18 Nov 2011
By Janice Heng & Rachel Chang
COME next Sunday, over a thousand People's Action Party (PAP) cadres will gather for their first party convention since the May General Election.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will make a keynote speech, which is expected to answer some of the questions that have surrounded the ruling party since former foreign minister George Yeo said in May that it was in need of 'transformation'.
Two days later, he lost his Aljunied GRC seat. The PAP would see its national vote share fall to 60.1 per cent, the lowest since Independence.
In the early hours of the morning, after the electoral scorecard was released in full, Mr Lee told the press that 'soul-searching' was on the cards for the PAP.
Some of the conclusions that exhaustive rumination over the last six months have yielded will be made known to the party rank-and-file - and the public - next week at the convention.
Mr Lee is likely to reveal key findings from the PAP's post-mortem report of the GE, put together by a 12-man committee headed by National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan.
The document, the culmination of ground reports from its 87 branches, followed up with face-to-face interviews with key activists, will not be made public.
But party sources say that Mr Lee's speech will outline the PAP's next steps, and in so doing, aim to boost morale among cadres after a trying and, at times divisive, year.
The post-mortem reportedly dwells on the PAP's core challenge in the aftermath of the 2011 GE: forging a new emotional connection with Singaporeans.
Insight understands that one topic that has surfaced often in party caucuses - closed-door sessions attended by its 81 MPs - is what narrative this new emotional connection can be based on.
The PAP's track record, and its stature as the party that took Singapore from 'Third World to First' has served it well in election after election.
But in the 'new normal' of Singapore politics, PAP MPs say that a message of inclusiveness, compassion and humility must grow in its stead.
'A party that cares,' muses Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC MP Zainudin Nordin, of the PAP's new image. 'It's not about Singapore's economy, but about Singapore. The new narrative will be how to move forward well, and how to do it together.'
Narrative 1: Open and inclusive
SINCE Mr Lee became Prime Minister, the notion of an 'inclusive and open society' has been the key narrative of his government.
His first speech as PM, at his swearing-in in 2004, was known for that phrase, and for a vision of progress that went beyond the material.
Seven years later, MPs bring up inclusiveness time and again as the bedrock of the party's new narrative.
Aspects of this have loomed large in public discourse. Last month, President Tony Tan Keng Yam outlined the priorities of the new PAP Government over the next five years.
'A better life for all' would be the goal, he said. 'We want a fair and just society that ensures the well-being of every citizen; a gracious and compassionate community whose members care for one another; and a truly special Singapore, where our children can grow to be the best that they can be.'
He emphasised that the Government would help all strata of Singapore society: the lower-income will receive social assistance and job training, the middle-income would benefit from skills upgrading, education opportunities for their children and the ability to own a home, and those at the top will be able to use Singapore as a 'base camp' to conquer the world.
In Parliament last month, PM Lee also dwelt at length on the need to preserve social mobility in a maturing - and stratifying - society.
While more social assistance will preserve opportunities for those at the bottom to rise up, he also emphasised that Singapore's success has always been due to self-reliance.
The Government will increase and enhance opportunities in education and training - from providing good-quality, affordable preschool education to improving access to higher education.
But MPs and observers say that two obstacles stand in the way of the PAP becoming known as the party of inclusiveness.
The first is that a small country in a turbulent world cannot deflect global economic forces.
'The income gap has gone up over the last four or five years. That's a global phenomenon,' notes Sembawang GRC MP Vikram Nair, adding that one of the challenges of globalisation is its impact on low-wage workers. Initiatives like the Workfare Income Supplement scheme, he points out, can only ameliorate globalisation's impact on such workers, but not reverse it. Started in 2007, the scheme tops up the incomes of older workers who earn below a certain threshold.
The second is a perennial cynicism among some regarding the ruling party.
'It boils down to the feeling on the ground that the PAP represents the elites,' says Nee Soon GRC MP Lim Wee Kiak. 'Ministerial pay didn't help the issue. It seems that you are enriching yourself and that impression is very difficult to correct.'
One of the first things that Mr Lee did after the May GE was set up a committee to review political salaries, a topic he said was the subject of 'genuine concern' for many.
The eight-man committee, headed by National Kidney Foundation chairman Gerard Ee, was asked to bear in mind that ministerial salaries should have a 'significant discount to comparable private sector salaries to signify the value and ethos of political service'.
Several MPs chafe at the 'elitist' characterisation, arguing that it ignores the magnitude of assistance they provide for the worst-off among their constituents.
'What I find interesting is that a lot of the people who identify issues with (the lack of) inclusive growth and so on, ironically, they are young professionals in the middle class,' notes Mr Nair. 'We've put in a lot to help people at the very bottom.'
The Government has made clear that more resources will be committed to widening and strengthening the social safety net over the next few years.
MPs have also pushed for more help for other groups, like the middle class, and those just keeping their heads above water - the 'at risk' group, as Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Chan Chun Sing puts it - and not only the 'in risk' group.
On their part, PAP backbenchers suspect that their community work must be more visible, and their successes better publicised.
Says Sembawang GRC MP Ellen Lee: 'We have to continue to do the good things we are doing, and also not be too shy about telling people we are doing good things.'
Narrative 2: Active citizens, servant leaders
TWO pairs of buzzwords have emerged this year, from two major speeches Mr Lee has made.
The first is 'servant leadership', which he spoke about at a Young PAP anniversary celebration in April, during which the ruling party's manifesto for the May GE was unveiled.
'Never forget we are servants of the people, not their masters,' he said. 'Never lord it over the people we are looking after and serving.'
'Active citizenry', the informal theme of Mr Lee's National Day Rally speech in August, is the second. 'Don't just tell us what to do, but help us do it,' was how he put his vision of Singaporeans stepping up.
Active citizenship has been part of the national discourse for well over a decade. In 1998, a report that emerged from a massive public consultation exercise launched by then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong identified empowered and involved citizens as key to forging a new Singapore.
In the 13 years since, the number of Singaporeans prepared to speak up and get organised behind causes they champion, has grown.
Together, the two ideas of active citizens and servant leaders conjure up a fundamentally different power dynamic between the ruling party and voters from that of earlier decades. It marks a shift from a society where the Government is the primary mover of change, to one in which there is room for grassroots movements to also exercise influence.
MPs, though, are careful to draw a distinction between active citizens and demanding ones. Several tell Insight they do not appreciate unreasonable residents taking the 'servant' aspect of servant leadership too literally.
'It doesn't mean bending over backwards to accommodate every demand,' Dr Lim points out. 'The leadership aspect is having courage to make unpopular, but fair, decisions.'
Mr Eugene Tan, an assistant professor of law at Singapore Management University, notes that the PAP, while no longer able to rest on its laurels of rapid economic progress, cannot escape the unhappier aspects of its governance legacy.
'It has ruled Singapore since 1959. Whatever problems that Singaporeans face, the finger-pointing at the Government is inevitable,' says Mr Tan.
Thus, there are some who will continue to pin the blame on the PAP for a society in which citizens must be cajoled to be active; for politicians who must now be reminded to be humble.
When it comes to a new party narrative, some, like Tampines GRC MP Irene Ng, want to practise what she preaches about Singaporeans taking the wheel.
The narrative should not be dictated by the PAP, she says - a move that can embed its new attitude.
'It is not just about the party knowing what's best for the people, telling people what's good for them and what it wants to do for them. It is about the PAP listening to the people on what they want and hope to see in a new Singapore, and working with them to get there.'
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