The nudge that mattersOpposition MP Chiam has been doing this to the PAP for the last 20 years
Loh Chee Kong
[email protected] The knives were quickly out when he won by less than 5 per cent of the votes in the last election, his slimmest winning margin ever.
Critics say the aggressiveness that has served him so well over the years has muted. Some even suggest he is "over the hill".
But Mr Chiam See Tong, arguably the unofficial leader of the Opposition in Singapore, is far from ready to throw in the towel.
"There is no reason why I should give up politics," the gritty 69-year-old former teacher turned lawyer and veteran opposition politician told Today.
"If you really want a truly democratic country, you must have an Opposition. Of course, the Opposition must be constructive, sincere and responsible to build up Singapore.
"I think the PAP, whatever you say of them, whether they are doing a good job or not, they still need somebody occasionally to tell them: 'Hey, you may not be going exactly in the right direction'. A nudge here and there — I think they want that situation."
Mr Chiam has been providing these nudges for 20 years as the Member of Parliament for Potong Pasir, one in a handful of single-seat constituencies remaining in what has become a political landscape of GRCs or Group Representation Constituencies.
He popped up in politics in 1976 as an independent candidate at Cairnhill in the general election that year. He did not win the seat but caused quite a stir with his earnest speeches and the distinctive red Volkswagen that he used as his campaign vehicle.
He moved to Potong Pasir for the 1979 by-election, again as an independent, but again failed to get into Parliament.
The following year, he formed the Singapore Democratic Party and unsuccessfully contested the 1980 general election, but finally won the Potong Pasir seat in the 1984 general election.
Mr Chiam has been in politics for nearly 30 years and he reckons his work has become all the more important because Singapore, faced with growing regional competition, needs to find a new creativity and sense of enterprise.
"What we have to do now is to depend on our own talents to develop high value-added goods. We are not prepared for this kind of business because our people have been treated like children for the last 40 years. They can only act when somebody tells them to," he said.
"So now we are stuck. We don't have entrepreneurs, innovators, inventors and creative people. In that sense, the Opposition was right. The Opposition has been advocating that we should have a more open, creative and innovative society — in other words, more democracy and more openness."
It's been said that Mr Chiam is the kind of opposition politician the ruling People's Action Party would have been happy to have among its ranks. Does Mr Chiam think he might have been able to do more for the people if he'd joined the PAP? He shakes his head firmly.
"The reason why I didn't join the PAP is because of their style. Even now, it is an elitist party," he said.
"I think it was the 1984 election, during one of the rallies at Fullerton, when Lee Kuan Yew asked, 'Who is this Chiam See Tong? We looked up his record and he has only got six Cs in his school certificate.'
"This sums up the PAP thinking. Do you think I want to join a party that runs down people like that? I would never.
"The most important thing is that you have to respect an individual — whether he's got six Cs or six As and whether he's a brain surgeon or a dustman. I think we should give him the same respect. If you don't give respect to your own citizens, I think you condemn them forever."
Mr Chiam says he is very grateful to Potong Pasir residents for supporting him for 20 years.
"In the last elections, the Government was using the MRT station as a 'threat' which really affected the residents since transport is one of the necessities people need, but the more they were threatened, the more defiant they were."
Yesterday, he showed that an opposition MP can deliver the goods to voters. He unveiled a $2-million lift-replacement programme for high-rise housing blocks in the Potong Pasir ward. The programme will be paid for from the Town Council's sinking fund.
"The Town Council is not charging the residents any money at all. There are no co-payments and you will get the brand new lifts free of charge," he said, to loud cheers from his supporters.
What lies ahead for Mr Chiam?
He believes Singapore needs a two-party political arena, and the Opposition thus needs to be united. He hopes to help bring about this united Opposition with the Singapore Democratic Alliance, which he formed in 2001.
He welcomes the prospect, suggested by Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng in Parliament last week, of Potong Pasir being pulled into a GRC in the next election.
"We welcome the contest, provided that Potong Pasir is not split up and divided into other GRCs," said Mr Chiam.
One challenge, he concedes, is to get not just more people but better people to join the Opposition, But he is hopeful.
"I think the climate has changed. Nowadays, the ministers are also quite young. For some of them, you might know them personally, so it's like, 'If so-and-so can be a minister, so can I'. There are equally bright Singaporeans around.
"I think the situation has relaxed perceptibly. I've often told people that my contribution to politics is that at least I have opened up a bit of Singapore and reduced the fear factor among the people," he said.
"I have shown that any Singaporean can stand for elections under the constitution and get elected. Not only was I elected but was also re-elected subsequently. People who voted for the opposition have not been victimised. This is my contribution."
Opposition MP Chiam has been doing this to the PAP for the last 20 years.
