It is very seductive, but yield not to temptation

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Monday, 17 May 2010

Singapore Democrats

The PAP and its supporters often mock democracies and point out how cumbersome the system is in getting legislation passed. Singapore, they say, suffers no such malaise. The ruling party here governs with efficiency without any obstruction from the opposition.

Of course, the good people at the PAP won't tell you that recently in the US, Congress passed a piece of legislation that hits close to home and should make us pay attention. Sadly, however, it will escape most Singaporeans.

It has to do with the US Federal Reserve, America's central bank. Hitherto, the US Government had no control over what happened to the money under the control of the Fed (yes, it surprised many Americans too).

When the Obama administration released US$2.2 trillion dollars as part of the bailout package to be administered through the Fed in 2009, the US Senate Budget Committee felt it was its responsibility to find out from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke how much money was used for what and by whom?

The chairman's response? It's really none of the Senate's business.

And he is right. There's no legal provision to compel the Reserve to disclose its accounts. No audit, no statement of accounts, no nothing.

Duly enraged an Independent Senator from Vermont, Mr Bernie Sanders, introduced legislation to audit the Fed and that would require it to report its dealings to Congress.

Mr Sanders said in an interview on CNN: "The Fed has lent out over two trillion dollars and it doesn't want to let the America people know who's received that money...most Americans don't know what goes on in the Fed...because they operate in virtual secrecy."

Mr Sanders' amendment passed 96-0 in the Senate. There was not a single oppositional nay-vote - and it's not because America is a one-party state.

Watch Mr Sanders' interview here. A must-watch video.

Now, let's talk about efficient-because-we-don't-have-opposition Singapore. The GIC and Temasek Holdings, like the US Federal Reserve, don't tell the Singapore people how much money they sit on and how the money is used. We have no say in where our tax and CPF monies go to.

In 2008 both organisations - one headed by Mr Lee Kuan Yew and the other by his daughter-in-law - lost a total of $140 billion in failed investments. There was no inquiry, no public accounting of the investments, and no one was held accountable for the debacle. It was as if nothing happened. Both Mr Lee and Ms Ho are still running the GIC and Temasek.

But unlike the US we don't have a democratic system where lawmakers can challenge the status quo and change the way things are run. We are unable to introduce a law that would audit the GIC and Temasek. We only hear and see what the PAP wants us to hear and see.

Yes, democracy as practiced in the US and elsewhere may slow down the decision-making process. Debates and contestation of ideas can sometimes hold up a policy and is implementation.

But it also means that the ruling party's motives and plans are thoroughly scrutinised. Such checks-and-balance means that the interests of the people come first, not the ruling elite's. Most important, it means that the people have control over the country's affairs and the direction it is headed.

Moving speedily in a posh and suped-up race car sure beats driving a lumbering and heavy tank. But it won't be much fun when you are headed towards the edge of a cliff and you find that the brakes aren't working and steering wheel has been removed.

Don't be seduced.

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Comments (7)

Mon 17 May 2010 8:47 AM | Tan Tai Wei

The textbook answer to this "temptation" is "more haste" might just turn out to be "less speed".

Speedy, unobstructed deciding and acting leads to speedy disaster, should decisions be wrong. And there can be no guarantee of right deciding. Even the wisest can fall, and there are always the imponderables, and human knowledge is always finite.

The best protection is to take answers that have survived the widest and most "confrontational" scrutiny.

"Non-confrontational" deciding assumes infallibility of decisions, which is false to the human situation and unrealistic.

It is standard propaganda of distators!

Mon 17 May 2010 9:04 AM | Buwakasha - This is what SDP should focus on.

Thank you SDP for brining this up. Finally, pointing out the real reason behind the rising cost of living in Singapore. This (monetary inflation) is the true reason why prices increase for food, energy, rental, housing, healthcare, education, etc.

Mon 17 May 2010 11:01 AM | stevewu77 - Transparency and Accountability Now

Ron Paul in the US House of Representative would have liked a stronger language. However, this is still a good development for the US citizenry which is indebted to the tune of US$12 trillion. One cannot fix a problem which is not even acknowledged.

Coming back to Singapore, many observations about the US Federal Reserve apply to our government agencies. For a start, the People must demand a complete and transparent audit of the GIC, Temasek Holdings and MND Holdings, together with MAS, the CPF Board, SLA, HDB, URA and JTC.

Besides the massive investment losses at GIC and Temasek Holdings recently, the losses accumulated over the years have not not been less spectacular, e.g. the losses in the early years of the Suzhou Industrial Park Project.

Mon 17 May 2010 11:25 AM | F C D Chan - Stemming the tide of emigration

Issues that one feels ashame to disclose to the world are often shrouded in secrecy. What are we ashame of? Are those in charge afraid that they will lose the support of the people once the books are audited?

If the politicians who are currently in power want to promote an inclusive society, they should perhaps lead by example. An excellent way is to allow the books to be audited. Just imagine the frenzy this would create among the people! The disclosure will promote participation from the people as we all have different ideas and opinions about how we should best invest our resources; and this would inevitably lead to a better sense of belonging thus stemming the tide of emigration.

Mon 17 May 2010 1:58 PM | orange

Don't take the carrot that they dangle just before the elections.

It is a sure way to suffer more such as 133% GST increase, inflation caused by the GST hike, unaffordable HDBs. What is a $300 workfare bonus compared to all these sh*t they throw at singaporeans in between elections?

Tue 18 May 2010 9:06 AM | maxchew - Easily passed 2-is-enough/bilingualism?

Yes indeed......no doubt many decisions of the PAP Govt speedily passed turn out to be right/correct but what about:
1 Two is enough policy
2 Bi-lingualism policy
3 Absolute power/secrecy over GIC & Temasek
4 Humongous salaries for PAP leaders....$10k per day?

LKY has already admitted too hasty decision on 1 & 2 as no one in Parliament (that means PAP MPs only) disputed him. Turns out he's not infallible after all.
But he's still stubborn on 4 and 5 and will regret it one day if he's still alive and kicking...

Tue 18 May 2010 8:57 PM | big_yaawn - Other successes

World Cup 2010 turned into cable battle 2010
SQ dropped rankings Airport dropped rankings
Don't buy branded bread (aka 'Let Them Have Cake' Singapore style)
MBS example of how efficient the Singapore system is