Was political freedom the price we paid for economic success? With no human rights education are the people aware they are denied the fundamental human rights - which all human beings enjoy as birth rights?
Singapore's ruling People's Action Party, in power since before the country won independence in 1965, yesterday clashed with opposition leaders in a public debate over political freedom in the run up to May 6 elections.
"Fear" of repercussions is hampering the opposition, Singapore Democratic Party leader Chee Soon Juan said, calling for looser rules on public gatherings. Ruling party lawmaker Indranee Rajah denied people are afraid and said the government always has the city's "best interests in mind."
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's People's Action Party has presided over the city's transformation from a trading and fishing town into a regional banking and technology hub and the world's biggest container port. Still, critics of the city's political system, including Human Rights Watch and billionaire George Soros, say the city places unnecessary curbs on rights such freedom of expression.
"What are the fundamentals?" Chee said in the debate. "They are freedom of speech, association, and most importantly, assembly. Without these fundamental rights, there is absolutely no way that we can have a free and fair election system."
Chee is being sued for defamation by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his father Lee Kuan Yew, the founder of modern Singapore, for statements made in his party's newspaper earlier this month. Chee lost a defamation suit filed during a 2001 election and was ordered to pay S$500,000 ($315,000) in damages to the elder Lee and former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong.
Public Debate
The rare public debate was held on the eve of the deadline for parties to register their candidates in the election. An audience of several hundred attended the debate, which was held at the National University of Singapore and also featured Sin Kek Tong, chairman of Singapore People's Party, and Catherine Lim, a Singapore writer and political commentator.
Rajah, speaking for the People's Action Party, said Singaporeans do have a choice between the incumbent government and opposition groups. She defended existing laws, saying every society needs regulation.
``There has to be some rules, right?'' she said. ``Singaporeans actually have reached a level of maturity, have reached a level of confidence, where they know they can engage in reasoned and rational debates and not be worried about an unnecessary backlash.''
Chee disagreed, saying hotels in the city had declined to host a meeting of his Singapore Democratic Party because they were concerned about repercussions from the government.
"To tell us there's no fear, you're not living in Singapore," he told Rajah.
Public Protests
The People's Action Party claimed 82 of the 84 directly elected seats in the 2001 election and won the past three elections by default because not enough opposition candidates registered to contest seats.
"Singapore does not qualify as an open society," Soros, chairman of New York-based Soros Fund Management LLC, said in the city-state on Jan. 11. "Everybody recognizes that you are basically a one-party system. You don't have freedom of expression."
Participants in the debate discussed whether political freedom was the price paid for Singapore's economic success in the four decades since independence.
Political Freedom
Singapore's per-capita national income had surged more than 50-fold to $25,000 by 2004, the second highest in Asia after Japan, and 66 percent of the level of the U.S., from 16 percent in 1965, according to ``The Economic Prospects of Singapore,'' by Winston Koh, an academic at the School of Economics & Social Sciences at Singapore Management University.
"One of the assumptions is all this prosperity is really because we have managed to control and curb political freedom, and when you have one, you can't have the other," political commentator Lim said.
"Maybe it is high time Singaporeans say the two are compatible," Lim said. "I get uncomfortable when I get the argument of economic prosperity where hey, `I got that, why do I need political freedom?"
Prosperity
Participants in the debate also argued whether the government is using handouts and the prospect of upgrades in public housing, home to 80 percent of the population, to woo votes.
In his February budget speech, Prime Minister Lee said the government will pay a record S$2.6 billion ($1.6 billion) in the year starting April in cash bonuses to its citizens. The payments, which start this month, are to help low-income earners and are unrelated to the election, according to the government.
Still, apartments in districts held by the opposition won't be a priority for upgrades. Arhshath Kaleni, a 17-year-old student in the debate's audience, said renovation work should be completed based on the need of the buildings, not on how the constituents voted.
"You're penalizing the people for exercising this choice we have, and institutionalizing a separation among Singaporeans based on their political choices," he said. "The government should represent the collective population without this bias. Representation means you give it to people who need it the most, and not those who supported you."
Rajah said the government can't renovate every older building because the budget is limited.
"There isn't enough to go round everywhere" Rajah said. "If you have a limited amount, and there are constituencies that voted for you, and there are constituencies that didn't vote for you, with a limited amount to do upgrading, who do you give it to?"
Sources and Relevant Links:
Bloomberg Singapore's Ruling, Opposition Parties Debate Political Freedom27 April 2006
Reuters Singapore GE: FACTBOX-Key facts and figures 20 April 2006
Think Centre GE2006: Renewal, Invigoration and Hope 8 May 2006
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Think Centre Editorial GE 200621 April 2006 In its continuing GE 2006 editorial series, Think Centre (TC) looks at another determinant that may boost or capitulate the Opposition's electoral chances - the media.
Think Centre General Elections (GE) 2006 15 April 2006 As part of its coverage of General Elections (GE) 2006, Think Centre moves into gear with week-by-week editorials on potential issues that matter to the Opposition
