Lee Hsien Yang: Voting for the opposition is the safest choice for Singapore

SINGAPORE: Lee Hsien Yang, the younger son of founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, weighed in on the upcoming election through a post on social media on Sunday evening (April 13).

While Mr Lee, like many leaders of the ruling People’s Action Party, emphasised the current “uncertain and unpredictable world”, unlike them, he wrote that what Singapore needs at the moment is “new voices, new ideas, new approaches”, and “not more of the same imposed with a harder, stronger, more secretive and more authoritarian streak”.

He added, “Voting for the opposition is the safest choice for Singapore.  It is not ‘rocking the boat’ but saving our boat from sinking. Lack of new ideas and approaches, secrecy, lack of accountability with ever-growing failures, ‘ownself check ownself’ and a culture of ‘ownself look after ownself’ is dangerous for the future of Singapore.”

What the hour needs, he wrote, is “robust, diverse and dynamic decision-making”. As for the GE, writing that “diversity builds resilience”, Mr Lee added that “the views, vigorous debates and discussions of a multi-party Parliament which represents the views of all Singaporeans” are needed.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong compared the current situation to “a gathering storm ahead” and said that Singapore is flying straight into turbulence”, adding that “in such conditions, who you have in the cockpit matters”.

Mr Lee, on the other hand, used nature as a point of comparison, adding that genetic diversity allows for the greater adaptation of species and prevents inbreeding, which occurs in “small, isolated populations” and “can reduce a species’ ability to survive and reproduce.”

“The same is true of our political leadership,” he added, taking aim at the ruling party, which he characterised as having become an echo chamber and “an ivory tower of paper pushes, not national leaders”.

In answer to the question as to whether a Parliament full of PAP MPs is indeed better for Singapore, he cited a Financial Times article from last year wherein research showed that “whether a government is weak or strong, left or right, does not seem to matter much for the economy. Markets seem to sense decay as leaders become stale over time. The wide-ranging research shows that the one political fact that matters is fresh faces and that incumbency is adverse for the economy, with longer incumbency accentuating that adverse effect”.

He further warned that the downside to the dominance of the ruling party is that “the benefits of success are no longer broadly shared”.

Mr Lee said that most citizens do not have a share in this and are struggling as Singapore has become the most expensive city in the world, where there is a high level of income inequality and housing prices have become difficult to afford for young people.

He also quoted President Tharman, who said in 2011 that he believes a strong opposition is good not only for the PAP but also for Singapore, as well as former Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo, who also said that if the PAP should become corrupt or ineffectual, a credible opposition would be important so that there would be an alternative Singaporeans could go for.

Mr Lee ended his post by writing, “A more representative Parliament is insurance for a better Singapore future.”

Many netizens have since reacted to Mr Lee’s post, with a number saying they share his opinion on the necessity for more diverse voices in Parliament. /TISG

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