By Alvin Ho –
The publication of this article was delayed due to the cooling-off day policy.
I am in my mid 30s and I have 2 children age 4 and 6 years old. I am concerned on what kind of Singapore will my child grow up in and how will our current government's policies affect us? I am writing this article as a concerned Singaporean who is worried about the future of my children. I am not concerned about the political landscape in Singapore. I believe Singapore had changed a lot in the past 10 – 15 years.
Are these changes good for Singaporeans or these changes just benefits a select few? From what I observed, after the GE 2011, the PAP government woke up and realised that if they still do things their way, stuffing policies down our throat, the PAP will lose more votes in the next General Election. Losing their 2/3 majority and slowly losing power. I hope that day will not come as I still believe that PAP is made up of capable people to bring Singapore forward. However, the PAP government might have veered off course and forgot that they should always act in the interest of the people who put them in power. I am a great admirer of our founding father, Mr Lee Kuan Yew. I read all his books and felt that he did well to get Singapore to being a developed nation.
In my own words, "there is no room for any opposition party to grow IF the PAP government put its citizens at the heart of all their policies." However, in the last 15 years or so, I am convinced that the PAP government had made a fundamentally wrong judgement on how to bring the country forward. Back to the aftermath of the GE 2011, after garnering only 60% of the votes, the PAP government suddenly realised that they have to do something to appease the opposing voice of the voters. These are a few changes on what I observed:
1. A big salary cut for all ministers and President.
What it means to me? They had been overpaid for so many years!
2. Government paying over a billion dollars to buy buses to improve the transport situation.
What it means to me? The government all along knows about the transport woes that will happen due to their immigration policy.
3. Singapore citizens have first priority to primary school vacancies.
What it means to me? After so many years of being "deaf", suddenly the government thinks that this is the only right thing to do.
4. HDB is building much much more flats.
What it means to me? The government all along had this option to build more flats to curb prices. Why only now?
In my own opinion, I believed that the PAP government had taken our support for granted for the past 20 years. The PAP had made life worse for its people with their policies. That is what gave sail to the opposition parties to grow. And I personally believed that only with more opposition seats in parliament will ensure that PAP government stay on course to always put its people at the heart of its future policies.
A concerned Singaporean……..
This article is published by The Online Citizen, 20 Maxwell Road, #09-17 Maxwell House, Singapore 069113.