Today, Aug 13, as we inch closer to PE2023, is politically peculiar. Indeed, this week has Singaporeans on edge, anticipating a whirlwind of surprises in the lead-up to the elections.
After the rah-rah of the National Day Parade on Aug 9 during which we witnessed live the outgoing President Halimah Yacob almost nonchalantly and carelessly missing a step or two in her last parade appearance, the country is in a state of flux.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will, as usual, deliver his State of the Union National Day Rally speech (on Aug 20). He has promised that he will talk about how the government will adjust its public housing schemes to make sure HDB flats are inclusive, accessible and affordable. He will also spell out how older workers who have not built up enough Central Provident Fund savings for retirement could get some “extra help”.
What the PM will do this unfortunate year (for the PAP) is try and put up a business-as-usual face in the face of some troubling events. It would be a bit of a stretch to say even the so-called “settled” Ridout Road bungalow saga (no offense discovered) has been filed away and forgotten. Ridoutgate, wazzat? No, it has not been dismissed. For some, it has become, unfair though it may be for the two ministers involved (Law Minister K Shanmugam grew up in Bukit Ho Swee and Ghim Moh), an episode which emphasized the gargantuan gap in the lifestyles of today’s elite and the void deck population. The saga will haunt the ruling People’s Action Party and those associated with it, again unfairly. But that’s life.
So it may help the PAP’s cause if it does something about the F1, to make sure that ordinary Singaporeans are not inconvenienced, forgotten, or brushed aside the way that they had been every year the F1 was staged here to lure and entertain the rich and famous. The price is too high to pay. This is a country, NOT a playground.
The F1 may have other casualties, in terms of the temptations of the excessively fast and furious good life that come with it. The results of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Board investigations are eagerly awaited.
Generally, life is not normal on the political scene in Singapore come the ND Rally. A number of MPs on both sides of the political divide have resigned for improper behavior. One or two others have medical fitness issues which, in themselves, are not a major problem so long as fellow MPs or even retired MPs help out or so long as affected residents are not shortchanged. There are only two years left before the next General Election in 2025 anyway.
As we move towards GE2025, the Presidential Election is already upon us.
And there are a couple of uncertainties together with a number of questions confronting some Singaporeans who may still not be entirely clear what the Presidential Election is all about – or what the elected President can or cannot do.
Will we really have four candidates? Will the Presidential Elections Committee approve all the applications?
Who are the spoilers and who are the splitters?
Does it all matter?
Let this PE once again be a real contest, like in 2011. After the disgraceful 2017 farce, the integrity of the presidential election has to be restored.
There is little need for the PEC to over-agonize. Singapore wants a fight. Otherwise, the presidency will simply become a farce.
Tan Bah Bah, consulting editor of TheIndependent.Sg is a former senior leader writer with The Straits Times. He was also the managing editor of a magazine publishing company.
Read also:
PE2023: Will Tan Kin Lian be a Goliath slayer? – Singapore News
PE2023: In the race, Lim Hng Khiang? Or Khaw Boon Wan? – Singapore News
PE2023: Get a real president this time, we have already wasted six years – Singapore News
PE2023: Have a real contest or simply make it an Endorsed Presidency – Singapore News