Singapore’s ruling party, People’s Action Party (PAP), released its election manifesto [1] on April 17, 2011, which was immediately criticized by many bloggers for being “too vague.” PAP has been in power for five decades already. The country's General Election [2] will take place on May 7.
The PAP manifesto [3] promises a better future for all Singaporeans
You can count on the PAP to do the best for Singaporeans from all walks of life, and to keep us united through good times and bad. Together, we will make Singapore a vibrant and inclusive society, with opportunities for a better life for each and every citizen. We will be a city for the young and old.
To achieve this vision, we seek your mandate to:
• Create opportunities for higher incomes for all
• Improve the lives of lower-income Singaporeans
• Bring out the best in every child
• Develop a vibrant city and an endearing home
• Help our seniors stay active, healthy and engaged
* Involve all Singaporeans in shaping our future
Below is the video [4] of the manifesto prepared by PAP:
The manifesto mentioned about the commitment of PAP to respect diverse views in society. But Mr. Brown complained [5] that commenting is disallowed on the PAP video site.
jadenster [6] uploaded this video which contrasted the PAP manifesto with the current situation in Singapore:
cloudywind [7] also has a short video which slams the legacy of PAP:
Lucky Tan is not impressed [8] with the manifesto and warns that the proposed solutions have been done before:
In fact, where solutions are cited in the manifesto, they are what the PAP has been doing in the past decades e.g. retraining of low income workers from one low income job to another etc. When the same solutions are used, we will only get the same results – widening income gap, rising cost of living and a deteriorating quality of life.
Through the Wordle [9] site, alvinology compares the PAP manifesto with the manifesto issued earlier by the opposition Workers’ Party’s (WP). The PAP document consists of 25 pages compared to the 63 pages in the WP manifesto. Bloggers also noticed that the WP manifesto has detailed recommendations in 15 different policy areas.
Yawning Bread criticizes [10] the leadership brand of PAP:
It’s getting very tired. And what the PAP does not realise is that this constant harping about the risk of failure has actually damaged Singapore. Far from making us a confident, innovative society willing to try new things and benefitting from experimentation, it has made us risk-averse and slightly paranoid. It’s hardly any wonder stress levels in Singapore are so high
Blogging for Myself accuses PAP of being ‘clueless’ [11] to the current realities in the world:
In one word, the PAP is CLUELESS. I am not expecting some grand theory that is good enough to help illuminate mankind into the future, but they do not have a sufficient grasp of the driving forces today beyond being bewildered by it all and can only say this: The future is highly uncertain.
The PAP has been short changing themselves because they are apt to choose people they trust rather than the ablest. You know the dynamics of human relationships, it is impossible to have a large company of people that you can develop deep trust.
Molly Meek publishes an annotated document [12] of the PAP manifesto. She also described the manifesto as a defense of the status quo [13]:
The PAP Manifesto is ultimately about maintaining the status quo, making it cosmetically and statistically better but substantially worse. Expect minor tweaks but do not expect them to translate to any palpable benefit for Singaporeans; do not expect anything near a paradigm shift in thinking. (And no, of course there’s no groupthink in the PAP.)
Nigel Tan is disappointed that the manifesto contains only vague promises [14]:
The document seems to contain a series of vague promises, with neither details of specific policies nor information on how the various stated aims were going to be implemented.
As elections get nearer, netizens are encouraged to post photos [15] of the elections in the GE2011 Media website.