The Singapore Syndrome

Recently the Stockholm Syndrome has been quoted as applicable to Singaporean and their relationship with the PAP, the ruling govt. They compare the development of a relationship between the hostage and their captors, developing a kind of bonding or sympathy for the captors. This is quite true in a way as Singaporeans despite being the victims of govt policies have developed a love/hate relationship with the govt, wanting to vote against them but still thinking that they are not so bad and a new govt would be worse, still wanting to keep the PAP in power but with lesser majority.

There is also another element that complicates this relationship in the form of fear. Singaporeans are troubled by a fear of being fixed, not without reasons with the frightening stories of those that opposed the PAP still vivid in their minds and with many of the victims still alive to tell their stories.

I have done a very serious study of this relationship and have come out with a slightly different theory which I called the Singapore Syndrome. This is best explained by using the example a rape victim and the rapist.

There are 5 phases to this Singapore Syndrome. In phase 1, the victim will react violently against being raped, even fighting with claws and nails, screaming and refusing to be raped. In phase 2 there will still be some struggling and resistance but in a weaker form. By phase 3, the resistance is gone, and the victim would just let the rapist do the raping like a dead person, a dead body. The victim surrenders to the rapist, gives up fighting. This phase can go on for quite some time before the next phase cuts in. In phase 4 the victim would gradually start to enjoy the rape and may cooperate with the rapist. By the time it reaches phase 5, the rapist would have taken the victim for granted and the victim would take the raping as the new normal. And if the rapist forgets or grows tired of raping the victim, the victim would even miss the raping and may be looking forward to it. The final phase 6 would see the victim begging to be raped and refusing to leave the rapist but not loving the rapist. The victim just wants to be raped.

One can apply these phases to how Singaporeans react to tough and anti Singaporean policies with the Singaporeans as the unwilling victims. They will protest initially, but only for a short while, soon the rest of the phases will take over, and the Singaporeans would ask for more. That is why Chok Tong and the PAP have the audacity to ask the Singaporeans to vote them into power with a bigger mandate to continue this relationship. The Singaporeans want more or the PAP. They know that the Singaporeans are like the victims in the Singapore Syndrome. They will get use to it and would love it and demand for it if they did not get more of it. Instead of being raped, apply the unpopular policies of the govt in its place, like PWP, CPF, COE, high ministerial pay, Medishield Life, ERP. GST, housing prices, etc etc.

There are certain conditions that must be present in order for this syndrome to be recognisable. The victim must be under the full control of the rapist or has lost all freedom, physically or mentally. In a way the victim is helpless in the hands of the rapist and under threats of harm. There is no where to run and no one to come to assist the victim. There must be fear of the rapist or the rapist wields tremendous power over the victim. And this fear has become a way of life, second nature to the victim, a part and parcel of the victim’s life. The whole relationship would normally develop over a longer period of time, more gradual than in a hostage situation. The Singapore Syndrome is in many ways far more serious, and the control over the victim more pervasive than the Stockholm Syndrome.

Now we can be famous for another thing, this one is more high sounding, a syndrome, the Singapore Syndrome.