CanPAPPragmaticismArresttheDeficitPublicTrust?

IsthemagicofPAPpragmatismaseffectiveasbefore?

Hasthesocialdividebecomedeficitpublictrust?

Toanswerthesequestions,wewillhavetolookatthe
historyoftime.Comparing20or30yearsago,howdowe
seepragmatisminSingaporeandhowtrustworthydo
SingaporeansseethePAPgovernment?

The50yearneverchangePeople'sActionPartywill
certainlyclaimthatSingaporeansareverypragmaticand
oncethePAPcallsorremindsSingaporeanstobe
pragmaticorfacetheconsequenceofvotingoutthePAP,
majorityofvoterswillcontinuetogivethe
governmentshiptothePAP.So,themagicofpragmaticism
isaseffectiveasbefore.

Similarly,thepublictrustbetweenpeopleand
governmenteventhoughthereisagap,likethe
richpoorgap,itwillstillbemanageableandwill
neverturnintoadeficit,acrisis.Singaporeansstill
obeythelaw,continuetopaytaxanddoNational
Serviceandfurthermore,parentsstillfightveryhard
forPrimaryoneregistration.Howcanpublictrustbean
issuewhenthingsarefunctioninglikebefore.

Onlywhenwedoacomparisonbetween1980s,1990sand
2010s,wethenrealisehowdifferentitcouldbe:

Pragmaticism

Public
Trust

1980s,
1990s

Effective

High

2010s

Ineffective

Low

20,30yearsago,therewasnosocialmedia.Mainstream
mediaiscontrolledbythegovernment.WhentheMSMsays
pragmaticismiseffective,noonecanargueandgives
alternativeviews.WhenGohChokTonggivesapromiseof
Swissstandardofliving,Singaporeansalso
pragmaticallythinkthereisahopeandvoteforthe
PAP.WhenMahBowTanpromisesahopeofWorldCup,
Singaporeansalsocheerpragmaticallyforsuchadream.
Weknowcasinosarebadbutpragmaticallywealsoaccept
withoutareferendum.Almostallmajordecisionsare
passedpragmaticallywithoutfulldebates.

Nowallthesedreamsandpromisesarebroken.Canthe
callforpragmaticismstillattractpeopleandcanit
continuestobeaseffectiveasbefore?

PAPsayswemustbepragmaticsothatourincomecan
growandjobswillbesecured.Nodoubt,ourincomeper
capitahasincreasedbutsodotheincomegap.ThePAP
pragmaticapproachcanonlybenefitsomepeople,notall
people.PMLeegoesevenfurthertosuggestthedangers
of'pleasealleconomics'#1.PAP'spragmaticapproachis
topleasesomepeople,eitherlocalorforeign.
'Pleaseall'infactinthePAP'sdefinitionisequalto
welfarismwherenoonewantstoworkhardasthereare
generoussocialbenefits.DoSingaporeanspragmatically
thinkinthisway?Dopeoplebuythisanalogy?

TheresultofPAPpragmaticismiswhatweseetoday:no
retirementforseniorcitizens,nowageincreaseforlow
incomeworkersforyears,nouniversityplacingfor
eligiblestudents,etc.....

Thediscussionofpragmatismandpublictrustinthe
pastwasatotalreflectionofthePAPversion.There
wereeitherunderreportedornoreportingof
ineffectivePAPpragmatismintheMSM.Soitcreateda
falseimpressionthatPAPpragmatismwasgood,was
effectiveforcountry'sbuildingandweallpretended
andassumedthattherewasnoissueofpublictrust.We
trustedthepress,webelievedinPAPversionof
pragmaticismandweevenprotectedthepragmatismand
publictrustbydenouncingallthoseopposedthe
pragmatismandpeoplequestionedaboutthesocialdivide
andpublictrust.

Today,weseemorediscussions,criticismandattackson
thePAPpragmatismandpublictrust.ThePAPdefendsit
bysayingdiscussions,criticismsandevenattacksare
notindicationsofineffectivePAPpragmaticismor
deficitpublictrust.ThePAPisnowmoreopento
discussions,wehaveSGConversation,wehaveMediShield
forall,andthePAPeventurnstodemocraticsocialism.
ThePAPischangingandispragmaticasbeforeandthere
isnoproblemofgainingpeople'ssupportsandtrust.

Ifyoubuythisargument,thenyoumaydrawyour
conclusionbelow:

[Inhisarticle,MrMukherjeealsoexpressedconfidence
that"forallthegrumbling,themajorityof
Singaporeansaretoopragmatictooptforunbridled
welfarismatthenextelections".

ThePrimeMinister,inhispost,concluded:"Wemust
makesurethatheisright."]#1

However,pragmatismandpublictrustreallygobeyond
welfarismandPMLee'srightway.Itissocomplicated
anditinvolvessocialjustice,transparency,
accountability,pressfreedom,andmanyunexpected
things.Wewillhavetolookatthepeereffect,the
threshold(nottradeoff)andmanyotheruncertainties.

#1
http://www.singapolitics.sg/news/dangerspleasealleconomicsrealpmlee

Note:

Pragmaticismorpragmatism,herewerefertoPAPversion
ofpragmaticapproachorthinking.