The National University of Singapore Students' Political Association recently conducted an online poll of about 400 undergraduates to gauge the views of young people on political parties and policies after last year's watershed general election. Goh Chin Lian speaks to six of the association's officers about the poll results. They are president Valerie Ng, 21, vice-presidents Ow Yau Loong, 23, and Eugene Lee, 22, and management committee members Yan Wentao, 23, Elizabeth Cutter, 20, and Dominique Wang, 21.
The Straits Times, 10 Nov 2012
Nearly two-thirds of those polled said a two-party system could be a boon or a bane, depending on the parties' performance. What do you make of this result?
Yau Loong: With a two-party system, we might witness something like in the US where although Obama won, it divided the American population into the left and the right. Our country can't afford to have this division.
Dominique: I think a two-party system will hamper the functioning of the country. I support reform for the People's Action Party - more national conversation, more discussion, more voices - because that's conducive for a small society.
Elizabeth: A lot of Singaporeans don't feel that the parties are entrenched on an ideological basis. Most Singaporeans still prefer to look at the results, the pragmatics, the policies - which is why they chose "boon or bane", because they want to see the results first.
Valerie: Most of our friends don't want a two-party system, but they still want the opposition around to keep track of the PAP, like what they are doing now. They are questioning the Government, helping to be a voice for us for things that we want to check on, but could not speak up on.
Don't rock the boat
Elizabeth: You have a very entrenched ruling party. All that the undergrads have grown up with is this system. If they are happy with the way things are, they are not going to seek to change the status quo because it's treated them well. They are in university now, doing all right. It's the people who feel it's unfair who want to change the status quo.
Eugene: They said "boon or bane" because Singaporeans don't know how a two-party system will pan out in Singapore. We didn't force them to say "desirable" or "undesirable", but it also reflects a certain maturity that they know that a two-party system could work both ways - good or bad for Singapore.
Slightly over half favoured an Internet code of conduct, despite netizens' worries that it will lead to government regulation. Why?
Wentao: There shouldn't be censorship, but there should be at least a code of conduct. Comments can be quite hurtful. If you wouldn't say it to another person face to face, you shouldn't say it online because it carries the same message. People should be mindful of and be responsible for what they say or write online.
Yau Loong: Whether people are irresponsible in their words reflects a culture's civility and a population's maturity. I don't think imposing rules and regulations will curb this kind of behaviour.
Elizabeth: It was mentioned that the students are probably thinking this is a gentlemen's agreement. That's how I think of a code of conduct. I don't see it as a set of rules and regulations.
Valerie: It's necessary to have a code of conduct because Singapore is very diverse. It's very dangerous if any comment splits society. The code shouldn't target a certain group of people. It will apply to everybody.
It will work better if it starts with the young from school, rather than to suddenly roll out a code. It's going to be very hard to enforce it. We need to get it ingrained in people.
Some say the lack of confidentiality in the survey was an issue. What do you say?
Eugene: The main premise of having their matriculation number was to ensure one person one vote. Without being able to collect data to check, we run the risk of one person voting 20 times.
We tried our best to assure the people doing the survey that we are looking at the aggregate instead of the individual comments.
Is there a climate of fear where people are afraid to give their identities and political views?
Valerie: I don't think it's such a case for undergrads because in school we just daringly share our views.
We are the representative body of the political voices of the students. Hopefully they see us as that. That's why they did the survey and reflected their views.
Is 2-party system good? 'Depends on parties'
Student poll shows youth not blindly backing or rejecting such a system
By Andrea Ong, The Straits Times, 6 Nov 2012
YOUNG Singaporeans are not simply embracing or writing off the idea of a two-party system, according to a survey by students of the National University of Singapore (NUS).
Nearly two-thirds of about 400 Singaporean undergraduates polled online by its Students' Political Association believe it is how parties perform that will decide if a two-party system is a boon or bane to the country.
The rest are split almost down the middle between those who feel a two-party system is desirable to produce policies that reflect people's needs, and those who feel it will lead to policy paralysis and restrict governance.
These findings, from the survey carried out between June and August, show "political maturity", said former Nominated MP Siew Kum Hong.
He felt it was positive that most recognised that the desirability of a two-party system depends on how the parties perform, and that only 17.2per cent "seems to reflexively think a two-party system is necessarily undesirable".
"To that extent, it does demonstrate political maturity," he said.
A two-party system, however, may be some way off. Nearly four in five of all students see no sign of it appearing in the next general election, due by 2016.
The survey had asked students to assess political parties, policies and politicians' new media engagement, among other topics.
While its organisers stressed that the poll was not scientific, they hoped to sieve out topics of interest to the student population so they could better plan activities.
They also wanted to see if the young had different perceptions from the general population, following last year's watershed general election.
"But it seems we are pretty much the same," said the association's honorary general secretary, Ms Elizabeth Cutter, 20.
She said the results also show that many government policy issues are universal.
For instance, most picked transport as the policy most in need of improvement. The train breakdowns since December last year could have contributed to this perception, said Ms Cutter.
Another hot-button issue, however, yielded an interesting result.
Housing was ranked the No. 2 policy that needed improvement, but was voted the most-improved policy since last year's general election.
Generally, the students see a slight increase in the Government's engagement of the public on policies.
With the Workers' Party (WP) now represented by eight MPs, they feel there is a tad more debate and diversity in Parliament.
But asked how they would vote if a general election were held tomorrow, 66.6 per cent picked the People's Action Party, more than the national margin of 60.1 per cent it got at the last election. Some 30 per cent picked the WP.
"It's an exaggeration to say that all youth today swing towards the opposition," said arts undergraduate Yeo Shang Long, 22. "I'm not surprised that there is a conservative group that may be less vocal about its political leanings."
Yet another surprise for the organisers is that slightly more than half voted in favour of an Internet code of conduct.
Many netizens fret that it is a form of disguised government regulation.
NUS political scientist Reuben Wong said the students "may not have understood the code of conduct in the way the Government is putting it across".
He added: "They may have taken the code to mean an informal gentlemen's agreement."
Asked if the results slanted towards the conservative, association vice-president Eugene Lee, 22, said NUS students had to give their names and matriculation numbers in the survey to prevent multiple voting. "That's one of the survey's weaknesses, as some may have felt it was not confidential," said the engineering and economics undergraduate.
Youth spring a political surprise
By Goh Chin Lian, The Straits Times, 10 Nov 2012
What it's all about
An online poll of young Singaporeans by the National University of Singapore (NUS) Students' Political Association yielded some surprising results which were published this week.
The findings revealed that younger Singaporeans were, among other things, more equivocal in their support of a two-party system than might have been assumed. They also expressed support for an Internet code of conduct, which some bloggers have opposed for fear that it would lead to government restrictions of some form.
The poll, done from June to August this year, involved 407 Singaporean undergraduates. It posed 23 questions to gauge their views on policies and how engaged they felt, especially in the wake of last year's watershed general election.
What's the buzz
A finding that drew comments online and offline was the students' view of a two-party system. Asked whether it is desirable if such a system emerges in Singapore, close to two-thirds of the students polled chose: "Boon or bane depending on performance of party".
The remaining one-third were split almost down the middle between those who felt a two-party system was desirable to produce policies that reflect people's needs, and those who thought it would lead to policy paralysis that curtails governance.
Some netizens expecting more support for the two-party system were sceptical of the results. They pointed to the lack of confidentiality in responses because the students had to indicate their matriculation numbers to avoid double counting. Others, however, felt that the results reflected the views of the silent majority.
Another surprise finding is that slightly more than half voted in favour of an Internet code of conduct.
Most of the students chose housing as the most improved policy since last year's elections, and transport as the policy most in need of improvement. They also see a slight increase in the Government's engagement of the public on policies.
Why it matters
The poll results suggest that not all young Singaporeans are as hungry for political change as often assumed, and may in fact be as pragmatic in their political outlook as older citizens.Asked how they would vote if a general election were held tomorrow, 66.6 per cent chose the People's Action Party, a higher percentage than the 60.1 per cent who voted for the ruling party in last year's GE.
What's next
It remains to be seen how their views translate into votes at the next general election due by 2016.
SOUNDBITE
"It's positive that the majority recognised, rightly, that the desirability of a system depends on how the parties perform, and that only 17 per cent seems to reflexively think that a two-party system is necessarily undesirable. To that extent, it does demonstrate political maturity."
- Former Nominated MP Siew Kum Hong
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