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SINGAPORE – The issue of “free rider” opposition voters in Singapore has become something of a topic of online conversation following an intense parliamentary exchange between Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and opposition leader Pritam Singh.
On Wednesday (September 2), Prime Minister Lee and Mr Singh discussed how the Workers’ Party (WP) had campaigned during the recent general elections to encourage Singaporeans to vote for the opposition, with the assurance of that the PAP would continue to form the government of El dia.
“If you say, vote for me, someone else will vote for the PAP, and therefore the PAP will be the government, that (is what) economists will call a free beneficiary,” Prime Minister Lee said.
“It means that you are taking advantage of someone else who is fulfilling their duty to elect a government for the nation. And you are not doing your part by expressing your true opinions and preferences, as a voter, who you want the next government to be.” . And if everyone adopts that attitude, then you will end a government you don’t want. “
Prime Minister Lee, in his speech, also asked: “Can we continue to attract good people to politics, to maintain the quality of ministers and parliamentarians, and make things happen for Singapore if more and more citizens prefer a party to form the government? ” however, vote for the candidates of another party to be your deputies for diversity?
“At what point does a vote for a strong opposition turn into a vote for a different government?”
In his reply, Singh replied that he did not think that the residents of Aljunied, Hougang and Sengkang who voted for the WP “would appreciate being called free riders.”
“They are not opportunistic,” he said. “We’re not just doing anything after we’ve been voted in. We’re not just letting the other guy, the government in power, do something. We have to do what we have to do.”
He added that when he and his colleagues joined the opposition cause, they certainly did not have “intoxicating dreams” of becoming government.
“Why did I do this? I believe in an opposition in a parliamentary democracy. It’s not going to happen with people who just wait for someone else to do it. Someone has to put their flag in the sand and say, ‘I’m going to do it.’ “
WP MPs had worked hard to prove themselves to residents, he said, and residents voted for them because they know that having elected opposition MPs is ultimately good for Singapore.
“It is when opposition deputies have been elected that the government listens more carefully, and that means something to the people. That is my opinion,” he added.
The exchange sparked some discussion on various online platforms. In one day, hundreds left comments on Facebook posts from politicians and observers who shared their thoughts on the issue. A thread on the online discussion site Reddit also attracted more than 270 comments in one day.
The term “free beneficiary” is often used in economics to refer to a person or group who wishes to enjoy a benefit without having to pay the fair or full cost.
Free use is most commonly seen with public goods and services, where benefits are not excludable – everyone benefits and no one can prevent it from doing so.
While some social media users said it was unfair to point fingers at Singaporeans for voting tactically and that there was nothing wrong with doing so, others felt it would be a risk to cheat the system.
Some also felt that the time was not right for politicians to engage in an “us versus them” debate.
Prime Minister Lee, in a Facebook post on Wednesday night, reiterated his points about the mindset Singaporeans should have in elections.
He stressed that they should vote because they really support the party, be it the PAP or the opposition, and not because they want “the best of both worlds.”
Shortly after the exchange in Parliament, MP Jamus Lim, economics professor and WP MP at Sengkang GRC, weighed in on Facebook, saying that the actions of WP voters did not strike him as a free take.
He said that seats in Parliament are excludable and “when a PAP deputy is elected, the opposition cannot necessarily access him.”
He added that the votes in the three WP constituencies were “potentially expensive” and required residents to trust that the candidates would become good councilors and deputies.
Residents were willing to do so, he added, and had not voted tactically for the WP in the hope that the PAP would still form the government.
Some observers wondered if the term free rider was being merged with free loader, and if the difference between the two may not be clear to most Singaporeans when listening to the debate.
Among them was former MP nominee Calvin Cheng, who in a Facebook post Thursday gave an example of a free rider in social studies.
“For example, we all want clean streets. But if one of us decides to litter, we think it will not matter because everyone else does not. But if everyone thinks like this, the streets will get dirty,” he published. .
Free driving leads to failure because the result is now the opposite of what was intended, he said.
“It has nothing to do with driving, and nothing to do with being a free loader. It is definitely not an insult,” he added.
In another Facebook post on the same day, Cheng, apparently in response to Lim’s post, said that it was wrong to say that just because there are costs, there is no free-use problem.
Noting that the key is to pay less compared to others, he said that for most, the costs come in the possibility that there are no elected representatives of the opposition.
But many vote for the PAP because they consider that the cost of not having the PAP ruling is even higher, he said.
Opposition voters who really want the PAP to govern pay a lower cost compared to those who want the PAP to govern and vote for them, he added.
However, he noted that it is no wonder if the people who voted for the opposition, in fact, want them to rule.
“However, I think that many undecided voters are those who want the PAP to rule, but instead vote for the opposition.
“This is a problem. Because it can lead to the opposite result,” he added.
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