An Australian academic who is doing a research project on Singapore’s politics, contacted me for an email interview. As the research questions are pretty generic, I am reproducing my comments in full, for sharing purposes:
Q1: Explain the events in your life that caused you to become an opposition supporter?
Yaw: In 1986, when I was in Primary 4, I started reading communist-inspired materials. The idealistic notion that every man is equal was highly captivating. My late dad, a nationalist KMT sympathizer, (he graduated from National Taiwan University) objected to the materials I was reading, citing that ‘共产主义没有人性‘ （communism is inhumane） and literally threw away all those communist-inspired materials. My curiosity was ignited and I wondered how could that be? How could an ideology that aspired for an equal society be claimed to be inhumane? There must be a reason for my dad to object so. It was an introductory lesson on political contradictions and ideologies. After 4th June 1989 (Tiananmen Incident), I finally understood where my dad was coming from. During GE1991, I was glued to the TV set when the General Elections results were being announced. The victory speech by WP’s Low Thia Khiang stood apart from the rest. He uttered these famous words ‘This is (then) the beginning of the next lap!’ (I believe he said that in relation to Goh Chok Tong’s the next lap vision for Singapore) Low Thia Khaing’s words made a mental imprint in my young mind. In GE1997, I was one of the tens of thousands of Singaporeans who watched the unfolding electoral drama of Cheng San GRC. PAP’s bullying tactics were big turn offs. From that point onwards, I have picked my side (& from 2001 onwards, specifically the WP’s side).
Q2: What do you think are the strengths and weaknesses of SDP (or the opposition party you are most closely involved with)?
Yaw: The strengths of WP:
a) Historical legacy, since 1957
b) Dedicated activists
c) Parliamentary presence
d) Recognized heartland branding
The weaknesses of WP:
i) Organized ground network weakness (vis-à-vis) the incumbent
ii) Lack of Financial Resources
iii) Shortage of qualified (minority) candidates
iv) Limited Main Stream Media coverage
Q3: What do you think will happen to Singapore politics in next 10-20 years and how many seats will the opposition win at next election?
Yaw: Change is inevitable. Continual political development (towards the standards of first world’s democracies) for Singapore is a sure thing. More seats to the opposition will be but a natural course in the context of nation building. I do not wish to speculate on the specific numbers of seats the opposition will win at the next elections though. Let’s put our trust upon the collective wisdom of Singaporeans. The PAP is aware of this and has tried all means to delay political development, via schemes such as the expanded NCMP scheme.
Q4: What do you think of SDP Youth and internet political activism? Lastly:
Yaw: I have no comments on the SDP Youth. On another note, generally, internet political activism in is brewing in Singapore.
Q5: What do the opposition parties need to do to go from 25% to 50.1% and what type of people makes up that next 25% that opposition must win over?
Yaw: a) Singapore’s political middle,
b) The economic middle class and
c) Existing PAP supporters.
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I refer to my comments in Lian He Zao Bao (28th October 2010, Page 04). Below is a raw translation of my comments:
