Since the last elections, something seems to have awakened in the conciousness of Singaporeans. The PAP is no longer the dominant voice in the realm of public discourse. Instead, the blogosphere has established and is now in the process of entrenching itself as a site of resistance to the PAP government by deconstructing its neatly presented social policies in a manner that shows it to be anything but. And of course, gaffes by ministers and comic endeavours by their press secretaries to paint over their mistakes has led to a diminishing of the aura surrounding these elite public officials; suddenly Singaporeans not so sure anymore that their government knows best.
Yet despite these revelations and the almost unilateral call from these bloggers and their readers for an immediate liberalization of the political landscape, there are good reasons why this should not happen immediately. In my opinion, Singapore is not ready for democracy because we may all know what democracy is (more or less); but I'm not so sure that we all know what a democracy entails.
Democracy is predicated upon a politically interested citizenry that actively seeks information in order to exercize its free reason over to arrive at fair and (as far as possible) equitable ends. Now, I'm aware that this is all rather naive and anyone who's ever taken a Poli Sci class will tell you that there is no such thing as consensus - only compromise, nevertheless this is what a democracy requires. Are Singaporeans bothered enough to find out what is going on around them let alone come together in a actionable manner? No. In part we have been bred in but in equal measure we have cultivated for ourselves an apathy towards all things political. The irony here is that all things are inherently political. So in short we care about nothing... except ourselves.
The education system I feel, should shoulder most of the blame. An emphasis upon and indeed a glorification of the natural sciences (remember how prestigious it was to be streamed in to a triple science class?) is responsible, I believe for the dulling of the faculties of political inquisitiveness. Poor methods of assessment has led to the 'exam smart' but otherwise ignorant student (I recognize that smart and ignorant are not antonyms per se). Years and years of standardized testing has resulted in people not bringing to bear the powers of analytic thinking that mathematics bestows to questions of a political or social nature. In short, we knew things without knowing what it is that we knew.
A democracy also requires mature institutions like a free (and COMPETENT) press. For without such a press how are the people to exercise their sovereignty in a informed manner? At 140th in the world, Singapore's press could certainly use some ironing itself. And it will improve I believe if for nothing else then out of a sense of self-respect and the desire to not be shown to be talking cock on a daily basis by Mr Wang, Mr Brown, Yawning Bread and similarly insightful and critical writers.
So while we may all clamor for change, it is important that to realize that lasting change is evolutionary change. A quick transition to democracy in the absence of a politically sophisticated citizenry and other developed institutions such as but not limited to the press in order to buttress democracy, can be disastrous. We need look no further than what's happening in the Middle East to see that democracy is not a compulsory upgrade but merely a stage in the development of societies. We all get there in our own time.
I think Singapore is on its way; if the comments on these blogs are anything to go by, people are getting used to flexing their critical muscles and through open discourse we will all be able to test our ideas and our opinions against that of others and we will cultivate our political intellects to meet the demands of democracy.
Yet despite these revelations and the almost unilateral call from these bloggers and their readers for an immediate liberalization of the political landscape, there are good reasons why this should not happen immediately. In my opinion, Singapore is not ready for democracy because we may all know what democracy is (more or less); but I'm not so sure that we all know what a democracy entails.
Democracy is predicated upon a politically interested citizenry that actively seeks information in order to exercize its free reason over to arrive at fair and (as far as possible) equitable ends. Now, I'm aware that this is all rather naive and anyone who's ever taken a Poli Sci class will tell you that there is no such thing as consensus - only compromise, nevertheless this is what a democracy requires. Are Singaporeans bothered enough to find out what is going on around them let alone come together in a actionable manner? No. In part we have been bred in but in equal measure we have cultivated for ourselves an apathy towards all things political. The irony here is that all things are inherently political. So in short we care about nothing... except ourselves.
The education system I feel, should shoulder most of the blame. An emphasis upon and indeed a glorification of the natural sciences (remember how prestigious it was to be streamed in to a triple science class?) is responsible, I believe for the dulling of the faculties of political inquisitiveness. Poor methods of assessment has led to the 'exam smart' but otherwise ignorant student (I recognize that smart and ignorant are not antonyms per se). Years and years of standardized testing has resulted in people not bringing to bear the powers of analytic thinking that mathematics bestows to questions of a political or social nature. In short, we knew things without knowing what it is that we knew.
A democracy also requires mature institutions like a free (and COMPETENT) press. For without such a press how are the people to exercise their sovereignty in a informed manner? At 140th in the world, Singapore's press could certainly use some ironing itself. And it will improve I believe if for nothing else then out of a sense of self-respect and the desire to not be shown to be talking cock on a daily basis by Mr Wang, Mr Brown, Yawning Bread and similarly insightful and critical writers.
So while we may all clamor for change, it is important that to realize that lasting change is evolutionary change. A quick transition to democracy in the absence of a politically sophisticated citizenry and other developed institutions such as but not limited to the press in order to buttress democracy, can be disastrous. We need look no further than what's happening in the Middle East to see that democracy is not a compulsory upgrade but merely a stage in the development of societies. We all get there in our own time.
I think Singapore is on its way; if the comments on these blogs are anything to go by, people are getting used to flexing their critical muscles and through open discourse we will all be able to test our ideas and our opinions against that of others and we will cultivate our political intellects to meet the demands of democracy.
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