Globalisation used to be the in thing

We plugged ourselves into the global system in every field. It was a good thing and we have had phenomenal growth by holding on to the coat tails of the American economy and system. And many countries too jumped in and everyone got hooked up into the same system. When the system is sound and doing well, everyone shares the prosperity. When the system is sick, everyone will be infected.

The unfortunate part today is that the global system is so sick, operated by crooks in all colours. And no matter how well run a country is, it needs a badly run country like the US or one in Europe to drag everyone else along. And this gets worst when many of the so called well run and well off countries are troubles themselves. Every crisis is an opportunity to patch up holes, and to create bigger holes.

And the rot does not stop here. The Americans and Europeans have plundered the system, corrupted the system and cheated the system for so long that it is no longer able to continue with just printing money for the crooks. They just cannot print fast enough.

And the safety of being too big to fall becomes the biggest problem as all the too big to fall is falling. Every too big to fall has an empty or rotten core. This looks like the world is set to have a free fall and there is no where to run.

All those stuck with big mortgages and multi million dollar properties are like those too big to fall. But when they fall, it can be quite disastrous. The big foreign banks are retrenching, downsizing. And the people let off are big earners with big mortgages. It is coming. It is contagious.

Low Thia Khiang won Hougang

After the Hougang by election, Low Thia Khiang lashed out at the media for biased reporting in favour of the PAP. This has elicited an editorial reply in today’s ST. The paper denied any unfair practices at all and in all purposes, have reported fairly, given both parties equal coverage and treatment. Low Thia Khiang’s remarks were thus unfounded.

What is interesting is the comment that Low Thia Khiang more or less single handedly won Hougang for the WP. He is so charismatic and the people were drawn to him, loyal to him, and Hougang was his. KNN, Teo Chee Hean not charismatic meh? Auntie killer Desmond Choo not charismatic meh? And Hsien Loong and Boon Wan all not charismatic meh? All the PAP’s charisma not good enough against that of Low and lost the by election. Wah Lau eh.

We have a Singapore idol in the making in Low Thia Khiang, the most charismatic leader that outshone all his opponents combined. He won the election because of his charisma. Aljunied will be with him for as long he wants it. And another few GRCs will go to him in the next GE when he appears on stage. Finally Singapore has thrown up a real charismatic leader, and rightly he should be good enough as the next PM.

Now that the election is over, let’s go back to deal with more formidable issues like population, immigration, housing and transport, upgrading and widening income gap. Actually, to me these are non issues. They are all self created and inflicted issues, petty issues that need not be issues at all. Who insists on bringing more immigrants? Who refused to build more public housing? Who increases the load on the transport system or what are the causes of transport woes? They are caused not by external factors. What about widening income gap? Caused by external factors, cannot be helped, must be like that because this is progress?

Maybe we should give the charismatic leader and his team a chance in the next GE to solve these formidable problems. Low Thia Khiang should start to recruit a good team to prepare for such an eventuality now that his charisma has been acknowledged and a force to be reckoned with.

The obsolescence of a once mighty political party

Is it because it is living the proverbial wisdom of not outliving the third generation? Or is it a party that outlives itself? The PAP is looking more like an obsolete party working itself out of favour from a populace that once held it in high esteem and in awe. Within a brief period of a few years, the awe and confidence just simply disappeared.

I hope I am wrong, but as a political observer, this is exactly what I am seeing. The PAP has lost the support of the people except for some diehards. It still has a lot of yesterday’s glory to crow about. But the future, the way it is leading the country forward, is treacherous and slippery. It is looking very unsustainable in many areas.

The ridiculous high remuneration at the top for deserving and undeserving incumbents cannot be kept going for too long without a healthy money printing machine. And this machine comes in the form of more migrants, higher fees and prices for public housing and public services and taxes. And an ever rising cost of living but a depression of wages at the lower end. It is simply a very vicious cycle that will ground to a halt in an ever greater speed. Tell the people that this is the way it is?

The situation is such that the PAP/govt has dug itself deeper and deeper into a bottomless pit and unable to extricate itself. The high salaries cannot come down without a rebellion from the recipients as they have lived it up, incurred heavy mortgages, and used to a lifestyle difficult to maintain. The high property prices cannot come down without destroying the wealth and savings of the owners. The high cost of living cannot be brought down without hurting the economic growth numbers. The high import of foreign workers cannot be reduced without affecting the industries and economy and to support the high salaries at the top.

It still looks good to some who are enjoying and benefitting from it and blind to the tight rope they are balancing on. No mis-step as the fall is steep. But they are oblivious to what is happening below, the masses that have to deal with the rapid changes of a very expensive city and lifestyle without the accompanying increases in income. Whatever increases will be eaten up immediately by inflation.

How long can the good time last before the bust? Those who are at the fringes are seeing and living the danger facing them. Those that are comfortable are not. However, the cracks are appearing everywhere. Land for cemeteries must go. Land for nursing homes, hospices and caskets are needed but where to build them when the competition and demand for space are growing with an unrestrained population growth to keep economic numbers looking good? Living with the dead, the sick and the old as neighbours will be a norm no matter how unpleasant. There is just no where else to go. The price of growth and growing the economy/population at all cost, to sustain a high living low thinking, no tomorrow or tomorrow will never come lifestyle will have to be paid sooner or later.

And where are the super talented leaders to lead the people? Why is there a feeling of a void, that not many are worthy or being regarded as worthy to lead and command the respect of the people? Many are looking so clumsy and inept and questionable. A side effect of scrapping the bottom of the barrel?

As the party keeps trotting down the path of no return, it is distancing itself more and more from the common people, unable to understand them and forcing them to accept that that’s the way it is, and that’s the way it should go, and be. The income gap is widening. The visions of the rulers and the ruled are widening at heady speed, heading in different directions. When both rulers and ruled do not share the same dream, one must become obsolete or go.

The rousing reception of the WP in Hougang in the by election was once the exclusive right of the PAP. The people were celebrating their victory with an outpouring of unrestrained joy. It was hallelujah! The contrast, the PAP contingent was greeted by cold stares and a few polite waves, a very unfamiliar situation that they were not used to, and would have to get used to as a new future dawns. It is a new phenomenon and a new reality. It is coming to an end so fast.

Just my observation.

Hougang: You are not listening

On paper, Desmond Choo should have walked away with Hougang quite comfortably. There were so many things going for him. The PM, DPM and the whole PAP machinery were speaking and rooting for him. The whole war chest of the govt was in his pocket, so to speak, to spruce up the Singapore slum in Hougang, a neglected constituency left to its own fancy and limited resources. Who can resist the kind of goodies that Desmond is rolling out, or going to roll out for them?



The main media’s courage alone would have won the election for him too. This was not in the case of Png Eng Huat, who was accused of dishonesty and lack of integrity, two factors that would have thrown him out if he were to seek employment or wanted to go into business with anyone. He was written off like a leper.



And what could Png Eng Huat offer except for more of the same? And Desmond Choo warned the Hougangkia that that was what they would get for the next 4 years if they did not elect him.



And the controversies of WP having internal quarrels, party members resigning, Poh Lee Guan collecting his donation slip and could have gone on to challenge Png in a three corner fight. Then the leak of CEC minutes being aired everywhere. This is not just to discredit Png, but also to tell the voters that WP could be infiltrated by moles, a hopeless party that could not guard even against traitors within their ranks. The worst was being accused of being a racist party. That could have been very costly.



All said, with the cards stacked against Png Eng Huat, what was left was the loyalty to Low Thia Kiang and the WP, and the hearts of the Hougangkia. Would they buy the goodies offered and change course? Would they forget the 20 years of neglect, penalties for voting the WP, and threats of more of the same?



There is also a bigger agenda at stake, where is Singapore heading? Are the voters happy with the govt, the direction it is taking, the policies and the interests of the people? And, are they confident that this govt will be there to serve them and bring about a better life for everyone? The big picture was also in play.



The Hougangkia voted against immediate short term gains. They rejected all the offers and promises. They voted for change, and for having to bear with the consequences that they have lived with for 21 years. There is some chivalry left, a sense of justice and fair play, a sense of righteousness, a hope that things can be better with a change in govt in an uncertain future.



The other opposition parties also played their parts by not throwing in a spanner in a three corner fight. It makes the choice of the Hougangkia much straight forward. The victory is the victory of the Hougangkia and those who wanted a regime change. They wanted change, but change in their own terms, not something to be bargained for. They wanted to chart their own course and the course of the country, a new course, not this one.



Desmond Choo gained 3%. In absolute terms, the gain was 124 votes more than his last election. For all the efforts and distractions, this is too insignificant to call a meaningful gain. The PAP has failed in a big way with this kind of result. It is painting on the wall.



2016 is going to see a dramatic change in political fortunes. It will be an election to count the number of GRCs falling, and the ministers that go with them. I have not been so sure about this trend of thought until this by election.



This by election is part of a bigger scheme of things to come. It is a test bed on the emotions of the people with Hougang as a small sample. Some may dismiss Hougang as too small, isolated and does not represent the whole of the island. It may be, but it still represents a big shift in the political mindset and aspiration of the common people. Look at the crowd at the informal WP kopitiam HQ and those in the PAP HQ. The difference is stark. It is the people versus the droids. It is the tide of a spontaneous people uprising against a regime gone bad and its machine. And Hougang is a confirmation that things will not be the same again. It is not going to be a status quo in the next 4 years running up to the GE in 2016.



The only minister that may be quietly smiling could be Tharman. Hsien Loong and Chee Hean are looking very likely to lose their GRCs. As things are today, not many ministers will be around after the next GE. Tharman could be the next PM in a drastically shrunk govt with a small majority in Parliament. Hougang is going to set the ball rolling.

More of the same for Hougang for another 4 years

Desmond Choo has improved his score from 35% to 38% in the by election. His strategy is working, albeit a bit slower than expected. But it is testimony that the same strategy will work and he will gain more votes in the next election.

And what would be in store for Hougang in the next 4 years prior to the GE? There will be two MPs, an official and an unofficial MP serving them. The latter would definitely work harder to want to win more voters to his side.

There will also be more of the same, more porridges will be served, hearing aids and maybe something better. And as for upgradings and queues for more govt goodies, subsidies and handouts, it will be business as usual.

Hougang cannot expect many changes given the constraints of the WP’s party and its budget. But they will get by and move on. Any change coming to Hougang will be in the next GE, when they vote in Desmond Choo, or when there is a regime change with the WP forming the govt.

For the time being, the PAP will live by its slogan ‘Always here for you’. It is so unfair that Hougang is having the service of two MPs. The only irony is that it is still the step son and will be kind of a ‘run down’.  People may ask, how can that be, with two MPs and one always there for them. Hougang should be the best of all the constituencies.

Oops, forgot to mention that Png Eng Huat of the WP has been elected as the new MP of Hougang with 62% majority. And the Hougangkia have chosen to be daft again.