Lee Hsien Loong's Handover and Singapore's Robust Democracy

  On April 15, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) of Singapore announced that Lee Hsien Loong, the current Prime Minister, will formally hand over the Prime Minister's office to Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong Shyun Tsai on April 15, 2012. This also means that Lee Hsien Loong will step down from his 20-year tenure as Prime Minister, ushering in a new Prime Minister and a new era for Singapore.

   Looking back on Lee Hsien Loong's 20 years as Prime Minister, Singapore's domestic, foreign and social situation can be summarized as "steady progress". Compared to the "founding generation" of Singaporeans led by Lee Kuan Yew, who saved the country from internal and external problems, and achieved a great deal in terms of the economy and people's livelihoods, Lee Hsien Loong has led a new generation of Singaporeans to consolidate and develop the achievements of the country in the second half of the 20th century, and has not only saved the country from falling into the "middle class trap" and the "middle class trap", but also from falling into the "middle class trap", and the "middle class trap", as well as the "middle class trap". The "middle class trap" and "backtracking", but also more prosperous. Singapore was already a developed economy when Lee Hsien Loong took over the baton, and has since managed to maintain relatively fast growth for a long time, which is quite difficult.

 As a very small city-state, housing is a very important issue for Singaporeans. The further growth of Singapore's population during Lee Hsien Loong's tenure has made the issue of housing a challenge. Other countries and regions, such as Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and even China's big cities, people are for the high prices and sigh, many people can only be "X drift" and can not afford to buy real estate. Home buyers also tend to become "mortgage slaves", burdened with huge mortgages that take decades to pay off, and live under the pressure of mortgages for the rest of their lives.

   However, in Singapore, which is smaller than most of the above regions, from Lee Kuan Yew to Goh Chok Tong to Lee Hsien Loong, the People's Action Party (PAP) governments of various periods have attached great importance to enabling Singaporeans to "have a home for their own", and established a housing supply system mainly based on "HDB flats", to ensure that Singaporeans can live in a tiny township. It is important to ensure that Singaporeans can still afford to buy a home in a small country with a small footprint. The plaque in the hall of HDB Singapore not only bears Du Fu's famous line, "I can get ten million rooms in a wide building, and shelter the world's poor people with joy, and the wind and rain do not move, as if it were a mountain", but it also puts Du Fu's ideals into practice and makes it a success. This is a great achievement that cannot be praised enough.

  Singapore is not a high-welfare state, and the founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, and successive governments have emphasized personal struggle and hard work to avoid falling into the welfare trap that leads to national decline. At the same time, however, the Singapore government has put in place a safety net in the areas of housing, healthcare, pensions and childcare, which are related to the basic needs of its citizens, to prevent individuals and families from falling into an existential crisis, and to prevent young people from having to bear an undue burden. The Government also provides start-up funds for young people to encourage diversified employment and innovation and creativity. These achievements are dazzling.

   The achievements of Lee Hsien Loong and his ruling team go beyond the economic and livelihood areas. In terms of politics and civil rights, compared to the Lee Kuan Yew era, when the opposition was restrained by extraordinary measures and draconian decrees against a backdrop of internal and external problems, Lee Hsien Loong's treatment of non-ruling party members after he came to power has tended to be milder and more tolerant. The political reforms initiated during Goh Chok Tong's time have been preserved and developed during Lee Hsien Loong's time, and citizens have more freedom of expression. The expression of political dissent in Hong Lim Park, for example, is effectively safeguarded. And the political opposition is less restricted and more competitive in parliamentary elections.

    The Lee Hsien Loong era has also seen significant progress in the rights of vulnerable groups such as women, children, LGBT people, and people with disabilities. 2022 saw the repeal of the ban on same-sex sexual activity (although for many years before that, same-sex sexual activity had gone unpunished in Singapore). As for the rights of women, children and the disabled, unlike the more radical bottom-up approach of citizen movements in the West, Singapore has more often safeguarded these rights through additional empowerment and special protection in law through communication between the government and the people and top-level design. In Singapore, for example, aggravated penalties are prescribed for crimes against persons with disabilities who lack the ability to resist. And Singapore's extremely heavy penalties for raping women, often with sentences of 13 years or more, are a strong deterrent to sexual offenses. Singapore has also been active in punishing employers for abusing FDHs, and this is often reported in the press, expressing Singapore's judicial intolerance of harm to FDHs, and its stance on the equal protection of nationals and FDHs. (While there are still shortcomings in practice and in a number of cases, the protection of the vulnerable, both institutionally and in general, has been very good).

   These achievements have not been easy and reflect the real and strong protection of vulnerable groups under Singapore's rule of law system. Of course, to some familiar with competitive politics in the West, Singapore is seen as having a less vibrant civil society, less political pluralism and fewer independent civil society organizations.

    These assessments are valid from one side. But from another perspective, they are a reflection of Singapore's robust political ecology and the orderliness of its society.

    Whether it is democratic politics or civil society, the fundamental purpose of its operation should be the well-being of the people, rather than "politics for the sake of politics" or "opposition for the sake of opposition". Regardless of Europe, America, Asia, Africa and Latin America, political confrontation is more intense than in Singapore is the majority of the countries, but there are few countries that have done better than Singapore in terms of civil rights and people's livelihood. On the contrary, all kinds of vicious political competition have dragged down the assertion of civil rights and the improvement of people's livelihood, and society has been torn apart.

   And Singapore, no matter during the reigns of Lee Kuan Yew, Goh Chok Tong or Lee Hsien Loong, has guaranteed social stability and orderly political competition under political pluralism by means of controlled and pragmatic democratic politics. As a former Member of Parliament put it, "the value of Singapore's parliamentary debates is that all parties can remain rational in the midst of heated political disputes" (something to that effect). Not only the parliamentary debates, but also the underlying color of Singapore's national politics is one of pluralism and competition, as well as peace and order.

   As mentioned earlier, the Lee Hsien Loong era has made more progress than before in terms of political pluralism and inclusiveness. The ruling party has not abused its power to pursue the opposition because it is in control of power. On the contrary, from Lee Kuan Yew to Lee Hsien Loong, they all reserved seats for the opposition as "non-constituency members" of the National Assembly, so as to guarantee the presence and voice of the opposition in the National Assembly, and to supervise and spur on the ruling party.

  In the face of the problem of inter-ethnic relations, which is a thorny issue in many countries, the Lee Kuan Yew and Lee Hsien Loong administrations have adopted a series of institutional designs, including ethnic quotas in parliamentary constituencies, multi-ethnic mixing of communities, combating extremist rhetoric, and preventing terrorism in the first place (e.g., the early defeat of the terrorist organization Jemaah Islamiyah (JI)), and the attack on the Changi Airport terrorists), among other things, has succeeded in maintaining communal harmony and social stability in Singapore, with no communal conflict resulting in large-scale deaths or injuries for decades. This is not easy. Looking at the racial conflicts and even bloody civil wars that have prevailed from Europe and the United States to Asia, Africa and Latin America, Singapore's achievement in maintaining communal harmony is all the more gratifying and admirable.

   Facts have proved that Singapore's institutional design and governance model has successfully struck a balance between democratic pluralism and stability and order in politics (although slightly more stable), which is the political foundation for Singapore's sustained economic and social development and progress.

   At one time, I was more in favor of competitive and confrontational democratic politics, and was very supportive of opposition forces and public participation. However, with more experience, seeing the ills of populism, and the tragedies of many countries/communities in history where the economy collapsed, people's livelihoods suffered, and people were displaced due to internal and external problems, the more we realize the importance of security and stability, and the more we are able to understand how difficult it is for these types of rulers, who are sincere and dedicated to the people, to do the right thing. Criticizing is easy, building is difficult. The author has also come to realize that without significant economic and livelihood development, democratic politics is unstable and inefficient.

   For a country as small as Singapore, with different identities from the dominant ethnic groups in neighboring countries, and a national community that is composed of multiple ethnic groups, survival and stability are particularly important, and ensuring survival is Singapore's first priority. In such an environment, it is obviously unwise and even dangerous to chase after certain minutiae of democratic politics, overemphasize competition and pluralism in politics, and consume a lot of material and energy in political struggles.

   "Under a broken nest, there is no egg left intact". With the fall of the country, all the struggles of politicians and citizens for democratic procedures, details of the rule of law, and personal freedoms have become ashes that have no relevance and cannot exist in their own right. Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and many Singaporeans experienced the 1942-1945 Japanese Occupation period, and they know first-hand the desperate situation of a broken country and a slaughtered family, and they understand this very well. Lee Kuan Yew wrote in his memoirs, when Japan captured Singapore, "the whole world collapsed ...... in three and a half years (during the period of Japanese occupation), I witnessed the meaning of power". Therefore, Lee Kuan Yew and the political elites of the "nation-building generation" paid special attention to stability and control. With existence, strength and material achievements, civil rights and individual freedom have a foundation.

  In the external arena, it has been difficult and successful for Singapore to maintain good diplomatic relations and close economic and trade exchanges with China, the United States, the ASEAN countries, Japan, South Korea, India and other major extra-territorial powers over the decades. As an important player in the political economy and international relations of Southeast Asia, the Indo-Pacific and the world, Singapore has been a great force for good in the interest of peace and prosperity in the region and the world.

   From Lee Kuan Yew to Goh Chok Tong to Lee Hsien Loong, as well as a new generation of Singaporean rulers represented by Lawrence Wong Shyun Tsai, Ong Ye King,Chan Chun Sing,etc., the choice of the path of political stability, economic prosperity, rule of law, and harmony with the outside world is most in line with Singapore's national conditions and has been tested by practice to be successful.   

   Although there are some political and social shortcomings in Singapore, such as the protection of the disadvantaged and marginalized groups and the response to the fuller expression of national aspirations, there is some distance from the developed democracies, and the electoral system is not entirely fair, but the flaws do not cover up the weaknesses. And as mentioned earlier, some restrictions and sacrifices are necessary for the stability and long-term development of the country. Of course, I also believe that the Singaporean government should be more democratic and pluralistic on the premise of ensuring its survival and stability.

   The current transition of Prime Ministers also reflects the stable renewal of Singapore's governing team. Even the most capable and accomplished leaders will need to retire at some point in their lives. Moreover, the rapid changes and developments of the times also require new people to take over the baton, so that the ruling team can keep up with the times and be of the same age as the times. And the retirement of the older generation of leaders is also the best option to preserve the integrity of the festival. A smooth transition of power is also a way of saying "no" to the monopolization of power, respecting the republican statehood, and adhering to the ever-changing trend of the times.

   Lee Hsien Loong, who will serve as Senior Minister of State after stepping down as Prime Minister, can continue to utilize his rich political experience and influence to make the leadership transition smoother, the new governing team more comfortable in dealing with reality and crisis, and Singapore's development more continuous. Previously, from Lee Kuan Yew to Goh Chok Tong and from Goh Chok Tong to Lee Hsien Loong, the same mode of handing over the baton has been successful, and this time will be no exception.

   Such a transition model is not only necessary, cherished and defended by Singapore, but also worthy of reference and emulation by many countries around the world. Especially for both the need to update the ruling team, with the times, but also the need to protect the stability of the regime, retired predecessors also want to play a role in the future of the country and its leaders, Singapore's model is quite worthy of reference. The establishment of a benign power transition mechanism is in the interest of both the nation and the leaders themselves.

  Not only the succession, but also many of Singapore's political features are worthy of reference by countries around the world, especially those with similar ideological, cultural and historical traditions, as well as partial emulation after adaptation to their own national conditions. Robust democracy, reliable rule of law, peaceful competition, rational debates, balance between efficiency and fairness, and equal and harmonious co-existence of multi-ethnic groups are all valuable and scarce in this world. While the Confucian civilization in East Asia has the best social and cultural conditions to achieve these beneficial goals, it also requires the active choice of the rulers of various countries, the strong desire of the public, and the active promotion of knowledgeable people. It is hoped that the Singaporean model will be understood and utilized by rulers, intellectuals and the general public in more countries.