The Singapore Government, and perhaps in particular, DPM Lee, shows every sign of being thoroughly frightened by the recent display of genuine democracy in action, as exemplified by the latest Alpa-S EGM, which produced a vote of no confidence in the Association’s Exco, thus forcing this committee’s subsequent resignation. Perhaps in pique, the Government seems to be exercising singularly poor judgment in peremptorily legislating to fundamentally alter the constitution of Alpa-S at the very time when the Association looks to be possibly fielding an effective Exco to square off with the SQ management in the upcoming CA negotiations.
The contemporary production of a number of red herrings, disseminated by tame mouthpieces and reported in the similarly tame organ, the Straits Times, in preparation for and in support of this move, seems to have further reduced the Government’s credibility both amongst ex-pat and, most significantly, local SQ employees. This latter group’s stance, I’m told, now mirrors the general population’s opaque but ubiquitous derision of its Government’s authoritarianism and high cynicism of the new leader’s meteoric rise to power on the long advertised meretricious basis.
When DPM becomes PM, on some emergent date in 2004, I suspect that the above will merely be shown as a harbinger of future events to befall the wider Republic.