Telling The Same Story Of Human Drives And Conflict In a recent talk, on August 27 2013, Catherine Lim talked about her three different roles—as political commentator, fiction writer and ardent feminist—and concludes that in whatever role, she is telling the same story of power and conflict, coping and resolution -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am not sure that I understand what is happening during this obviously critical transition after the watershed general election of 2011. I can’t see any clear leadership direction, and I am puzzled by the mixed, even contradictory signals coming from the PAP leaders. The only thing that I can talk about with any certainty is that I’ve never seen the PAP in greater disarray—a far cry from their usual stance of cool, unshakeable self-confidence and lofty superiority. So what is happening after an election that the PAP leaders themselves had acknowledged as transformative, that Mr Goh Chok Tong had called a sea change, meaning that things will never again be the same? Let me share some of my thoughts with you as a longtime observer of the Singapore political scene. Following the results of GE2011, I was elated, euphoric. The incurable idealist in me thought, ‘Ah, at long last we’re going to have the political opening up that I’ve urged for so long!’ For the leaders, immediately after the election had thrown themselves into a most amazing frenzy of contrition and conciliation, virtually falling over each other to say sorry to the people, to promise change, to promise to listen more, etc. Surely, I thought, they would now be in the right mood to lift those oppressive curbs and restraints in the political domain and give Singaporeans, at long last, the fundamental civic rights that are taken for granted in other practising democracies?
Posted on: Sun, 01 Sep 2013 02:26:46 +0000
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