Tan Kin Lian's Blog: 30th anniversary of Singapore Democratic Party

Saturday, February 27, 2010

30th anniversary of Singapore Democratic Party

I attended the 30th anniversary celebration party of the Singapore Democratic Party. Dr. Chee Soon Juan is the Secretary General. The event was fully attended by party members and guests.

I spoke to a few guests and asked about their occupation and views of Singapore. Several of them were not members of any political party but attended the event to show their support for change in the political system. They love Singapore but had been disappointed with the policies of the ruling party in recent years. One of them, who has worked in China for six years said, "The PAP has betrayed the people of Singapore". Two others made rude remarks about the top leaders of the Government.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...: I hope you will contest in this coming election Mr Tan. I will defnitely cast my vote for you.; February 27, 2010 11:42 PM
michael said...: The PAP has succeeded to bring Singapore from 'Third World Country' to 'First World Country' but Today, our old generation(above 60 years old)is facing a very uncertain future. The costs of living and high medical expenses are the two main concerns for them. Our government is too slow and ineffective to arrest these issues if compared with the standards of the 'First World Country'. It is meaningless to talk about progress and prosperity when our old Singaporean are not living confidently with some degree of dignity.; February 28, 2010 1:55 AM
Anonymous said...: Mr. Tan,
Many people commented that the 66% voted for PAP does not represent the population support for PAP. I find that hard to understand. Though I agreed that we can not extend the assumption that the 66% voted in the contested wards represents the entire population, one can also argue that the contested wards are wards that the opposition deemed to have the largest support and hence they choose to compete.

I am not a PAP supporter and in fact disagreed with many of their policies but I have to accept the majority decision. This is democracy and good governance. This of course is also a different issue about the uneven playing field in the political arena. But as long as the majority of 66% voted for the PAP, I have to accept the WILL of the people.

David; February 28, 2010 7:05 AM
Anonymous said...: Dear Anon: 28 Feb,7.05am.
Reference your comment
"But as long as the majority of 66% voted for the PAP, I have to accept the WILL of the people."

Calmly accepting the results of a fair elections is necessary for a democracy to flourish.

Due to Singapore's educational emphasis on technical subjects like the sciences, may I offer the following comments to increase the depth of discussion:

1. Western democracies practise many different types of voting systems. Singapore practises the system called 'First past the post". Other types include proportional representation.

Election results can vary depending upon the choice of voting system.

Below is Wikipedia hyperlink to the different types of voting system.
SOURCE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_system

For a more general discussion of voting systems and the implications and nuances of the phrase "Will of the people" and "majority rule," may I refer you to the wikipedia hyperlink below:

SOURCE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy

An excerpt from abovementioned hyperlink is as follows:

There are several varieties of democracy, some of which provide better representation and more freedoms for their citizens than others.[8][9] However, if any democracy is not carefully legislated to avoid an uneven distribution of political power with balances, such as the separation of powers, then a branch of the system of rule could accumulate power and become harmful to the democracy itself.[10][11][12]

The "majority rule" is often described as a characteristic feature of democracy, but without responsible government or constitutional protections of individual liberties from democratic power it is possible for dissenting individuals to be oppressed by the "tyranny of the majority". An essential process in representative democracies is competitive elections, that are fair both substantively[13] and procedurally.[14] Furthermore, freedom of political expression, freedom of speech and freedom of the press are essential so that citizens are informed and able to vote in their personal interests.[15][16]; February 28, 2010 9:42 AM
Anonymous said...: David 7.05 am

This article in

http://www.littlespeck.com/content/politics/CTrendsPolitics-100222.htm

gives you a good insight why the 66% vote for PAP is something not only achievable but also unbeatable.

I would suggest all opposition read and digest the article and then strategise their actions for best outcome for them.; February 28, 2010 9:48 AM
Anonymous said...: MR Tan

I hope that you will run for the elections, but as an independent candidate. Don't combine with the other existing parties, start from zero. For example, the SDP has a political baggage, many people don't like CSJ because of his close association with American support. And like it or not, STratis times already made him look like a destructive maniac it is ingrained in some voters minds so deep and cannot be corrected... so stay independent of SDP if you are running for elections...

Please consider my idea above. I think you will get more than 66% very very easiy if you run as an independent candidate. GO FOR IT, GO GO GO! You have my vote 1,000%.

REX; February 28, 2010 10:12 AM
Anonymous said...: David

I think what people mean is that the views of the 34% that did not vote for the PAP are not represented in parliament.

Although the PAP only managed to win 66% of the vote, they control 82 out of the 84 seats in parliament.

In many established democracies in Europe, the number of seats that a party gets is dependent on the proportion of people that voted for that party.; February 28, 2010 10:21 AM
Anonymous said...: Many of the constituencies are grouped as GRC, and opposition are "blocked" from contesting because they do not have enough candidates, e.g. McPherson which Dr Chee contested initially, later become Marine Parade GRC. what does this mean? The people there do not have a voice anymore.; February 28, 2010 12:08 PM
Anonymous said...: I'd suggest that the opposition parties allocate time & resources on an ongoing basis (over many years) to educate Singaporeans about the different types of voting systems practised in different democracies around the world.

Singaporeans are sorely lacking in knowledge of political science and history.

For example; Many Singaporeans can't even tell the difference between a civil servant, a politician, a political party, the civil service, a statutory board, the cabinet, MPs and NMPs.

All these entities have different roles and responsibilities. Calling all these different entities "the gahmen" will not build a strong civic society with a strong sense of ownership of our country.

Educate yourself. Just google;
"different types of democratic voting system" and take a look.; February 28, 2010 2:41 PM
Anonymous said...: I agree with Rex that Mr. Tan should run as an independent candidate.
If there is no single member constituency(SMC) for Mr. Tan, then I would like to suggest that Rex join force with Mr. Tan to run for a GRC.; February 28, 2010 8:48 PM
Anonymous said...: REX comments as follows,

Rex is honoured to read Anon's comments as per 8.48 mail, thank you for your faith in me.

However if you read between the lines my comments under the previous thread, you will understand why I probably would never want to be an MP ha ha ha.

rex; March 01, 2010 8:04 AM
Anonymous said...: Hi REX,

Meeting people is part and parcel of a politician's work. I am sure that you can perform this function better than a PAP MP.; March 01, 2010 10:03 AM
Anonymous said...: Mr Tan and REX should join Reform Party, new party, new start, new beginning for S'pore and all S'poreans!

Independent is solo, not as good as a party.; March 01, 2010 2:44 PM
Anonymous said...: Hi Anonymous 7.05am,

I also agree that the disparity between the voter's support for the PAP and the composition of the parliament is unhealthy.

Here is a lecture on how a proportional representation can be achieved to overcome gerrymandering. (see lecture 3) There is still active research in the field of electoral systems!

http://www.math.cornell.edu/~billera/misc/Messenger.html; March 01, 2010 9:37 PM