Tan Kin Lian's Blog: Survey: Getting our young into Politics

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Survey: Getting our young into Politics

Mr. Lee Kuan Yew said that young people are not interested to go into politics. He quoted the example of his grandson, who is now on a scholarship.

I like to carry out this survey to get the views of a wider group of people. Please participate.

Here are the survey results.

8 comments:

David said...: I am not hopeful of any gradual or drastic changes for the better in Singapore politics or politicians, whether PAP or opposition.

I base it on the experience of other countries which are much bigger than us in all areas. You will observe that the alternatives are no better or even worse than the incumbents. It is also even difficult to dislodge the incumbents, no matter how bad their performance.

In Singapore, because of our small size and population, a credible alternative can barely even emerge, let alone grow and be strong. This has been true for past 40 over years. So why should the next 10 or 20 years be any different? Have the conditions for them to emerge become better? I don't think so. It has become worse due to immigration and emigration.; April 18, 2009 5:54 PM
Parka said...: I'm 28. And honestly, if there are any people in my age group saying they are going into politics, I am very sure they are insane, mentally insane.

What's the motivation for people going into politics anyway? I can't say I see any.; April 18, 2009 8:20 PM
Unknown said...: The motivation is the money!!!..

How many of us can earn million of dollers..; April 20, 2009 1:06 AM
Falcon said...: It is sad that in singapore the motivation now to go into politics is only money or power. What happened to the burning desire to want to do something good for the country?; April 21, 2009 3:25 AM
Parka said...: My idea of doing something good is to start a business. Give people jobs, pay them so they can buy stuff for their families.; April 21, 2009 5:52 PM
Soojenn said...: KL, when people like Mahbubani talks about institutionalising (in the NTU semianr on Possible Singapores - Beyond Lee Kuan Yew) the legacy of LKY and entrenching his elders in place to ensure this, what motivation is there for aspiring young people to join? especially if they are expected, if not then force-fed to remember LKY's legacy?

"Perhaps it is to restrain factionalism, arbitrate disagreements, groom and assess future leaders, that the positions of senior minister and minister mentor have been institutionalised," said Mr Ho, who feels the PAP’s "extraordinary cohesion" over five decades has owed much to "the forceful personality of Lee Kuan Yew".

http://soojenn.blogspot.com/2009/04/possible-singapores-beyond-lee-kuan-yew.html; April 23, 2009 12:31 PM
Soojenn said...: "What makes Ho or Mahbubani think that most Singaporeans are for an institutionalisation of the elders to keep the legacy of LKY?"

Would be interesting if you could do a survey on what Singaporeans think on this, and as Ho exclaims

"Perhaps it is to restrain factionalism, arbitrate disagreements, groom and assess future leaders, that the positions of senior minister and minister mentor have been institutionalised," said Mr Ho, who feels the PAP’s "extraordinary cohesion" over five decades has owed much to "the forceful personality of Lee Kuan Yew"."; April 23, 2009 12:34 PM
Cashew Nut said...: Are you sure MM said that "young people are not interested to go into politics. He quoted the example of his grandson, who is now on a scholarship."?
I thought many musicians choose to be musicians because they were inspired by the passion of thier parents! I think that is really inspiring parenting!; April 25, 2009 8:19 AM