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by Sivakumaran Chellappa
Even in the unusual circumstances of this Covid-19 pandemic, the People’s Action Party (PAP) never ceased to amaze and amuse, however black it may be, in these terrible times.
Historically, if there was any event that has taken over the entire world at some point, this is the time. The world wars are probably only getting very close. But, curiously, the PAP did not seem to have moved as it should and had almost treated the situation as something BUSINESS in the early stages.
Why? It seemed that economic interests had overwhelmingly prevailed.
In the mid-1990s a very unusual term appeared, at least for most of us, in a mainstream newspaper that sounded revolutionary at the time. The term was Singapore Inc, which I had to admit had instilled in me a certain pride at the time, as my country had become an economic power. A very tempting and unprecedented term, but I also admit that the dangers of following that path did not affect me at the same time.
With the benefit of HINDSIGHT, that term simply meant that the Republic of Singapore, which we all knew to be our country, had become a business entity, which need not necessarily be a bad thing. But what he could not clarify was, if it was a commercial entity, in addition to its essential role of being a country for its people, it has not been reduced. Or, heaven forbid, had the country been transformed into a form that operates solely for commercial activities to the exclusion of its primary function? Were such commercial activities the sole motivation for their existence, rather than being the embodiment of their people?
Hence the dire need at this point, and even more so during this pandemic, to reestablish the FACT that Singapore is a country. Nothing at the wish of anyone, if this fact is a matter of change.
In recent years, there had been a great deal of confusion in priorities as to what a nation should be primarily. The main danger of this confusion was the deviation from the conventional norm of what a country should be, to that of a commercial entity completely mired in economic greed.
Most revealing of that greed was the promotion of a massive influx of foreigners in various forms, to serve the economic ends of the few.
To a large extent, the educational and labor interests of Singaporeans were suppressed for the benefit of foreigners, as foreigners have emerged at many junctures. Alternative politicians’ request for the numbers for effective comparison and clarification were rejected with strong resistance from the PAP.
With disproportionately extreme labor policies, excessive congestion prevailed in the dormitories of foreign workers operating here, far from the sight of Singapore citizens. It appears that in some cases, the dorms were operated by people aligned with the establishment, which I hope will be comprehensively and appropriately addressed. It is not an exaggeration to claim that those foreign worker dormitories are currently the HOT SPOTS on the Singapore chapter of this global crisis. So hot that there seems to be an inclination between the establishment to develop infection numbers in the bedrooms in a completely different category.
Would our political leaders have strayed from their ambitious population targets with the benefit of HINDSIGHT? Would PAP parliamentarians who had voted in favor of increasing the population now withdraw, with the benefit of HINDSIGHT? Most importantly, would people try to assert the will to ensure that a country remains a country and not allow it to become distorted into a commercial entity, again with the benefit of HINDSIGHT?
Most importantly, we should not seek moderation, not total abandonment, of the notion of Singapore Inc. Of course, with the benefit of HINDSIGHT as well.
