, but they are certainly pulling out all the stops in order to win this contest. In doing so, by incessantly 'investigating' (for want of a better word) this issue and trying to come up with more incriminating evidence, they seem to be increasingly grasping at straws and their theories and assumptions become more hypothetical. I wonder whether they have placed themselves in the shoes of people watching from the sidelines and how it will look like to them, rather than they trying to put the WP in a bad light constantly. The more they press the issue, the more the PAP is looking like their bordering on the edge of desperation in the face of a potentially stronger opponent. Why can't they just drop the whole issue and bury the hatchet? Every party has their faults, and the PAP is definitely no exception. Thus, is it fair that they keep airing another party's dirty lingerie in public?
Obviously it is important, if not, crucial for any party to win what their contesting in. It is the same as sports, and I know very well how important it is to win in my respective events. So I understand why the game of politics is always so, if I may say so, dirty and underhanded, because each party is trying to gain a lead over their opposition. All understandable. But have anyone ever asked themselves what makes a good and effective government? As a History student, I have studied much about politics in other countries, and a government is only effective if there is the presence of good and healthy opposition, without which, a government would then be considered totalitarian, and the ruling party becomes a dictatorship. As such, I cannot discount the PAP's contributions to Singapore since 1965. They have been doing a great job thus far. But maybe it's time that more voices be heard in the government rather than a great majority of them coming from one party alone. Mr Chiam See Tong of the Singapore Democratic Alliance hit the nail on the head when he responded to criticisms by PAP leaders that the opposition has failed to engage them on issues by saying:
"What other issues can you think of than preventing the PAP from being a dictatorship?"
- The Straits Times, April 28, 2006
My sentiments exactly. That is why I'm glad to be eligible for voting this year because this elections is the first since the 1980s that the ruling party has won less than half of the seats on Nomination Day itself [37 out of 84], and it goes to show that more people are courageously standing up to the PAP even though sometimes their chances of winning against them seem slim. Nevertheless, hopefully 2006 will see more opposition parties in the government, albeit less than half no doubt, but more than the previous years'. It helps to provide a sense of balance rather than having the balance of power tilted in favor to any one party alone. Hopefully the PAP will stop digging up dirt on the other parties and focus on winning with a good clean fight rather than win one based on groundless accusations, and also to give due credit to the other parties as well rather than pick on every little detail just to prove how credible they are. Sure everyone wants a party that is credible and trustworthy, but for the 41 years that PAP has been the dominant party in the government, other opposition parties just have not had their chance to prove their mettle. So I really hope that 2006 would be a watershed in the history of Singapore politics. Change is not necessarily a bad thing.