S’pore needs political reform, not a new social compact

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

S’pore needs political reform, not a new social compact


August 14th, 2013 | Author: Contributions



It’s absurd of former Prime Minister, ESM Goh Chok Tong, to
tick off Singaporeans for piling pressures on the Singapore government.

Apart from the fact that the government’s mission is carry out the will of
the people, it’s also the highest paid in the whole world so naturally the
expectations of the electorate are high.

It’s even more absurd of ESM Goh to suggest that a new social compact needs
to be forged. In a social compact the citizens give up part of their rights. ESM
Goh is deeply out of touch.

May I remind ESM Goh that the world has moved on. The ruling PAP government
is still stuck with a mindset from the last century. What Singapore needs is
definitely not a social compact to perpetuate its repressive rule but political
reform.

Political reform. Two simple words but avoided like the plague by the ruling
regime. Even the military junta in Myanmar has yielded to the demands of the
people, freed the press and embarked on political reform.

Repressive political parties do not willingly give up their core value of
authoritarianism. Often in self-denial, they have to be dealt massive pain at
the polls or be toppled in a revolution as the recent Arab Spring amply
demonstrated.

“Social compact? Goh is so so last century”, my friend Wee said. “What about
his promised Swiss standard of living? Looks like only he and his cronies are
enjoying a Swiss standard of living.”

Roger
Poh

* The writer blogs at http://rogerpoh.wordpress.com.


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