Air-Conditioned Nation Revisited: Essays on Singapore Politics

Preface

THE SINGAPORE MODEL
1. The Air-Conditioned Nation
Lee Kuan Yew and the politics of comfort and control.
2. Defending the “Asian” way
The West’s export of liberal democracy met with stiff resistance.
3. The art of calibrated coercion
The state has grown in power by moderating its use of force.
4. An allergy to democracy
A phobia about the D-word is a mental block in our national conversations.

PALACE INTRIGUES
5. New Guard, new shoes
Goh Chok Tong kept faith with PAP fundamentals but in his own style.
6. The Post-LKY challenge
Beyond searching for worthy successors, Singapore needs stronger institutions.
7. Letting go of Lee Kuan Yew
The patriarch isn’t to blame if Singapore doesn’t want to grow up.
8. A Presidential Pandora’s Box
Designed for stability, the elected Presidency produced surprising results.
9. Fixing the presidential race
To manage the race for president, the government fixed the race of the president.
10. Oxley Road reverberations
The Lee family feud tested Singapore’s unique establishment unity.
11. 4G and the 2 Shans
Singapore’s fourth prime minister faces challenges not unlike Goh Chok Tong’s.

ELECTORAL POLITICS
12. Opposing a dominant party
Singaporeans want the opposition to check the PAP, not bury it.
13. How Chiam left his Party
The Singapore Democratic Party’s growth spurt was more than its founder could handle.
14. Chee’s collision course
Chee Soon Juan’s confrontational activism produced mixed results.
15. Low’s gift to the nation
Low Thia Khiang’s success as an opposition leader may bring out the best in the PAP.
16. The spectre of freak elections
Elites underestimate the sophistication and level-headedness of the electorate.

UPGRADING THE PAP
17. Next, air-conditioned underwear?
The alternative to central control shouldn’t be privatised lives.
18. Reviving the people sector
Despite the risks, Singaporeans have been trying to reanimate civil society.
19. The PAP I can get behind
I can imagine becoming a PAP fan if its leaders can imagine reforms.
20. Future-proofing the PAP
Internal reform needs future leaders as bold as the Old Guard.
21. The dogma behind Pofma
The new online falsehoods law hints at what we can expect from 4G.

CONTROLLING THE MESSAGE
22. Freedom from the press
The media system ensures that journalists won’t get in the government’s way.
23. Why the press fails to impress
The media are free to earn profits, but not popular support.
24. An emerging dot-community
The arrival of the world wide web offered new hope for democratic participation.
25. The web’s missing link
Our vibrant internet space still lacks independent journalism.

NATIONAL IDENTITY
26. Accidental citizenship
It’s time we cultivated deeper appreciation for our diversity.
27. Neglected nationhood
Creating a “Singaporean Singapore” can’t be forced, nor left to chance.
28. The marooned merlion
Singapore gets East to meet West, and lets West beat East.
29. Guarding the Chinese ground
Being more Chinese than the ruling party is a risky political position.
30. Justice and equality
There’s more to handling race and religion than avoiding riots.
31. Creeping xenophobia
Anti-immigrant sentiment has whipped up paranoid delusions.

DISCIPLINING DISSENT
32. Testing the OB markers
The Catherine Lim Affair clarified what’s out of bounds. Sort of.
33. Clearing the fog of fear
If the rules are here to stay, they should at least be clarified.
34. Winter is here
Since the 2011 general election, a chill has descended on the political landscape.
35. Experiential learning
My stint in a Singapore university gave me a personal tutorial in how the system works.
36. Voices of conscience
Activists can help society predict the injustices that will one day haunt us.
37. Singapore, Incomplete
Our treatment of history’s losers leaves a hole in the nation’s soul.

Acknowledgements