Singapore's Sham Political Reforms

Singapore's Sham Political Reforms
Written by Our Correspondent
Monday, 08 June 2009

Given the Singapore government's oft-repeated mantra that multi-party politics is not appropriate for a small city-state, it might have surprised outside observers when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong recently unveiled plan to boost the number of opposition MPs in parliament.

Only last November at the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) annual conference, Lee insisted that a "two-party model cannot work in Singapore" and that "the country is much better off with one dominant party".

Just seven months later, Lee seems to have changed his tune somewhat. Now, he acknowledges that "Singaporeans want national issues to be fully debated" and that the government should "improve our political system to encourage a wider range of views in Parliament, including opposition and non-government views".

The government thus plans to change the constitution to ensure that there are at least nine opposition MPs in Singapore's supine Parliament (currently just three of the 85 voting MPs are not PAP apparatchiks) by expanding the existing system whereby the best-performing electoral losers are awarded parliamentary seats with watered-down powers.

Coming after recent decisions to permit public protests (albeit only in one specified location) and allow the release of some political films (subject to government vetting), it almost appears as if the prime minister and his PAP allies have undergone some sort of damascene conversion to liberal democratic principles.

But, in reality, the latest reforms are nothing more than Trojan horse politics, designed to head off the growing clamor for more alternative voices and to sow discord between Singapore's spattering of brave but fractious opposition politicians. The PAP has maintained an iron grip on power since Singapore won independence from Britain in 1959 not by locking up its opponents, although it does occasionally resort to such tactics, but by dominating public discourse, castrating opposition politicians through libel proceedings and manipulating the electoral system to its advantage.

Lee junior's proposed parliamentary reforms are just the latest example of this approach.

From its once-impregnable lock on power, the ruling party's share of the popular vote has declined steadily, from 75 percent in 2001 to a still-formidable 66.6 percent in 2006 and, with Singapore facing the worst recession in its history, the PAP is concerned that support could fall even further at the next general election, which is due by 2011.

While most political parties around the world can only dream of winning such support, the PAP remains nervous because it knows that the rapid rise of the internet has eroded its ability to control public opinion through state-owned newspapers and broadcast news outlets.

Although many of the city-state's bloggers and citizen journalists dedicate as much time to bashing each other as they do to taking on the government, the PAP fears that the next generation of Singaporeans, who are internet-obsessed, will be much less craven than their parents.

By guaranteeing a limited amount of greater opposition within Parliament, the PAP hopes to defuse the growing calls for more debate without giving up any control. For the real bulwarks of PAP rule – control of public debate and gerrymandering – remain fully intact.

To illustrate the first bulwark, you need look no further than Amnesty International's latest annual report, which concluded that "a climate of fear and self-censorship discouraged Singaporeans from fully participating in public affairs".

With regard to the second pillar, the bizarre system of Group Representative Constituencies (GRC), in which the party that wins the most votes in a single constituency sees their whole slate of candidates elected, remains intact despite some minor tweaking.

Although officially intended to ensure that ethnic minority (i.e. non-Chinese) MPs are elected, the GRC system provides a massive boost to the PAP as the embattled opposition parties cannot risk losing five or six of their best candidates in a single battle where the odds are tilted heavily against them.

While the reforms do nothing to weaken the PAP's electoral position, they will further undermine the public credibility of the opposition, which has already been damaged by persistently negative government spin and a tendency for internecine warfare.

The election of "best-losers" – who are known officially as non-constituency MPs (NCMPs) – began in 1984 and led to bitter divisions among opposition politicians, who differed about whether it was better to feed off the PAP's crumbs or take a principled stand and turn down the opportunity to gain a rare seat in Parliament.

The proposed expansion of the NCMP scheme will only deepen the tensions between Singapore's handful of opposition politicians, who are damned if they do and damned if they don't. Accept the NCMP scheme and some activists will criticize them for being unprincipled, self-aggrandizing lackeys. Reject it and the government can once again paint the opposition as irrelevant, ungrateful and uninterested in the real machinery of democracy.

Sylvia Lim, an existing NCMP from the Workers' Party, has welcomed the latest reforms cautiously while others in her party remain opposed to them as do competing opposition groups such as Chee Soon Juan's Singapore Democratic Party.

Opponents point out that NCMPs are second-class representatives, without the right to vote on amendments to the constitution, motions of no confidence or issues relating to public funds. Devoid of a physical constituency, it is also extremely difficult for NCMPs and their parties to build the support bases that they will need if they are to be anything more than isolated voices singing in the wind.

Those who reject the scheme also insist that the government guarantee of nine opposition MPs in Parliament will only add to the PAP conceit that there's no point in voting for the opposition.

Singapore's voters are habitually threatened by the PAP that upgrading projects for their shabby housing estates and other manifestations of government largesse are solely dependent on their support for the ruling party in general elections. The opposition, by contrast, can make no such promises or threats.

With the presence of nine alternative parliamentary voices guaranteed, Singapore's cautious and brow-beaten electorate will have even less reason to cast their compulsory vote for anyone other than the PAP.

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Obama's China policy takes shape

Jun 9, 2009

Obama's China policy takes shape
By Jing-dong Yuan

MONTEREY, California - United States Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner ended his China trip last week on a positive note. His visit, which came on the heels of House speaker Nancy Pelosi and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit in February, said a great deal about change and continuity in the Barack Obama administration's China policy.

A call for change was a hallmark of Obama's presidential campaign, but as president, and on China, his administration's handling of America's most important bilateral relationship has been marked by continuity. Engagement rather than confrontation captures of the essence of the approach and will guide Washington in developing "positive, cooperative and comprehensive" ties with Beijing.

The core initiatives of the bilateral dialogues and consultations launched during the second term of the George W Bush administration - the Senior Dialogue and the Strategic Economic Dialogue - have been kept and elevated to a higher level. The US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, as it is now called, will be headed by secretaries Clinton and Geithner on the US side, and Vice Premier Wang Qishan and State Councilor Dai Bingguo on the Chinese side. The first meeting of this high-level dialogue will take place in Washington, DC in the last week of July.

But changes are also taking place. These are both in substance and in style. Gone are the days when US officials would lecture their Chinese counterparts on issues ranging from currency exchange rates to financial reforms in China. These days, discussions focus more on how, as the world's first- and third-largest economies accounting for combined global energy imports of over 50% and greenhouse emissions of over 30%, the US and China can work together to address the many challenges facing the world.

The Obama administration has emphasized common interests more than differences in its China policy. "We are all in this together" seems to have become a mantra of US officials from Pelosi to Geithner. Clean energy, climate change and economic stimulus, not human rights and currency manipulation, now top Washington's China policy agenda.

There are good reasons for this shift in focus. The Obama administration has inherited perhaps the most severe economic crisis since the global recession of the 1930s. Dealing with growing unemployment, and massive deficit spending, the administration will need to closely coordinate its economic recovery policy with other major international powers, particularly China.

Major adjustments in economic policies are called for, not only to weather the current crisis, but also to lay solid foundations for sustainable growth. For the US, this means it can no longer spend beyond its means. For China, this requires a shift from export-oriented towards a domestic consumption-based economy. It will not be easy for either country.

China's phenomenal economic growth over the past two decades has been sustained by an external market able to absorb its products. This dependence on exports has already cost the country over 20 million lost jobs due to falling demand for Chinese-made goods caused by the financial crisis. Beijing has responded by injecting over US$600 billion in stimulus spending, but this is yet to have had significant impact.

Given the inadequacy of the country's social safety net, the potential of its domestic consumer base remains limited, making the shift from exports to domestic consumption all the more difficult. Introducing and improving retirement pensions, public health care, and access to credit would enable Chinese households to spend more and save less.

But the onus is equally on the US side to undertake serious reform, including the restoration of its fiscal order through a more balanced mix of resources and expenditure. Out-of-control spending and growing deficits have already worried Beijing as it contemplates the security of its huge holding of US debts, including $768 billion in Treasury securities. Chinese officials from Premier Wen Jiabao to central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan have in recent months have expressed serious concerns over the debt.

Beijing has every incentive to reduce the risk of this overexposure to the greenback, but it is unlikely that America's largest creditor is going to pull the plug any time soon. The collateral damage of such a drastic move would be extremely high and China continues to rely on US markets and the value of US dollars to minimize further job loss and devaluation of its assets.

Economic issues aside, Beijing and Washington also share important common interests in dealing with issues ranging from the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to growing international maritime piracy. China and the US have cooperated to address the North Korean and Iranian nuclear issues and increasingly the Obama administration is soliciting Chinese assistance for the conflicts in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Unlike its immediate predecessors, the Obama administration begins its term anchored in a positive and cooperative relationship with China. But that does not mean differences do not exist or should be brushed aside. Frictions are bound to arise and disputes will be part of their interactions.

Dr Jing-dong Yuan is director of East Asia Non-proliferation Program at the James Martin Center for Non-proliferation Studies, and an associate professor of International Policy Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies.

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$1.1b narrows income gap

June 8, 2009

$1.1b narrows income gap

New report lists schemes which helped low-wage earners in last 3 years

By Sue-Ann Chia, Senior Political Correspondent
		Low-wage workers' economic improvement was given in a government report that credited their 'significant progress' to aid initiatives tailored for them. -- PHOTO: THE NEW PAPER

SINGAPORE'S low-wage workers received more than $1.1 billion in government aid in the last three years, a boost that helped narrow the income gap last year for the first time in a decade. As a result, at least 60,000 of them were no longer in the bottom 20 per cent of wage earners making $1,200 or less a month.

This picture of the economic improvement of low-wage workers between 2006 and last year was given on Sunday in a government report that credited their 'significant progress' to aid initiatives tailored for them. The centrepiece in the array of aid is Workfare, the income supplement scheme which gives low-wage workers an average of $1,000 a year.

It made up the bulk of government aid with nearly $840 million distributed to low-income earners between 2006 and last year. The rest of the relief ranged from housing grants to training and education subsidies. The total payout of more than $1.1 billion is higher than the initial estimate of $800,000 to $1 billion, said the report released by the ministerial committee on low-wage workers.

Yesterday, the committee released a 60-page progress report which found that these workers 'have come a long way' since 2006.

One, wages have risen from $1,200 a month to $1,310 in 2008 for the bottom 20 per cent of full-time resident workers.

Two, the pool of residents earning $1,200 or less a month has shrunk from 360,000 to fewer than 300,000.

Three, the household income of families living in three-room or smaller HDB flats has risen by about $300 a month - from $1,910 to $2,200. Even with inflation, the increase is 3.5 per cent a year.

Four, more people are working, especially in families that live in smaller flats.

Commenting on the report on Sunday, Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong said: 'It shows many of our programmes have been effective in helping low-wage workers improve themselves.'

But Mr Gan, part of the eight-member committee led by Education Minister Ng Eng Hen, added that it is work in progress. 'There is still a lot more to do, and we will continue to see how we can enhance (their) competitiveness through training,' he told reporters after a community event.

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Chinese Bank Wants U.S. Bonds Issued in Yuan

Top Chinese banker Guo Shuqing calls for wider use of yuan

The head of China's second-largest bank has said the United States government should start issuing bonds in yuan, rather than dollars, in the latest indication of the increasing importance of the Chinese currency.

By Malcolm Moore in Shanghai
Published: 5:38AM BST 08 Jun 2009

Zhou Xiaochuan, head of the People's Bank of China, has published a personal paper proposing to replace the dollar as the international reserve currency.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner delivers his speech at the National School of Development of Beijing University on June 1, 2009.
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner delivers his speech at the National School of Development of Beijing University on June 1, 2009.

Guo Shuqing, the chairman of state-controlled China Construction Bank (CCB), also said he is exploring the possibility of issuing loans to trading companies in yuan, allowing Chinese and foreign companies to settle their bills in yuan rather than in dollars.

Mr Guo said the issuing of yuan bonds in Hong Kong and Shanghai would help to develop the debt markets in China and promote the yuan as a major international currency.

It was the first time the head of a major Chinese bank has called for the wider use of the yuan, although a chorus of senior government officials have already voiced their concerns about the stability of the dollar and have said the yuan should be used more widely.

"I think the US government and the World Bank can consider the issuing of renminbi bonds," he said, asking for a "mutual cooperation" between the US and China to promote Chinese financial services. He said bond issuance could be relatively small, at between 1bn and 3bn yuan (£100m to £300m).

HSBC and Standard Chartered have both said they are preparing to issue bonds denominated in yuan.

Mr Guo is a former head of China's foreign-exchange administration, which manages the country's $1.9 trillion foreign exchange reserves. He said he was confident the yuan would become a major currency in the medium-to-long term.

Two months ago, before the G20 meeting in London, Zhou Xiaochuan, the head of the People's Bank of China, the central bank, published a personal paper proposing to replace the dollar as the international reserve currency. His call came after Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier, asked the US to guarantee the safety of China's huge pile of US debt.

In April, the Chinese government said traders in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Dongguan, Hong Kong, Macau, Yunan and Guangxi could start to settle their bills in yuan, rather than dollars, paving the way for the currency to become more fully convertible.

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