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52 Mr. Chiam See Tong Is an Icon of Opposition in Singapore. He Is The

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52 Mr. Chiam See Tong Is an Icon of Opposition in Singapore. He Is The Mr. Chiam See Tong is an icon of opposition in Singapore. He is the Member of Parliament for Potong Pasir for the last 22 years, and faces an uphill challenge this time round, after SM Goh Chok Tong has been assigned to win back opposition wards for PAP. Recently, he addressed NUS students and won cheers (if not their hearts and minds) at the Forum on Singapore’s General Elections. Salman J. Nawaz and Darryl Leong met the charismatic MP in Pasir Ris and asked him a few questions. The Ridge: What made you run against PAP three decades ago? MP Chiam: I think to serve the country one must have a heart; one must have good philosophy, no doubt of course we have to provide for the people, a roof over their head, clothes to wear, food to eat, and a good transportation system, but I think more importantly we must care, the caring aspect is very important. I think the PAP stresses too much on materialism, and it doesn’t really go all out to help, and it is really the fringe people who are suffering. What do you think is the role of opposition? I think the main role of the opposition is like the ruling party. We are also playing a role in nation- building. We want to build Singapore, and we are not here to destroy or to do harm to Singapore. We want Singapore to progress and to become more prosperous. And of course by checking the PAP and pointing out their mistakes, […] we can make Singapore even richer than what it already is. A good example is that we advocated entrepreneurship, more freedom; let the people do the things themselves, rather than control them. Now with the stress on a knowledge-based economy, I think that if the PAP had allowed people to do things for themselves [from the beginning], rather than always doing things for them, I think Singapore would be in a better place to embark on a knowledge- based economy. In the last 20 years, we’ve seen a downsizing of the opposition, from reducing the number of seats contested, to the number of opposition MPs in parliament, to valid votes obtained. Why is this so? Well, because the PAP always had very strict policies towards people who dissent and I think it is a question of the situation in Singapore (whether there is an environment for an opposition). But the PAP doesn’t believe in the role of an opposition in Singapore. And so it maintains very strict rules. Like, for example, the ISA is still there, and all the big rules about applications, about all the things that the opposition wants to do. […] I am the MP [of] Potong Pasir, [but] I am not able to make a speech in my own constituency, until we complained and protested, and they [finally] gave in. So this is what I mean by restricting the opposition. What is preventing the chances of opposition? Well, the PAP itself has built the whole structure of Singapore and it can use the resources of the whole country for party use. For example, the PA [People’s Association] is a public department and yet you see the work of the PA is benefiting the PAP. The funds are of course public funds, and they are used for the benefit of the PAP, to promote the party interest. No doubt, it says that it is for the benefit of the public, but mostly it is for the emphasis on the PAP, and many people, even up to today, think that all the activities organised by the PA are organised by the PAP, which is not true! 52 Is the opposition not born for Singapore, or is Singapore not born for the opposition? Well, it’s so-called not born for Singapore because of the history of the PAP. You see, they started off having to fight with the communists and the left-wings and they were very successful in their tactics of suppressing elements in the party, so for them it’s almost a reflex action. Even now, they consider the opposition as their former enemies, just like the left-wing communists. They think we are like them. They want to crush any opposition to the PAP, and not only crush, they want to make sure they [won’t] come back to fight them. So the treatment of all the opponents to the PAP has been very harsh, but now the opposition is no longer the left-wingers and they do not have that policy. In fact, Lee Kuan Yew said that if he did not jail the left-wingers, the left- wingers would have jailed him and crushed him for good. I mean, the simple language [was] that, if I had not got them, they would have got me. But today, we are all civilised; we are not like that. We are not going to be like, “as soon as we get power, we are going to put the whole PAP group into jail”; no such thing. We are all civilised now, we have the law, everything goes by the law, and we have a constitution. So we are fighting for more freedom, for more people for more space, for the people to do things for themselves. Basically to give an alternative voice, so that people can see the different points of view, rather than only the PAP point of view. Can you be in opposition and be within the law as well? Of course! One of my biggest contributions to politics in Singapore is to show that any Singaporean can come out on his own, stand for election, get elected under the constitution, under the law, and then get re-elected and yet nothing happens to him. And, not only that, people who voted for him don’t get victimised. But, there are other politicians that have not done that, overstepped their “boundaries” and got sued and jailed. Rome was never built in a day. I think many people in the opposition want to get elected too fast. They think they can [take] a shortcut to get into parliament. So, they think by speaking out in a more controversial way, they can get noticed faster, people [will] admire them more, and vote them into parliament. But, I can tell you there is no shortcut. First of all, you can quietly serve amongst your friends or public. But, for me, fortunately, I got training and I went into teaching. So, I have got hundreds of students who know me already, especially because I taught in my [own] constituency […]. So, when I came out for elections, probably hundreds of people already [knew] me. And, of course, as a teacher I did my work properly so they appreciated me as a person, and so they [voted] for me if they [had] a chance. As a lawyer, I [helped] a lot of people, so people know me as an entity. So, you must establish some kind of reputation for yourself, a name for yourself. You cannot just come out of the blue with no public work and say ‘you, vote for me’. Why will residents vote for you? They will say “What you have done for me and for the public? Why should I vote for you?” Even after doing some good public work, you should say something reasonable, constructive, sincere, and good for the people and the country. If you talk sense, people will vote for you. What’s your view about the recent political forum at NUS? Well, it is very encouraging. I think that proves students are still interested in opposition and by the questions they asked, they have got a lot of insight into what’s happening in Singapore. And, I think it is [a] good omen for Singapore. Singaporean university students are not really that apathetic and many of them do think about politics in Singapore, but just for adjacencies, for their own careers, it is more prudent to keep ideas and thoughts to themselves and even if they discuss, they discuss with friends and people they know. Do you think the students are ‘scared’ to speak out? That’s completely not true. Unfortunately, there are people who, for their own interest or certain interest, go around spreading rumours that “hey, better be careful”. I mean if you live a life within the law nothing with happen. Many of my friends tell me “Chiam, if you get elected as an opposition, a policeman would be trailing you all the time behind you to catch you if you do something wrong”. By all means; I’ll be very happy if I get a free escort by police. We find that many students don’t know you well, your contribution to opposition and Singapore. So, do you plan to write a book, like what Steve Chia just did? I think writing a book is easy; but you must write a book with a purpose: whether you have a message, or a story to tell, something important that you want to pass on to some other people. I think of course why not, I think when the time comes, definitely, I would write a book. 53.
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