‘Reinventing the Singapore “Model” of Development and Cultural Management for the New Millennium?’ (2012). (original) (raw)
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2010
In Singapore, the People’s Action Party (PAP) is the dominant political party, powerful because of its longstanding position of centrality in the state, won through regular but not very competitive elections. In this leading position, the PAP government has attempted, mostly successfully, to activate the people in a civil society that it has endeavoured to depoliticize at the same time. The advent of new media has facilitated a re-politicization of Singapore’s civil society and forced political parties, including the PAP, to engage citizens in a lightly regulated but relatively uncensored cyberspace.
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Asian Journal of Comparative Politics, 2022
Singapore's political struggles of the 1950s and 1960s, between a Chinese-educated, workingclass left wing and a middle-class, English-educated faction, have not been completely eradicated but continue to cast a shadow over modern political developments. The moderate, Englisheducated faction achieved an important victory when it took over control of the People's Action Party (PAP) in the early 1960s. However, the surprise ascendancy of the Workers' Party (WP), under Low Thia Khiang, has seen a long-marginalized section of the Chinese-educated galvanize around a district, Hougang and Aljunied, and a Teochew-speaking charismatic but lowkey individual in Mr Low. The WP's ability to develop an enduring 'brand' over the 2006-2013 period surprised many commentators. By 2013 it had become Singapore's second-strongest political force.
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This book chapter recovers the political-economic thought of James Puthucheary - the leading economist of the radical left faction in the PAP's united front. A close partner with Goh Keng Swee - the moderate faction's economic thinker, Puthucheary made an indispensable contribution to Singapore's First Development Plan (1961-4). During the parting of ways between the moderates and the radical in mid-1961, Puthucheary tried to hold both sides together by persuading Goh that socialists should not purge fellow socialists by undemocratic means. His insistence on the necessity of democracy for development, I argue, prompts us to rethink myths we have come to hold true on the necessity of trading political freedoms for prosperity.
The Road to Individualism Was Paved with Good Intentions: The Singapore Dream: From 1965-2016
Hist:Re , 2019
This article historicises the merit of the ‘Singapore Dream’ in post-independence Singapore by positing three separate, albeit inter-related assertions. Firstly, this paper argues that the bifurcation of the ‘Singapore Dream’ into two distinct phases as stressed by the Peoples’ Action Party (PAP) and commentators in Singapore do not hold true. Instead, these two so-called ‘distinctive forms of the ‘Singapore Dream’ have shown remarkable manoeuvrability in blending into one another. Subsequently, the ‘individualistic’ and ‘selfish’ nature of the ‘Singapore Dream’s’ second form will be taken to task. Although the PAP had pinned the blame upon materialistic and selfish Singaporeans for the ‘Dream’s’ socially unacceptable metamorphosis, the second thesis suggests otherwise. It argues that the PAP had passed policies that reflected its transaction-like approach towards public and foreign policies, a sentiment that has been consequently internalised by Singaporeans. The final part of this essay examines the problems of how the ‘Singapore Dream,’ throughout its various manifestations, had ignored perspectives that do not fit into the bread-and-butter paradigm envisioned in all components of the ‘Dream.’ In other words, the ‘Singapore Dream’ has been a ‘Nightmare’ for those who were excluded from the concept’s imagination, even though, ironically, the belief in the ‘Singapore Dream’ was an aspiration for ‘Singaporeans.’
Ordinary Singapore: The Decline of Singapore Exceptionalism
Journal of Contemporary Asia, 2015
Abstract For decades Singapore’s ruling elite has sought to legitimate its rule by claiming to be a talented and competent elite that has made Singapore an exception among its neighbours – an exemplar of success and progress in a sea of mediocrity. In this article it is contended that this basis of legitimation has been irreversibly damaged. In essence, it is suggested that the governing People’s Action Party has lost control of the national narrative, and its achievements are increasingly regarded as being “ordinary” by the electorate. The mystique of exceptionalism, which was the basis on which the government was widely presumed to be above the need for close scrutiny and accountability, has collapsed. This collapse has substantially levelled the political playing field, at least in terms of expectations and assumptions. The government can and probably will continue to win elections and rule through its control of the instruments of institutional power, but the genie of scepticism and accountability has been released from its bottle, and it is hard to see how it can be put back in. This fundamentally changes the condition of Singapore politics: the narrative of exceptionalism is dead and the Singapore elite finds itself struggling to cope in a new and critical political environment.
The Role of the State in Singapore: Pragmatism in Pursuit of Growth
The Singapore Economic Review
This paper looks at how government intervention shapes the evolution of the Singapore economy and accounts for its successes and failures over the past 50 years. Compared with other dynamic Asian economies, the Singapore government's approach to intervene in the economy is both more extensive and more intrusive, but with a narrow focus on GDP growth and surplus accumulation as the primary objectives. The ruling government's near complete dominance in politics has enabled it to mobilize resources to create the preconditions for strong GDP growth and high savings. But the impact on the broader development of the economy and the long term sustainability of growth is less obvious. High GDP growth and strong savings have been achieved without developing the inherent production and indigenous innovation capacity, securing a larger hinterland and providing a less skewed income distribution and higher quality of life for residents. As the economy enters a new phase where more comple...