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The Leviathan Prunes the Banyan Tree Calibrated

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The Leviathan Prunes the Banyan Tree Calibrated CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by ScholarBank@NUS THE LEVIATHAN PRUNES THE BANYAN TREE CALIBRATED LIBERALISATION AND THE SPECTRUM OF CONTROL IN SINGAPORE PRAVIN PRAKASH (B. Soc. Sci. (Hons), NUS) A THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SOCIAL SCIENCES THE DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 2015 ii iii I am often accused of interfering in the private lives of citizens. Yes, if I did not, had I not done that, we wouldn't be here today. And I say without the slightest remorse, that we wouldn't be here, we would not have made economic progress, if we had not intervened on very personal matters - who your neighbour is, how you live, the noise you make, how you spit, or what language you use. We decide what is right. Never mind what the people think. Lee Kuan Yew (1986) The First Law of Singapore Politics: The government abhors a political vacuum. It wants to fill every space and control every agenda. The Second Law of Singapore Politics: Every action by citizens invites an unequal and opposite reaction by government. Cherian George (2000) The Air-Conditioned Nation iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, this paper is dedicated and largely credited to the belief and faith that my Mother has always had in me. No achievement of mine is ever possible without acknowledging your immeasurable contribution. I also must thank my Father for always pushing me to do better and having faith that I would always be able to do so. This would never have been possible without your silent love. To my Grandmothers to whom I have dedicated this paper as well, I owe the unpayable debt of unconditional love. To my Grandfathers, thank you for creating within me the thirst of knowledge. I consider you both the foremost of my gurus. To my brothers, Ashwin and Navin for always making me feel like this would be like second nature to me if I applied myself. Thank you for all the support. And Food. To Aishwarya, who has been a source of strength and the love of my life, thank you. To my Supervisor and friend, Professor Luke O'Sullivan, for all your support and patience. Thanks for sticking with me through all the tough times and keeping faith with me. Your guidance has meant as much as your friendship and I really appreciate everything you have done for me. My sincere thanks and gratitude to Vandana Prakash Nair for all her input, suggestions, edits and support. This would have been impossible without you. Much thanks to Irna Nurlina, for all your support. This would have been a really rough ride without my bro. I am in your debt. I am indebted to Ms Noor Sham binte Abdul Hamid from the Political Science department for all the opportunities, counsel and guidance you offered me on my journey and for always keeping your door open for me. This would have been impossible without you. To Angeline Koh from the Political Science department for being a friend and just an amazing administrator. All your help and advice will never be forgotten. To Arivinthan and Rethinavel for the great company and support and the hours spent keeping me company just to make sure I kept going. A big thank you to my cousin Shona. Your support and help was invaluable To Hamoon Khelghat-Doost, who is great counsel, amazing company and an amazing friend. I am also indebted to Associate Professors Kenneth Paul Tan, Eugene Tan, Cherian George and Elvin Lim for taking time to speak with me about my research and indicating willingness to help whenever required. v To Associate Professor Bilveer Singh and Associate Professor Reuben Wong, thank you for all the guidance and support. Working under the both of you as a tutor got me passionate about Singapore politics. You are both great mentors. To Professor Karen Winzoski, you are incredibly missed. Thank you for always believing in me and putting your faith in me. NUS wasn’t the same without you. My sincere thanks to P.N Balji for your friendship and for sharing your invaluable experience on issues. You truly are a legend. Much gratitude to Mr. Arun Mahizhnan for sharing all your insights and for being a guide and mentor. To Walid, thanks for all the advice and guidance and for being a great example to all other graduate students. To Kokila Annamalai, without whom my interviews would have been an impossibility. Thank you so much. You truly are a godsend. To my friends Jayvarman, Jegan, Rangini, Usha, Sekar, Karthigayan and Kanchana, thank you for all the conversations, advice and support. Last and definitely not least, my uncles and aunties for all your love and support. To my Elaichan, thank you so much for all the memories. Losing you was hard. This dissertation is in homage to your memory. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Page i Declaration Page iii Acknowledgements v Abstract ix List of Figures x Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Chapter 2: Literature Review 10 Chapter 3: Theory and Framework 30 Chapter 4: The NLB Saga: Of Penguins, Books and Rights 62 Chapter 5: Thaipusam 2015: Of Drums, Laws and Privilege 77 Chapter 6: CPF Protests: Of Defamation Suits and Marching Routes 96 Chapter 7: Conclusion 112 Bibliography 117 Appendix A: List of Interviewees 139 vii viii ABSTRACT This dissertation aims to investigate and analyse the strategies of control employed by the Leviathan in Singapore. It thus asks two broad research questions. Firstly, how does one explain and conceptualize the seemingly inconsistent, hybrid nature of the state’s strategy towards political control which often seems contradictory and paradoxical? Secondly, it asks how one can explicate the state’s approach towards the protest movements that have mushroomed and become more commonplace in Singapore since 2011? The aim of this research is to show that explanations in the literature are insufficient in helping us understand the shifting and expanding approaches towards political control that the state in Singapore is adopting. While the literature has correctly articulated that there exists a ‘calibrated’ approach to coercion and co-optation as primary strategies of control, any attempt to understand the politics of control in Singapore is incomplete without understanding how the state calibrates liberalization as a third primary strategy of control. This dissertation contends that a more nuanced and comprehensive understanding of the Leviathan’s hegemony must include an understanding of its spectrum of approaches towards political control, which this study terms the spectrum of control. I argue that using such a framework allows us to understand the varied and calibrated nature of PAP’s approach. I also add to the spectrum by offering a new theory of calibrated liberalization which I contend is used in tandem with other approaches of coercion and co-optation. Using the case studies of three protest movements, namely the Central Provident Fund (CPF) protests in 2014, the National Library Board (NLB) saga in 2014, and the furore over the Thaipusam Festival in 2015, this comparative study thus focuses on theory development, using detailed case studies to examine the shift in government strategies of control. This study is important because it contributes to the understanding that hybrid regimes with authoritarian features can expand their strategies of control, particularly by liberalizing in a calibrated and nuanced fashion. It offers a new framework to understand how strategies are calibrated to deal with new challenges and plugs the current gap in literature that fails to perceive liberalization as a means of extending control. ix List of Figures Figure 1: Spectrum of Control 58 Figure 2: Spectrum of Control (Expanded) 59 Figure 3: Table for all 3 Protests 60 Figure 4: Letter From NLB to Teo Kai Loon 62 Figure 5: Free my Library Penguin Logo 68 Figure 6: Table for NLB Protest 76 Figure 7: Singapore Police Force Facebook post on Arrests during 79 Thaipusam 2015 Figure 8: Table for Thaipusam Protest 95 Figure 9: Political Cartoon on CPF 97 Figure 10: Table for CPF Protest 111 x Chapter 1 Introduction This dissertation is a contribution to the literature on the politics of control in authoritarian regimes. It aims to study the state’s strategies of control towards protest movements in the case of Singapore. In particular, it aims to offer a better understanding of how these strategies of control have evolved in Singapore in the period since 2011 in particular, when a landmark election forced the government into a period of introspection about the state of politics and governance in Singapore. In a landmark speech in 1991, then-Minister George Yeo articulated the deficiencies of a highly pervasive state and the need for greater space for non- government participation in nation building: The problem now is that under the banyan tree very little else can grow. When state institutions are too pervasive, civic institutions cannot thrive. It's necessary to prune the banyan trees so other plants can grow…we cannot do without the banyan tree. Singapore will always need a strong centre…we need some pluralism but not too much because too much will also destroy us. In other words, we prune judiciously.1 The notion of a banyan tree being pruned by a ‘liberalising state’ has been a mainstay in discussions on Singapore politics since the late 1980s, as the state transitioned from Lee Kuan Yew to Goh Chok Tong as Prime Minister, who made similar declarations of a liberalising People’s Action Party (PAP) regime. However, Rodan (2009) noted that any attempt at liberalising under Goh 1 George Yeo, “Civic Society- Between the Family and the State” (speech, NUSS Society Inaugural Lecture in Singapore, June 20, 1991).
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