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IsthemagicofPAPpragmatismaseffectiveasbefore?
Hasthesocialdividebecomedeficitpublictrust?
Toanswerthesequestions,wewillhavetolookatthe
historyoftime.Comparing20or30yearsago,howdowe
seepragmatisminSingaporeandhowtrustworthydo
SingaporeansseethePAPgovernment?
The50yearneverchangePeople'sActionPartywill
certainlyclaimthatSingaporeansareverypragmaticand
oncethePAPcallsorremindsSingaporeanstobe
pragmaticorfacetheconsequenceofvotingoutthePAP,
majorityofvoterswillcontinuetogivethe
governmentshiptothePAP.So,themagicofpragmaticism
isaseffectiveasbefore.
Similarly,thepublictrustbetweenpeopleand
governmenteventhoughthereisagap,likethe
richpoorgap,itwillstillbemanageableandwill
neverturnintoadeficit,acrisis.Singaporeansstill
obeythelaw,continuetopaytaxanddoNational
Serviceandfurthermore,parentsstillfightveryhard
forPrimaryoneregistration.Howcanpublictrustbean
issuewhenthingsarefunctioninglikebefore.
Onlywhenwedoacomparisonbetween1980s,1990sand
2010s,wethenrealisehowdifferentitcouldbe:
Pragmaticism
Public
Trust
1980s,
1990s
Effective
High
2010s
Ineffective
Low
20,30yearsago,therewasnosocialmedia.Mainstream
mediaiscontrolledbythegovernment.WhentheMSMsays
pragmaticismiseffective,noonecanargueandgives
alternativeviews.WhenGohChokTonggivesapromiseof
Swissstandardofliving,Singaporeansalso
pragmaticallythinkthereisahopeandvoteforthe
PAP.WhenMahBowTanpromisesahopeofWorldCup,
Singaporeansalsocheerpragmaticallyforsuchadream.
Weknowcasinosarebadbutpragmaticallywealsoaccept
withoutareferendum.Almostallmajordecisionsare
passedpragmaticallywithoutfulldebates.
Nowallthesedreamsandpromisesarebroken.Canthe
callforpragmaticismstillattractpeopleandcanit
continuestobeaseffectiveasbefore?
PAPsayswemustbepragmaticsothatourincomecan
growandjobswillbesecured.Nodoubt,ourincomeper
capitahasincreasedbutsodotheincomegap.ThePAP
pragmaticapproachcanonlybenefitsomepeople,notall
people.PMLeegoesevenfurthertosuggestthedangers
of'pleasealleconomics'#1.PAP'spragmaticapproachis
topleasesomepeople,eitherlocalorforeign.
'Pleaseall'infactinthePAP'sdefinitionisequalto
welfarismwherenoonewantstoworkhardasthereare
generoussocialbenefits.DoSingaporeanspragmatically
thinkinthisway?Dopeoplebuythisanalogy?
TheresultofPAPpragmaticismiswhatweseetoday:no
retirementforseniorcitizens,nowageincreaseforlow
incomeworkersforyears,nouniversityplacingfor
eligiblestudents,etc.....
Thediscussionofpragmatismandpublictrustinthe
pastwasatotalreflectionofthePAPversion.There
wereeitherunderreportedornoreportingof
ineffectivePAPpragmatismintheMSM.Soitcreateda
falseimpressionthatPAPpragmatismwasgood,was
effectiveforcountry'sbuildingandweallpretended
andassumedthattherewasnoissueofpublictrust.We
trustedthepress,webelievedinPAPversionof
pragmaticismandweevenprotectedthepragmatismand
publictrustbydenouncingallthoseopposedthe
pragmatismandpeoplequestionedaboutthesocialdivide
andpublictrust.
Today,weseemorediscussions,criticismandattackson
thePAPpragmatismandpublictrust.ThePAPdefendsit
bysayingdiscussions,criticismsandevenattacksare
notindicationsofineffectivePAPpragmaticismor
deficitpublictrust.ThePAPisnowmoreopento
discussions,wehaveSGConversation,wehaveMediShield
forall,andthePAPeventurnstodemocraticsocialism.
ThePAPischangingandispragmaticasbeforeandthere
isnoproblemofgainingpeople'ssupportsandtrust.
Ifyoubuythisargument,thenyoumaydrawyour
conclusionbelow:
[Inhisarticle,MrMukherjeealsoexpressedconfidence
that"forallthegrumbling,themajorityof
Singaporeansaretoopragmatictooptforunbridled
welfarismatthenextelections".
ThePrimeMinister,inhispost,concluded:"Wemust
makesurethatheisright."]#1
However,pragmatismandpublictrustreallygobeyond
welfarismandPMLee'srightway.Itissocomplicated
anditinvolvessocialjustice,transparency,
accountability,pressfreedom,andmanyunexpected
things.Wewillhavetolookatthepeereffect,the
threshold(nottradeoff)andmanyotheruncertainties.
#1
http://www.singapolitics.sg/news/dangerspleasealleconomicsrealpmlee
Note:
Pragmaticismorpragmatism,herewerefertoPAPversion
ofpragmaticapproachorthinking.