When his ruling party won all but two of the 84 seats in the parliamentary elections in 2006, then Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, told Singaporeans: “Please do not assume that you can change governments. Young people don’t understand this.”
However, after a meeting last Saturday at the premises of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), talks of a change of government seem to reign supreme.
https://theindependent.sg.sg/it-seems-tan-cheng-bock-has-decided-to-answer-the-call-to-politics/
Many are of the opinion that a change in the current political situation is necessary.
Gilbert Goh, Founder and President of Transitioning.org was no different. In a Facebook post, he said, “The new coalition of seven opposition parties under Tan Cheng Bock gives us fresh hope and Singapore truly needs a change after 53 years” of being under the People’s Action Party (PAP)
He too expressed hope of an opposition coalition similar to Malaysia’s Pakatan Harapan, hopes that Leader of unregistered party People’s Voice Lim Tean echoed as well.
Mr Goh added, “Hopefully, we can effect changes bloodlessly at the polls like Malaysia did three months ago”.
https://theindependent.sg.sg/lim-tean-calls-for-opposition-parties-to-join-in-an-alliance-just-like-malaysias-pakatan-harapan/
A similar sentiment also reverberated amongst many others, including SDP’s Damanhuri Bin Abas. He said, “It surely is no coincidence that Dr Tan Cheng Bock uses the malay word “Ubah” in his FB post.
Mr Damanhuri continued, “The word means change, which in the reality of life as we know it, is the only constant. From the minutest example one can think of, to the glorious constellation above, everything changes. We as humans grow and die. In other words, nothing is permanent”.
It surely is no coincidence that Dr Tan Cheng Bock uses the malay word “Ubah” in his FB post. The word means change,…
Posted by Damanhuri Bin Abas on Monday, 30 July 2018
As speculation runs amok here in Singapore, should people of the Republic fall back and heed the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s words? Or is change just around the corner, as so many predict?
In an interview with Charlie Rose in 2009, when asked about the most significant change in his way of thinking about the world, Mr Lee did also say that, “The impossible can happen”.
(From 19:45)
So, while it may seem like an opposition coalition is a long-shot, it might actually be a good change for Singaporeans. Though the alliance has the odds stacked against it, as Mr Lee said, the impossible can and may happen.
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obbana@theindependent.sg