The 3 Ks of Singapore’s political tapestry

The kiasu, kiasi and kia chenghu mentality of Singaporeans is most pronounced in the political landscape for many decades. Opposition parties tended to play it safe, avoid controversies for fear of having a date with Sue. Many of the pioneering generations of politicians have learnt it the hard way and paid for it dearly, bankrupted and spending time in jail. So one cannot simply blame the opposition parties for wanting to play it safe, see nothing, hear nothing and say nothing.

The most successful of the opposition parties, the Workers Party, thought they had the successful formula to take on the ruling party, by the tortoise and hare race, slow and steady and they will get there at the end of the day. They avoided controversies and concentrated on building grassroot support, devoted to solving municipal affairs, to show the residents that they are indeed a very hard working party working for the people. It failed badly in the last GE, but not just because they did not work hard and adopted a wrong policy. Of course there were many other factors that led to a farcical result that no seasoned political observer thought was real.

Opposition parties cannot just work quietly on the ground, to clean and sweep the roads, make sure that the drains are cleared and the amenities are working. They are national parties and should be involved in national issues affecting the people. Not saying anything, not doing anything would not do. They must speak up and stand up to be noticed, to mean business.

After the debacle of the last GE, it was like a death bell to the opposition parties. If they cannot reinvent themselves and discard the 3Ks, they can forget about standing for election in the next GE and think the people will give them their votes. As political parties, political leaders, Kiasu, Kiasi and Kia chenghu, how are they going to represent the people, to speak up for the people? There are risk, big risk, but this is politics. If one is afraid of risk taking, then one should not be in politics.

Some changes are starting to happen albeit very carefully and in a very small way. We are hearing the opposition parties starting to talk about current issues. The MRT breakdowns and the Hepatitis C outbreak are receiving attention from the opposition parties. Chee Soon Juan has been vocal and so is Goh Meng Seng. And it is a welcoming change that the WP is also coming out from the caves in Hougang and Aljunied to speak up on the same issues. The new and second generation leaders in WP like Leon Perera, Dennis Tan, Gerald Giam are breaking away from the old mould of Low Thia Khiang and Sylvia Lim and are speaking out.

Yes, opposition leaders that want to be leaders must speak out. How can political leaders aspiring to be national leaders have on opinion or views on issues that are affecting the people? Ridiculous! If political leaders are afraid of Sue, better to find safety in a 8 to 5 job as an employee. There is still time, 4 years to the next GE, for the opposition leaders to make themselves known and heard by the people, to speak up for the people and to tell the govt that wrong is wrong, mistake is mistake, and take the govt to task if they fumbled, just like the PAP took them to task in the AHPETC affair. Take the bull by the horns and face the music, challenge the conventional thoughts, challenge the ruling govt, but without being reckless.

The opposition parties must work hard from now, not during the few days before the GE. There is a need for a dynamic change and a new paradigm in the way they want to politic and to win the hearts and minds of the people. Running away and hiding in the caves are not an option. Stand up, speak out to be counted. You need to make yourself a familiar face with the people, to be easily recognizable, to be assessed and to prove yourself that you are able to form the next govt. You have 4 years to establish a credential of credibility.