A New "New Normal" (Maybe?)

July 10: Singapore general election

It was supposed to be a home run for the ruling People’s Action Party.

That’s what everyone thought, anyway. Not only were the usual advantages in the PAP’s favor, as I described in my most recent dispatch — the short notice, the brief campaigning period, the party’s control over mainstream news sources — but the 2020 general election was also being held in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this moment of global uncertainty, it was predicted that a “flight to safety” mindset would push voters toward the familiar rather than the unknown. Opposition politicians were even openly worrying about a wipeout that would see Singapore’s fourteenth parliament made up solely of PAP representatives.

Instead, the opposition Workers’ Party made its biggest inroads into parliament yet, not only retaining its six existing seats but winning another four in a newly carved out “group representation constituency” (in which candidate run in teams). Their message — not to give the ruling party a “blank check”  — appeared to resonate. Other opposition parties, including the Progress Singapore Party and the Singapore Democratic Party, turned in surprisingly respectable performances. For a new party contesting its first election, the Progress Singapore Party did well enough to secure two non-constituency member of parliament seats, part of a scheme that grants seats to the “best losers” in an election should the number of elected opposition members be fewer than 12.

If we’re comparing this result to that of more competitive democracies, it doesn’t seem like there’s very much to celebrate: there are still only 10 elected opposition members of parliament, up against the PAP behemoth of 83 elected seats. With its continued supermajority, the ruling party can pass whatever laws it wishes without having to bother with much compromise or amendments. The party can even amend the Constitution as it sees fit, as it has done before.

For Singapore, though, the election feels important. For the first time in our independent history, a leader of the opposition — the Workers’ Party’s Pritam Singh — has officially been named. The position is so new to Singaporean politics that no one really knew what it meant until parliament opened at the end of August and the details were announced. (Singh will get a higher allowance, more time to speak in the House, and more access to briefings and information.)

This has led to speculation and hope — among some Singapore watchers, activists, and citizens — that the election has marked the beginnings of a pivot away from paternalistic and authoritarian PAP domination towards something that might eventually turn into a competitive democracy. For its part, the PAP promised Singaporeans that they would engage in “soul-searching.”

Of course, this isn’t the first time Singaporeans and observers have wondered whether change is finally coming. In 2011, when the People’s Action Party received its lowest-ever vote-share and the Workers’ Party won its first group representation constituency (previously thought impossible for an opposition party), Singaporeans described the election as a “watershed” and anticipated the “new normal” being promised by the ruling party. We were disappointed.

The outlook now is one of cautious optimism, not so much in the People’s Action Party, whose habit of reverting to authoritarian instincts seems fixed, but in Singaporeans ourselves.

It is unlikely that the PAP will change its ways. Even when they acknowledge that younger Singaporeans want to have open and meaningful conversations about big issues such as race and racism in society, the PAP sets the agenda and firm boundaries. Last month, Edwin Tong, the Minister for Community, Culture, and Youth, talked about the need to move away from “confrontational” approaches in such discussions, and his ministry has awarded a tender worth tens of thousands to an agency to identify groups using “pro-social” behavior in creating spaces for online conversations. For me, this is a gesture to show that they’re open to listening to young people, but still want to set the boundaries in a top-down way.

Investigations have also resumed against activists and critics of the PAP government. Authorities questioned a young activist under Singapore’s harassment laws after a photo she posted of herself making a rude gesture at a surveillance camera was reported. The Singaporean managing director of the Southeast Asian platform New Naratif was also interrogated for hours, and his laptop seized, after the Elections Department filed a report against the publication for alleged illegal election activity; they claimed that New Naratif’s sponsored posts boosting their content during the campaign period had amounted to unauthorized election advertising. (I was a founder of New Naratif and formerly Editor-in-Chief, but left in April, before the election.)

If there is to be any change in Singapore, it will have to be propelled by pressure from below. The results of this year’s election suggest that ideas of political plurality and checks and balances on power have gained more purchase among the electorate. Little by little, people are no longer fully content to leave everything up to one political party.

Young Singaporeans, too, mobilized significantly online to engage each other in political education and discussion, looking up party manifestos and talking about issues like equality, human rights, and racial discrimination. When, in the middle of the campaigning period, the police announced an investigation into Workers’ Party candidate Raeesah Khan for her Facebook comments, many Singaporeans rallied around her online. Supporters viewed the investigation as politically motivated; it seemed to have little to no impact on votes.

Over the years, Singaporeans have spoken out more on issues of democracy and justice, normalizing these topics as appropriate for the public sphere. People have responded to high-profile failures in the system, such as the arrest of a domestic worker falsely accused by her wealthy employers of theft. (She was later acquitted.) Online discussions have criticized police procedures, prosecutorial behavior, and the privilege of the wealthy and well-connected. Singaporeans — particularly younger Singaporeans — are considering reforms, alternatives, and transitions to fairer and more just systems.

This doesn’t mean that the Singaporean populace is suddenly progressive and liberal. The currents of conservatism, risk aversion, and trust in the establishment run deep. The ruling party is still popular among many sincere and committed supporters. Yet the 2020 election has left behind the sense that the needle has shifted. The Singaporean electorate is growing up.