~by: Ghui~
~with: Ravi Philemon~

PM Lee’s recent defence of the practice of appointing members of the People’s Action Party (PAP) as advisers to the People’s Association’s (PA) some 1,800 grassroots organisations seems to indicate some confusion between the concept of government and the PAP as a political party. This blurring of lines between the PAP and the government of Singapore appears to occur both at the governing level and at the general public level.

PM Lee said that “the grassroots adviser has to be somebody who can work with the government and help the government to achieve its goals on the ground. ” This statement is correct in itself but it is how the term government is understood that needs to be clarified. The PAP has been in power for so long that the public (and indeed even members of the government) tend to view the PAP as the government and vice versa. In practice, that may be the case but theoretically, there is an important distinction between the concept of government and the PAP.

Elected Members of Parliament (MPs) form Parliament and Parliament elects a Prime Minister to be the head of government. Parliament is currently predominantly made up of PAP MPs and PM Lee, being the leader of the PAP, is the current head of government. That is not to say that this will always be the case because theoretically, non PAP members can be voted into Parliament in such a way that they outnumber PAP members. It is therefore important to distinguish between the notion of the government and the PAP.

The government will always be there. Its members however, change depending on election results. So while the PAP forms the current government, it is not the government. Using this analogy, the People’s Association (PA) is there to serve the needs of the government and not the agendas of the PAP.  So, when there is a conflict between the needs of the government and the needs of the PAP, the needs of the government must trump.

The elected government’s priority is always to look after the interests of the people. In this case, the public have been vocal and made clear that they would like the PA and PA sponsored events to be more inclusive and involve both PAP and non-PAP members. In the face of such strong public sentiment, it is clearly in the people’s interests for the PA to change its stance.

  1. The PAP is a political party. It is not the government. It, being the winning party based on GE 2011’s results, forms the government and is currently the majority party in government.
  2. The PA is formed to serve the government and not the PAP.
  3. When governmental interests and PAP interests conflict, the PA must prioritise the interests of government.
  4. The government’s overriding concern must be the welfare of the public.
  5. The public have indicated that it is in their welfare for the PA to change its stance.

In this instance, the desired approach is abundantly clear. Perhaps the PA and PM Lee, should look into how the PA can be reformed to be more inclusive.

If the PA is indeed impartial and is just working on behalf of the government; and if the government feels that opposition MPs cannot support of promote its programmes, wouldn’t it then be better for a civil servant to be appointed as grassroots advisers in opposition-held constituencies?

This would certainly be seen as a better proposition than appointing advisers exclusively from the PAP, and this would also give the perception that there is no conflict of interest.

Because not just fairness, but the perception of being fair is also important.


Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
You May Also Like

Man in possession of cannabis arrested at checkpoint

In a joint statement by the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and…

93万户组屋将获 60元至100元水电费回扣

约93万户组屋即将在本月获得60元至100元的水电费回扣,以抵消他们部分的水电费。 水电费回扣,属于消费税补助券之一,每个三月发放一次,以此协助家庭抵消部分水电费,降低开支。 文告表示,将根据不同房型,获得不同价格的回扣,如一房式或两房式单位将获得100元水电费补助、三房式则会有90元补助,四房式则是80元,五房式则有70元,三代同堂或其他大型组屋则享有60元回扣。 若其房地产超过一个将无法享有水电费回扣。 日前,新加坡能源公司宣布,家庭电价将上调至3.5巴仙,即每千瓦0.81元。 举例而言,住在一房式的家庭,每月平均账单可增加1.02元,而五房式也可能会出现上涨3.20元的电费,形成最新电价自2014年以来,达到最高水平。 此外,城市煤气周一也宣布,今年第一季度,家庭天然气价格将调整至4.22巴仙,即每千瓦0.76元。 政府也推出水电费回扣(U-Save)协助民众抵消水电费。据报道,政府为水电费回扣拨出的总开支,今年预计达3亿元。 文告也指出,水电费回扣相当重要,至少能够帮助一房式或二房式单位的居民抵消平均三至四个月的水电费;而三房式和四房式的居民则可以抵消一至两个月的水电费。

Getting at Sylvia, desperately

In yet another diatribe against the opposition Workers’ Party (WP) Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East…

funny little world to Government: Emulate Gaga

The following was first published in funny little world. Kirsten Han /…