Singapore Democrats
Yahoo! News recently asked political parties in Singapore what their wishes were for the New Year. The Singapore Democrats responded that wishes carry the connotation of helplessness where we have no control over events that we want to see happen.
This is especially prevalent in the Singapore context where people have little say in the political process and, as a consequence, resort to wishful thinking when it comes to political outcomes.
We often fail to see that, as a people, we have much power and control over our own destiny. But we must first rid ourselves of the psychological wheelchair that we have been placed in, the thinking that without the PAP Singapore will not progress. We must jettison this mindset and believe that our success depends on the people, not the PAP.
One of the most important factors that will determine whether we succeed or fail as a nation is democracy. Without a democratic system social, economic and political inequality will widen which will tear our society asunder.
We must, therefore, set goals and work hard and work smart to achieve them, rather than make wishes. To this end, the SDP would like to see three things happen in 2012 and will continue to work towards them:
Goal #1: That the Judiciary acknowledges that peaceful assembly and freedom of speech are fundamental rights enshrined in our Constitution and take steps to remedy the violations of these rights by the PAP. It is only with these rights that Singapore can be a functioning democracy operating under the rule of law.
Goal #2: That the Newspaper Printing and Presses Act be repealed and in its place enact a law that prohibits the control of the media by the state or ruling party. Without a free media, information will always be controlled and manipulated by those in power and the people will not be able to make informed choices during elections.
Goal #3: That the SDP achieves even greater competence in what we do in terms of our laying out our vision for the nation and proposing sound and workable alternative policies. This will help us continue our trajectory to becoming a credible alternative to the PAP.