Governance is a Battle. The Enemy is the People

Ng Cher Pheng

Individuals function in this world under certain axiomatic beliefs that guide our actions. Political parties, aggregations of individuals, act likewise. A certain belief of the PAP in particular has been oft repeated, through the decades, so much so that it can be formalized into an ideology – the doctrine that people are irrational, and the PAP must do all it can in its power to act for the best interests of Singapore, even when its efforts are unpopular. In essence, governance is a battle for the people’s good, yet, the main threat to them is themselves.

With this understanding of its sacred custodian role, the PAP has toiled year on year to introduce unpopular reforms, and administer “hard truths” to its people. That is surely a hallmark of good governance. The willingness of the PAP to incur some loss of political capital in the faith that its efforts will eventually be recognized by the moderate majority is indeed an admirable trait.

However, when beliefs become extreme, abnormal behaviors occur. The same paternal guardian of society eventually frets about the inherent irrationality of its people and acts accordingly. What is interesting is the extent to which the government goes to:

To protect the people from “freak elections”, the spectre of military intervention is raised, and the politicians routinely remind voters that such an uncoordinated coordination can occur.

To protect the people against their impulses and emotions, the national cooling-off day was introduced, and the number of rallies are limited by the narrow window of campaigning days.

To protect people from the new social media, and the unintended effects of accidentally sparking off a revolution with a few dozen pixilated letters, any Facebook comments that could possibly incite a violent uprising and convince someone of your non-serious online outbursts can get you jailed.

To protect the people from the sensationalism of the media discourse, the government intervenes to control the mainstream media. What is more is that the media reports the Truth, a truth truer than mere truth: It is the truth that the Singapore Government is exceedingly competent, but to report the Truth is to highlight that fact often and without qualifications.

To protect the people from an opposition government bent on launching its Viking boats towards the reserves, the president is given more powers. Since the job has been intended as the preserve for a person indoctrinated with the ideology of PAP guardianship, the qualifying bar has been set accordingly. What is sad is that a single party’s view on the moral fiber of the candidate is regarded as more important than the collective ability of 5 million to judge on the qualities of a person. Sadder still is a President without a mandate.

To protect the people from a certain charismatic opposition member who incidentally happens to be gay, the government has to appeal to the prejudices of the people, for their own sake of course, lest they do not realize what dark agenda is in play. Never mind that the men in white have to engage in the “gutter politics” that they have hitherto warned us of, and dirty their white armor in the deed – For the people’s sake, the PAP will sacrifice.

The list goes on, and our knights in their white-and-stained armor go forth valiantly protecting ourselves from ourselves. Sometimes I find myself rather touched that a team of genuinely capable people are out there, lying wide awake in their beds, worrying for the health of my decision-making ability.

Yet, the PAP must realize that for every safety barrier they erect around us, for every of our limbs they tie, for every painstaking measure they think of, we are a distortion further away from democracy.

I don’t believe that the rough and rumble western arena is the ideal, but neither do I think we will be satisfied with this paternal, padded playpen of a democracy.

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Photo courtesy of the Singapore Democratic Party.