GE 2015: A former NMP's wish list for Singapore

Dr. Kanwaljit Soin is an orthopaedic surgeon and a former Nominated Member of Parliament. This article was first published on Inconvenient Questions. The views expressed here are her own.

A great deal has been conjectured and written about the results and significance of the recent General Election (GE) in Singapore. Whatever the expert views may be, the one fact that Singaporeans will have to live with for the next four to five years is the near total dominance of the PAP philosophy and resulting action in formulating the policies that will affect the lives of Singaporeans in the near future and in the medium term.

From the past performance of the PAP, especially in the last few years, the outlook is optimistic. It is hoped that with the overwhelming mandate that this election has given to the ruling party, the party does not get carried away with the power that it has been endowed with, but uses it for the good of all citizens as embodied in the promise by PM Lee Hsien Loong that he and his team will continue to emphasise inclusiveness, openness and citizen involvement.

We believe in that promise but if we are prudent and wise and want to ensure that the promise becomes a living reality, then we the citizens of Singapore must push for some major changes so that we face the future with sustained hope, happiness and security.

It is our duty as Singaporeans to vocalise the institutional changes that we need and want so that uncertainty regarding governance and accountability is minimised. It also behooves the PAP, which has won the elections so resoundingly, to partner with the citizenry to bring about the necessary changes for accountability, transparency and representative governance. Singaporeans cannot continue on the premise of just having trust in the government; this trust must be accompanied by structural and institutional changes which will weather the test of time and uncertainty in our social, economic and political future.

My wish list is as follows:

    ◦    Freedom of information - thought leaders from academia and civil society as well as the general populace can only contribute to a meaningful input to policy if they have updated data on economic and social issues. Often the data that is provided is not segregated with respect to ethnicity, class, age and gender and other relevant subclassifications. Of course, blanket freedom of information is not the quest but with certain exceptions like the assets of the Government Investment Corporation (GIC) and certain defence matters that may compromise our security, there should be free availability of data without it being presented in broad classifications that make meaningful analysis very difficult.

    ◦    Freedom of the press - the restrictive regulatory laws and environment are not conducive to the development of diverse print and broadcast media in Singapore. There is practical monopoly by SPH and Mediacorp in both areas. Some concern has been expressed that freedom of the press can lead to hate speech and articles that may cause interethnic and religious conflict but this fear is overblown, as there is enough legislation to control such breaches. Otherwise free market policies should prevail in general in this era of globalisation and electronic media if we do not want to artificially build a local media cocoon for our citizens.

    ◦    Formation of an independent election commission to promote and safeguard representative democracy. In the independent model, the election commission is independent of the executive and manages its own budget. In the executive model, the election commission is directed by a cabinet minister as part of the executive branch of government. Singapore has the executive model under the Prime Minister’s office.

    ◦    Loosening the nexus between the PAP and the People’s Association (PA). The PA is a statutory board that was formed in 1960 mainly to counteract the communist threat. In its last annual report (2013/2014), it was stated that it received more than half a billion dollars as a government grant. With so much of taxpayers' money at stake, is it not time to assess the necessity, impact and efficiency of this behemoth? Its reach  is omnipresent, involved as it is in everything from the interaction between citizens and residents, sports associations, lifestyle and welfare activities, educational courses, to national events. It is a big banyan tree that stunts the full development of many of the roles of civil society. Because of the way it is structured - with the Prime Minister at its head and cabinet ministers and other PAP MPs in its committees - it is perceived (rightly or wrongly) to be used by the ruling party to disadvantage opposition politics. It is more than timely now to look at this mammoth organisation to assess its necessity in nation building in a global city like Singapore.

    ◦    Role of Members of Parliament (MPs) - Scrutinising and debating proposed legislation is one of the main duties of an MP. MPs also have to look into their constituents’ needs and try to help them. To foist all town council duties, especially on an independent MP of a single member constituency, would detract from his or her main role as an MP. Before this added role was given to MPs, each constituency was well looked after by various organisations, such as HDB, URA, LTA etc. How has the change in the duties of an MP made the lives of Singaporeans better?

      ◦  My last item on the wish list is for Singaporeans to think of how we can strengthen our various institutions and create new independent ones where necessary so that irrespective of the colour of our ruling political party or parties, we become a model of stability, cohesion and progress for a global city state.