The Malaysian Insight

THE launch of a new political party has captured the imagination of Singapore’s opposition supporters who said it will revive a largely ineffective and lacklustre opposition ahead of a general election widely believed to be called within a year.

While the Progress Singapore Party’s message of addressing income disparity and high cost of living has resonated with many, many also admit that its strongest selling point is its 79-year-old leader, Dr Tan Cheng Bock.

Tan, who had served as a MP for the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) government for 26 years, retired from politics 13 years ago after building a reputation as a strongly independent politician with a track record of speaking up against his party.

Earlier this year, the medical doctor announced his plans to form the opposition PSP as a response to what he claimed was the straying of the ruling party from its original goals and ethos.

Tan’s return from political retirement to fight a deeply entrenched government he was once a part of has drawn unavoidable comparisons with another elderly Southeast Asian political veteran who shunned a quiet retirement.

The striking similarities between Malaysia’s 94-year-old Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tan are almost uncanny – both are elderly doctors with a strong and loyal following, both were once formidable players for the ruling government, and both led a charge against their former colleagues.

Adding to the spotlight on PSP is the repeated endorsement by Lee Hsien Yang, the estranged brother of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

During a speech at his party’s official launch over the weekend, Tan alluded to the people’s growing frustration over perceived inequality and rising cost of living in a country which boasts the highest gross domestic product per capita in the region, and one of the highest in the world.

“Beneath this façade, there is an underlying sense of fear,” he said in two separate sessions where some 1,000 supporters turned up in a hotel on Saturday afternoon.

A fear of an increasingly authoritarian government, uncertainty over their future and fears for the economy are some of the people’s main concerns which the government had failed to address, he said.

In an apparent response to those drawing parallels between him and Dr Mahathir, who led Pakatan Harapan in the biggest electoral upset in Malaysian history last year, Tan said his party is not seeking a revolution, but rather were “starting an evolution of change”.

“We need to make Singapore a home we can all be proud of again,” said a tearful Tan at the end of his speech.

Tan’s supporters say his re-entry into politics marks the welcome beginning of more aggressive and vibrant elections in Singapore, where walkovers due to a lack of contesting challengers to government candidates are common.

But analysts said the good doctor still has many challenges to overcome before he can be considered a force to be reckoned with.

Singapore Management University law lecturer Eugene Tan said the combination of the elderly Tan’s popularity, along with the backing of the prime minister’s brother, has created a buzz of excitement in a normally lacklustre political environment, but should not be mistaken as precursors to political success.

PSP’s biggest challenge would be in its ability to galvanise an otherwise fractious opposition, which currently holds only six out of 89 seats in parliament, said Tan.

Without a more cohesive opposition front to challenge PAP, the new party could only hope to win one seat in the looming polls, and not to spark the kind of political awakening it aspires for, he said.

Singapore’s 15th general election is not due until 2021, but is likely to be called well before then.

“It’s still very early days, and too soon to tell what kind of impact PSP would have on the overall opposition landscape,” Tan told The Malaysian Insight.

“Aside from that, the party remains too closely centred around the one personality of Tan Cheng Bock, and that could be its downfall.

“No matter how effective or popular he is, there is only one of him, and unless he finds and grooms a strong team, the reality is that its days are numbered.”

Others said Tan’s age will pose a challenge, saying that he could not possibly be planning to remain in politics long enough to build up a strong enough party.

Still, his supporters have dismissed his naysayers and say that for now, he is quite enough.

“If Dr Mahathir can still do this at 94, Tan can at 79,” said sales executive Irene Soo, who was present at Saturday’s launch with her husband.

“And if anyone can build a stronger opposition in Singapore, it’s him. Besides, look at what one man’s passion and experience did for Malaysia.” – August 5, 2019.