Category: PAP

PAP, Singapore

Mindless bullies: How some PAP fans try to silence me

“Sud, you better lay low,” one of my buddies said in May, after Foo Teow Lee, Singapore’s consul-general in Hong Kong, wrote a letter to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) questioning my integrity and motives. Another friend said “they will come after your family.” Another one said: “Eh, your videos are getting more radical ah.” “Which video?” “The one on race you just published.” … Continue reading Mindless bullies: How some PAP fans try to silence me

Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh13 Comments
PAP, Singapore

GE2020: What fundamental socio-economic tension is at the heart of this election?

If we take a moment to try and cut through the blur of COVID-19, the uncertainty of bubble tea, and the endless stream of police reports, I believe this is it: what level of social protection is adequate for Singaporeans in the future?

All the opposition parties essentially offer a vision of a society with greater social protections than what the People’s Action Party believes is best. This is true from the well-oiled machinery of The Workers’ Party—yes, Jamus has done his math—to fledgling outfits like Red Dot United.

(I like Michelle Lee, one of the best speakers I’ve heard in the past year. But every time I hear her new party’s name, I can’t decide if she’s angling for parliament or Jalan Besar Stadium.) Continue reading “GE2020: What fundamental socio-economic tension is at the heart of this election?”

Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh1 Comment
PAP, Singapore

GE2020 Video 4: If I vote for the opposition, will I lose my job? Will Singapore collapse?

Many people worry about voting for the opposition because they think: a) They will lose their job because the government will blacklist them b) Singapore will collapse because Singapore functions because of the PAP. In this video I debunk both those notions. This is the last in a series of four GE2020 videos: 1. “To help the PAP and Singapore improve, I’m voting opposition.” 2. … Continue reading GE2020 Video 4: If I vote for the opposition, will I lose my job? Will Singapore collapse?

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PAP, Singapore

GE2020 Video 3: Singapore is small and vulnerable so we need a one-party state. True?

  “Singapore is small and vulnerable. We have no natural resources” Because we have been sold this narrative of small and vulnerable our whole lives, we are all individually and collectively constantly in panic mode. In this video, I focus on one aspect: that because of our vulnerability, we must accept a trade-off between economic growth and democratic rights and freedoms. The idea that Singapore … Continue reading GE2020 Video 3: Singapore is small and vulnerable so we need a one-party state. True?

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PAP, Singapore

GE2020: Why the PAP needs a strong mandate in parliament

The ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) has told us it needs a strong mandate. Yet it is intentionally unclear about what “a strong mandate” means and why it needs it. So, let’s assume that “strong mandate” refers to a supermajority in parliament, i.e. at least two-thirds of seats. I’m sure most of the PAP means something much stronger, like 100% of the seats, which is … Continue reading GE2020: Why the PAP needs a strong mandate in parliament

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PAP, Singapore

What immigration rate is Heng Swee Keat targeting for Singapore? Voters deserve to know.

Last year Heng Swee Keat’s office got in touch because it objected to a published line of mine: “With Singapore’s prime-minister-in-waiting eager to again double the city’s population to ten million…”

I had based this comment off a Straits Times article that reported:

“Singapore’s population density is not excessive, he [HSK] said, noting that other cities are a lot more crowded in terms of liveable space. He cited former chief planner Liu Thai Ker, who said in 2014 that Singapore should plan for 10 million people for it to remain sustainable in the long term.”

This was my thinking. If you ask somebody a question, and they cite somebody else as an answer, a reasonable person would conclude that HSK concurs with Liu.

It’s like if you ask me what my favourite TV series this year is and instead of giving you a direct answer, I say: “Well critics consider Crash Landing on You to be the best.” Continue reading “What immigration rate is Heng Swee Keat targeting for Singapore? Voters deserve to know.”

Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh9 Comments
PAP, Singapore

Are Singapore’s politicians moderating or inflaming ethnic tensions?

Recent support by K Shanmugam, law minister, for a commentary by Tan Wu Meng, a fellow politician with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP), begs the question of whether Singapore’s leaders possess the requisite broad-mindedness and maturity to moderate racial harmony in today’s prickly, post-George Floyd, “Black Lives Matter” world. Tan, an ethnic Chinese, used the party’s online platform to attack Pritam Singh, the ethnic … Continue reading Are Singapore’s politicians moderating or inflaming ethnic tensions?

Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh4 Comments
PAP, Singapore

Pandemic politicking: an open letter to a minister

PAP politicians Sun Xueling and Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim handing out reusable masks to the homeless in Potong Pasir on April 29th 2020, during Singapore’s circuit breaker (effective lockdown) and more than two weeks after the party officially stopped all ground activities.  Dear friends in Singapore, below is the last piece I intend to write on pandemic politicking. It is an open letter that I have … Continue reading Pandemic politicking: an open letter to a minister

Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh1 Comment
Democracy, PAP, Singapore

Have politicians been setting a good example? A pandemic timeline.

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On Sunday April 12, five days after Singapore’s effective lockdown (known as circuit breaker) began, Chia Shi-Lu, a politician with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP), visited the Alexandra Village Food Centre.

“We were not doing a walkabout, we were there to tell people to wear masks when serving and please wear masks, it was more an education thing,” was Chia’s response.

Strange, then, that Chia, a medical doctor, chose to perform this selfless act accompanied by an entourage, including a prospective political candidate and a photo journalist from Lianhe Zaobao, a government-controlled Chinese newspaper.

Continue reading “Have politicians been setting a good example? A pandemic timeline.”

Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh3 Comments
PAP, Singapore

Some recent corona-related writing

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Photo by Rob O’Brien/Flickr

Dear reader, if you follow me on Facebook you might find the below repetitive. This is mostly for the benefit of those who don’t.

It’s been a busy month, as many of us have felt the need to speak up about the horrible COVID-19 crisis at Singapore’s migrant worker dormitories—what I have called “independent Singapore’s biggest ever humanitarian crisis”, a phrase that has been picked up. Good.

There has also been a lot associated racism and xenophobia.

Writing has been especially taxing because assorted censors have sprung up all around society, seeking to shut us up. My posts below, some satire, touch on these aspects.

Thankfully there has also been a lot of support from readers. Much appreciated!

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Singapore: Let’s not ignore the downtrodden; nor those who speak up for them

On April 9th I published a commentary in New Naratif about the migrant worker crisis. First few paragraphs here:

Singapore has rightly won plaudits for its pandemic response thus far. Yet the recent emergence of clusters of infections at four foreign-worker dormitories shows that complacency is creeping in. What can we learn from this episode?

Continue reading “Some recent corona-related writing”

Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh2 Comments