Throughout the history of Singapore, cracks
and fault lines are always there. If there are no cracks or fault lines, the “Master
of Balance” will lose its acting power and basically, has nothing to do or no
way to play politics. Politics is a game
and every game needs a master to balance off difference forces.
Since Sir Stamford Raffles landed in
Singapura, our lion city, there were cracks all the way until now. However, to solve the crack lines, a “Master of
Balance” will have to appear and harmonise the fault issues.
The “Master of Balance” (MB) of course is the
colonial ruler or the ruling party of the time. It may also be a single person,
likes Sir Stamford or the founding father of Singapore.
Sir Stamford Raffles managed to persuade the Sultan
of Johor to let the British to set up a trading settlement in Singapore in 1819.
From a fishing village to a British possession, besides merchants from Arab,
Europe and other countries, the British East India Company also started to
import labour from China and India to develop Singapore. In the course of doing so, they had to
balance the rights of Malay and the new immigrants even though all did not have
voting rights.
During the Japanese occupation, Japan became
the MB. To keep the government running, they needed to employ some locals to maintain
laws and orders as well assisting in administration. The way to maintain the balance during this
period is through force and military.
When the PAP gained power in 1959, it became
the MB. The PAP also claimed and acknowledged that there were cracks among
themselves and that led to the formation of Barisan Sosialis in 1963.
“The leftist Barisan Sosialis was slammed by the PAP as a Communist front and attacked vehemently as being a radical pro-Communist group. ……..
Nevertheless, many Barisan Sosialis members did have (to varying extents) admiration and belief in the leftist ideals of Communism as well as Socialism due to the influence of Communist China. This communist orientation was used by the PAP to damage their reputation and viability in the Singaporean context.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barisan_Sosialis)
Even Barisan Sosialis got
it right with the issue of merger with Malaysia (Singapore joined and finally
left Malaysia in 1965), the MB still managed to win in 1963 election with the
help of Operation Cold Store. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barisan_Sosialis)
Not only the PAP is able to balance the
result in election, it has also managed in balancing the Chinese and English educated, the racial tension
(Malay and Chinese), housing, employment, and in certain way the rich and poor
gap in the early days of independence.
So confident is the MB, it claims to move
Singapore from third world to first world country. In the process, there are cracks and fault
lines like the Marxist Conspiracy, the merger of newspaper groups, the closing
of Nantah, the GRC, the Elected President, the Court Appeal (to UK), and many
others.
Some of these cracks and fault lines still
remain today. This is why PM Lee describes
the new crack as the gap and difference
between old and new citizens.
Cracks are not necessary the bad things for
the PAP. It can turn into advantages to the MB if he plays the cards well and balance
the different demands from different people. Cracks and fault lines are Wei Ji
(危机) for the MB and it contains
risks (危) and opportunities(机). The problem is how the current leaders of the
PAP handle and balance the situation.
Experience proved that in 1963 (see below), even with 46.9% of the popular votes, a good
MB could still win the election with more than two-third majority.
|
Party
|
Votes
|
%
|
Seats
|
+/-
|
|
272,924
|
46.9
|
37
|
-6
|
|
|
193,301
|
33.2
|
13
|
+13
|
|
|
48,967
|
8.4
|
0
|
||
|
48,785
|
8.4
|
1
|
+1
|
|
|
Partai Rakyat
|
8,259
|
1.4
|
0
|
|
|
Pan-Malayan
Malaysian Party
|
1,545
|
0.3
|
0
|
|
|
United
Democratic Party
|
760
|
0.1
|
0
|
|
|
286
|
0.1
|
0
|
||
|
Independents
|
6,788
|
1.2
|
0
|
-1
|
|
Invalid/blank
votes
|
5,818
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
|
Turnout
|
587,433
|
95.1
|
51
|
-
|
|
Electorate
|
617,450
|
|||
|
Source:
Singapore Elections
|
||||
Not to mention the PAP obtained
60% of the popular votes
in 2011, the MB still has many rooms to
move and cards to play. Unless the
quality of the PAP leaders drops sharply to the third world standard and the MB
has only paper generals to deploy, then the change of government is possible.
Cracks and fault lines are not new in
Singapore. In the past, the PAP as the MB
has managed to balance the different demands from different sectors. And in most of the cases, the PAP is acting
against the minority, like the Chinese educated, the so-called communists or
pro communists, the human rights fighters, the
ISA protesters, even the poor is the minority in Singapore as claimed by the government
and they are well taken off and provided with safety net.
However, the immigration issue is quite difference. It
seems the MB is acting against the wishes of the majority - the old citizens. MB, of course, can use the old tactics of ‘divide
and rule’.
We will see more of these tactics but will it work again?
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