By Xin Ren

The last general election was a kind of a shock for me. Why was it that at a time when the economy was down, unemployment rate was climbing, the cost of living was escalating and terrorism was looming, the PAP was still able to secure a high 75 percent of the votes? It was indeed puzzling. Is it because our people have become politically more mature as claimed by the PAP?

I pondered on this and came to the conclusion that the PAP's usual tactic of carrot and stick has done the trick. Carrots such as the new Singapore shares, HDB upgrading programme and the recovery of the economy were there; scare tactics such as the claim that the economy would collapse if the PAP was not returned to power was used. These were the real factors contributing to the PAP's victory. This tactic was so successful that even the PAP themselves were surprised by the result. Facing with this setback, it is only natural that I was doubtful of the value of the opposition parties in Singapore - where is future of the opposition?

With more than thirty years of systematic indoctrination, the PAP has successfully moulded a new breed of Singaporeans, self-centered and material-oriented one. A new breed of Singaporeans who do not question the PAP's actions; a new breed of Singaporeans who accept that whatever the PAP says is the absolute truth, whatever the PAP does is in the interest of the nation and the people, and that whichever path the PAP takes us on, is one that would lead to a bright future. With the PAP, we do not need to worry about our future.

Is it that rosy in reality? Is the PAP really omnipotent? If you can still remember the PAP's slogan in the last election, "Vote for PAP for a secure future", you may want to ask yourselves: Two years have since passed, so what security and better lives have the PAP government delivered, after you had entrusted your future to it?

Yes, the PAP has delivered us some security. They ensure us that:

1. We would not be starved to death in the street. We can continue to live in HDB flats but monthly installments for our mortgage are deducted from our CPF funds meant for our retirement and life is such that the utility supply is cut when we are unable to meet our payments.

2. We contribute to the profit of the public transport company as we need to take public transport to look for jobs despite the hike in transportation fees.

3. We would not be deprived of medical service but we just need to pay a little more to enhance the efficiency of our "re-structured" hospitals.

4. We get to keep our jobs by the continuous lowering of our salaries and the employers' CPF contribution. It seems that we have been too well paid and the government has done all they can to control its cost - so any future adjustment has to be borne by us, the people.

5. We are led by a cabinet comprising the best talents in our country but we need to pay them millions so that we do not lose them to the private sector. They are the best and if they make any mistake, it could only be an honest mistake.

6. PAP claims the credit when the economy is buoyant but blames it on the global economic downturn when the economic prospect is gloomy.

Faced with such a situation, it is time that we awake politically. We should not allow ourselves to be ensnared by the PAP's carrots and stick tactic anymore. It is important that we vote more opposition MPs into parliament to provide checks and balances on the PAP government to better protect our interests.

However, to do this, we cannot play the role of an armchair critic anymore. We cannot sit in our comfort zone and hope for more able and qualified people to stand for election. We need to realise that for a candidate to win an election, it is not only his manifesto, ability and qualifications that count; the electorate would also want to see a strong team and grass-root support as well.

Thus for us to have more opposition MPs in parliament, we have to abandon our self-centred mentality and actively support the opposition parties in whatever ways we can. If not, the day might come when there is no more opposition party left in this country. By then, we would have lost an opportunity to establish checks and balances in our political system and our lives can only be more difficult. We have to help others to help ourselves.

Our way of life is very much influenced by the kind of government we have. And the kind of government we have depends on our decision at the polling station. We have given up our right in the past few elections, by entrusting the PAP government with absolute power to do whatever they like and we retreat to the coffee shop to criticise and complain whenever we are not happy with the PAP's policies. We have yet to learn from our suffering. If we keep returning the PAP to absolute power, who can we blame for our predicament? Only ourselves!

Politics is everyone's business. The political situation in our country shapes our future, as well as that of our future generations. Today, we have an all powerful government dominating our political scene, a government that the people have no real opportunity to vote for or against, a government which gets to control the huge national reserves and the fate of our nation without close scrutiny, checks and balances. Do you think that the people's interest can be safeguarded in such a situation?

After overcoming all the perplexities brought about by the results of the last election, I joined the Workers' Party. I want to do my part in shaping the political development of our nation - a duty that every responsible citizen should be shouldering.

Join me, my friend.