Where do Singapore's political leaders come from? (Part 1: Past and present leaders)
In 50 years of independence, Singapore has gone through 15 general elections and seven Cabinet line-ups, with the most recent one announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Monday.
It's Singapore’s largest Cabinet to date, and it consists of veterans of the ruling People's Action Party (PAP), as well as new Members of Parliament (MPs) such as Ng Chee Meng and Ong Ye Kung, who will take on acting minister roles in the education ministry from 1 October this year.
Singapore’s newly-sworn in office holders come from different backgrounds, but mainly medical, military, legal and civil service.
1. Qualified medical doctors (5): Ng Eng Hen, Vivian Balakrishnan, Lam Pin Min, Koh Poh Koon and Janil Puthucheary.
2. Former military men (6): Lee Hsien Loong, Teo Chee Hean, Lim Hng Kiang, Chan Chun Sing, Tan Chuan-Jin and Ng Chee Meng.
3. Former principal private secretaries (5): Khaw Boon Wan, Heng Swee Keat, Lawrence Wong, Chee Hong Tat and Ong Ye Kung.
4. Qualified lawyers (4): K. Shanmugam, Indranee Rajah, Desmond Lim, Amrin Amin.
Notably, several of the full ministers and some ministers of state are alumni of prestigious Raffles Institution, namely: Lim Hng Kiang, K. Shanmugam, Heng Swee Keat, Chan Chun Sing, Heng Chee How and Desmond Lee.
More diversity before?
In Singapore's early years as a nation, its political leaders – PAP co-founders Lee Kuan Yew, Toh Chin Chye, Goh Keng Swee and S. Rajaratnam – did not have prior military and civil service experience, but they were linked by their educational backgrounds.
Lee, Toh and Goh all studied in Raffles College before pursuing their studies in London, where they formed the anti-colonial group, Malayan Forum. S.Rajaratnam went to Raffles Institution, same as Lee.
Lee used to be a lawyer in London, Toh did medical research, Goh had first class honours in economics, while S. Rajaratnam was a former journalist.
However, in general, the candidates whom PAP fielded in its first electoral foray in the 1959 Legislative Assembly General Election came from much humbler roots than the party's latest candidates. There were teachers (Yaacob bin Mohamed in Bukit Timah), shopkeepers (Tay Kum Sun in Mountbatten) and even a hairdresser (Lin You Eng in Moulmein).
In the 80s, more sophisticated and educated candidates came forward, and Singapore saw more lawyers and company directors contesting in the elections.
In 1984, the then 32-year-old Lee Hsien Loong contested for the first time and beat Giam Lai Cheng from the now-defunct United People’s Front (UPF) in the Teck Ghee constituency, winning 80 per cent of votes.
The young Lee was also the first Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Overseas Scholar to enter politics. Since then, Singapore has seen others such as Tan Chuan-Jin and Chan Chun Sing leave the military for politics.
The son of late founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew was a Brigadier-General of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) before entering politics. He was eventually sworn in as Prime Minister in 2004.
Is SAF a breeding ground for Singapore's leaders?
Speaking to the press during PAP’s unveiling of Pasir Ris-Punggol election candidates earlier in August, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean spoke about how the PAP looked into the public service, including the SAF, when looking for candidates.
“These are people who have shown over a period of time capability and ability to work with others and to care for Singapore. In fact, many of them start off being motivated to want to do things for people," he said when Yahoo Singapore asked if getting people in the military was a deliberate recruitment strategy.
He added, “So, when they come in to serve, they bring together certain values. And this where I think we are the same: values of commitment to public service, loyalty, integrity and understanding what are the constraints and opportunities for Singapore. They offer one perspective, which will help us move forward with confidence into the future."
Singapore Management University associate professor Eugene Tan doesn't think there is a deliberate strategy to field ex-soldiers in the general election on a PAP ticket, but he says the SAF has been a popular and fruitful recruitment ground for PAP ministerial appointments.
“The government's approach has always been that these military elites, given their training and exposure in the military settings, can very easily take on more demanding challenges and, with time, develop into political elites,” he added.
In the next part of this series, we will explore other possible leadership “hunting grounds”, based on opinions by other analysts as well as former MP Inderjit Singh.
