White Paper debate shows people must be persuaded plans are in their interest
By Han Fook Kwang, The Sunday Times, 10 Feb 2013
The Government's biggest problem in persuading a sceptical public to support its population plans is not over the 6.9 million number.
It is not about the proportion of Singaporeans to foreigners in the year 2030.
It is not over the number of new citizens it wants to admit every year.
Yes, these are controversial numbers which have provoked much debate and unhappiness, and which will have to be addressed.
But they are not why there is much unease over the Government's plans.
The problem is a lack of public confidence in the Government, and particularly that the proposals are in the people's best interests.
This is evident in the quick way many dismissed the White Paper even before reading its contents.
Tackling this erosion of confidence and trust must be a top priority of the Government or it will face even more problems from a sceptical public.
It is unfortunate that this has happened because the issues raised are critical ones that have to be tackled now or Singapore will suffer the consequences in the years ahead. The problems of a low fertility rate and rapidly ageing population are real and will not go away no matter how Singapore or the world develops.
And because it is a complex problem with many issues in the mix - demographics, the structure of the economy, immigration policy, even questions regarding what it means to be Singaporean - it isn't possible for ordinary Singaporeans to absorb and fully understand all the arguments and implications.
Ultimately, they must put their trust in the Government, that it understands the issues and that its solutions are in the best interest of Singapore.
Indeed that was how it was in the early years when the people were prepared to let the Government solve their problems. The problems then were as life-threatening, and would have seemed at the time to be as intractable, perhaps even more so than the population issue today.
How do you house almost an entire population in public housing from scratch? One can imagine the logistical nightmare this must have presented at the time, not to mention the problem of finding the money for such a massive construction programme.
Or raise an entire citizens' army from ground up? Think of the political problem of persuading Singapore parents to release their 18-year-old sons to the state for two of their best years, exposed to all the dangers of full-time military training.
But Singaporeans, by and large, accepted that the Government knew what it was doing, and, more important, believed these policies were in their interest.
That faith, however, would have evaporated quickly if the Government had failed to execute those policies well - if, for example, they had charged prices for public housing which were out of reach for the majority, or there was discrimination in who was enlisted to do national service.
That trust had to be earned, and re-earned through the successful implementation of those policies.
It is commonplace these days to say that it was easier in the early years for the Government to have its way because people were less quarrelsome, more compliant or homogeneous.
People who say this forget that the political environment in the 1960s and 1970s was more competitive, vigorous and pluralistic than it is today, GE 2011 and Punggol East notwithstanding. It might seem easier today but that's because the Government at the time had earned the trust, respect and confidence of the majority of the people.
Several PAP MPs alluded to this need to regain the people's trust during last week's parliamentary debate. Ang Mo Kio GRP MP Inderjit Singh called on the Government to take a breather and slow down its population growth track. "We have too many problems. As a government, we need to rebuild the trust and confidence among Singaporeans that our citizens matter most to us and that we are willing take a break from our relentless drive for growth to solve our problems... At this stage, many Singaporeans from all walks of life don't have the confidence that we can handle another steep growth of the population, so let's not push it too hard," he said.
Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong too singled it out as a prerequisite for Singapore's past success. "In all of these crises, the critical success factors were the leadership of the country, the bond between the government and the people, our unity, our trust and support of each other," he said. "People could see and sense the immediate danger. We instinctively came together to tackle issues head on," he noted.
Unfortunately for the PAP, it could not have picked a tougher issue on which to regain that trust, when so many Singaporeans are unhappy that the foreign population was allowed to grow without making sure the physical infrastructure could cope with the increased numbers.
Now it has to demonstrate through its accelerated housing and transport plans that it can do what it promises.
But being able to deliver infrastructure, important though it might be, is the easier part of the problem.
More tricky is regaining the people's trust that its plans are in their interest. Many can't understand how they will be better off with so many more foreigners in their midst.
Someone put this question to me earlier in the week: The Government says having one million more people in Singapore in 10 years' time will be good for the country. But we had one million more people in the last 10 years - how did that benefit us?
I couldn't persuade him that it made the economy more vibrant and added to the buzz of the place.
Persuading the people that what it does is in their interest is the most basic political challenge of any government.
And the most important part of this relationship is that the people must see the government as part of who they are, not separate and apart.
That was how the bond was forged in the early years, both leaders and the people going through the same struggle for independence and bound by a common destiny to make Singapore succeed against the odds.
Now that the population discussion has moved out of Parliament and into the public sphere, it is even more imperative for the Government to strengthen the people's trust in it, that it is acting in their interest.
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