Ten things PAP can do to swing back the votes for the next election: 1. Be transparent - one huge bugbear of the ruling party is its refusal to be transparent in the way it invests our CPF and how much money the two giant sovereign funds lost during the 2008 financial cridis. Ministers also dont have to declare their assets before election and no one really knows how much the PM is worth. It manages the public money collected the way it wishes and transparency is lacking in many of its investment vz-a-viz our CPF money. Such lack of transparency breeds mistrust and the people lost faith in the usual good governance of the ruling party. 2. Be compassionate - though the government has many welfare schemes catering to the diffetent needs of the low-earning population, it also sets up lots of red tape causing many needy people to fall through the net. It is always fearful of people cheating the system and rather than err on the side of generiosity it puts up walls of great barrier to deter fraudalent applicants. The poor rather stay at home and suffer than to approach the CDC for assistance as there are lots of forms to fill and questions to answer when they apply for welfare. This is also one reason why we see many elderly people working in low-end jobs in order to survive. There is simply nothing like a pension for our elderly poor to depend on. 3. Be gracious - the government has asked the people to be gracious but it has sued many people who went against them by way of defamation suits. If it can show some grace to dissidents, it will gain more favours with a population that knows nothing except tit for tat from the government. The way it manhandles and bullies the main opposition party is also disheartening and sicken many. The government is seen as efficient but low on grace and humility. 4. Be humane - the ruling party has enacted all kinds of laws to keep the population in check and stringent fines apply when such laws are violated. For example, offenders of regular town council late payment are hauled to court and even put in prison if they could not pay up - there is no mercy even though the town council sinking fund reaches $2 billion and counting. If you break the law, you are punished and there is no mercy. 5. Be visionary - the government is also leaning heavily on economics and even bring in two millions of foreigners to ensure that their economic plan works. The country is now seen as a transit place for all and no one likes to stay long here as it is lacking in values and vision. No one could really pinpoint what our core values are except to work and earn enough money to take care of the family. Life revolves alot round the dollar sign which becomes meaningless after a while. More than 70% of our youth wants to emigrate and no one likes to sink their roots too deep here. Even foreign new citizens take up our citizenship here so that they could emigrate somewhere else as its seen as a prestigious conversion. The government lacks a real vision for the country and money-making can only satisfy a certain small segment of the population. 6. Be gentlemanly - the way it reshufles the GRCs to ensure that the boundary suits the ruling party smells of ungentlemanly behaviour. It cant swing staunt opposition votes if it continues to behave like a unwelcomed thug during election. Voters like the ruling party to admit their loss gentlemanly and try to win back the lost ward legitimately. Its threats of no-estate upgrading if you vote for the opposirtion is also dirty and unpopular. Though it may work for a while, such threatening strategy will surely backfire on them one day when voters decide to stand up for their rights. Aljunied, Hougang and Punggol East voters have done just that. 7. Be a good loser - its tough to lose a constituency for the ruling party especially when they have been winning elections like second nature. Politics is also power and can be dirty as.ones ego is stripped bare for all to see when a political party loses seats. In overseas, government changes frequently and no one party can claim power for so many decades like the one we have experienced here. However, time and tide have change and its time for the ruling party to face up to the wishes of the people. They may need to accept the fact that the people want to have a credible opposition to check the government. Failing to do so will only anger the people more. 8. Be listening - the government loses many votes because it fails to listen to the people. The opposition cant win seats unless the victories are granted by the ruling party. The ruling party also fails to listen properly because the ground feedback could not reach up to the ears of the leaders. Moreover, not many ground leaders dare to provide too much negative feedback for fear of reprisal. Who likes to listen to a person who always criticise the ruling party? The elitist nature of the government also automatically provides a natural barrier between the people and its rulers. How can a million-dollar minister empathsize with the struggles of someone who earns $1000 a month? 9. Be humble - we often year of ministers speaking arrogantly in Parliament when they should be seen as humbly serving the people. People like to see a softer government, one that apologises and say sorry. When PM Lee apologised to the people during the last election, many fence-sitters decided to vote for the party. People dont want a perfect government and they like to see the human side of the leaders. Besides PM Lee, no other minister has came out to apologise for all the screw-up that has happened all this while. 10. Be less greedy - we often speak of our government as greedy and materialistic. There are all kinds of hidden taxes that strip the average man of his purchasing power, If you drive, you need to pay a $60,000 COE and face up to many garricades when you enter the city. Commuters taking public transport need to pay extra cost every year even though the transport operators are making handsome profits. Even cable operators joined in the greedy fray by charging expensive rates for the recent world cup broadcast when many countries are showing live matches free of charge. Its a country that charges everything that is being consumed except for the air we breathe! Such excessive consumer over-charging makes us feel that everything has to be purchased and that nothing is for free. It removes grace out of a hard-nosed society that rewards those who could afford the consumption and punishes the poor by denying them of that simple luxury.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 13:09:51 +0000