South East Asian Trips

Since World War II Singapore was an autonomous state within the British Empire. In 1959 election Lee Kuan Yew's Peoples Action Party came to power and Lee became the Prime Minister. Since then Peoples Action Party is the dominating political party of Singapore. In 1963 Singapore became independent of the British Empire and joined Malaysia as an independent state within Malaysia and had its own constitution. Lee Kuan Yew and his party, following disagreement on many issues related to state politics, decided to break away from Malaysia in 1965. Singapore has a parliamentary republic form of government. The elected parliament consisting of 84 members elect the executive. It includes the prime minister and the council of ministers. The political framework of Singapore is largely drawn out from the English system.

Some characteristic differences from the British system are that it is not as liberal as the British and other western democracies, bureaucratic body of government working closely working with the political leadership.

The form of government prevailing in Singapore is a unicameral parliamentary government. According to the constitutional Amendment passed on 22nd December 1965, Singapore would have a President elected every four years by the Parliament, whose role would be ceremonial.

However in 1991, the constitution was again amended to have a popularly elected President who would also enjoy veto powers in certain matters of national importance. With a small geographical area, the government works at just one level, the national and the local government being the same.

The Cabinet of Singapore headed by the Prime Minister wields the executive powers of the state. The dominant political party in Singapore is the People's Action Party (PAP) since its independence in 1965. The other parties are the Worker's Party of Singapore and the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP). Currently Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his cabinet head the government. Elections are held every five years and the party, which gains a 50% majority, is elected to form the government. Singapore's government has always been rated as one of the most politically transparent and least corrupt government in the world.

A combination of many ethnic groups and cultures, Singapore continued as a stable and united country without any clash between social groups, unlike many other countries in the South and Southeast Asia. It is a result of the wisdom and might of the leadership under Lee Kuan Yew. Though Singapore does not identify itself with the western political democracy system, it takes many positive aspects as a result of westernised logical thinking. Politics is practised by a small group within the Peoples' Action Party. There has been a conscious effort to depoliticize the social body and make people think in terms of merit. This helped Singapore build a strong economy with high quality of living.

One of the great merits of Singapore politics is that it is free from corruption. There were very rare cases of political and bureaucratic corruption that became issue of public discussion.

Singapore's political system is criticised as authoritarian, based on meritocracy by its core leadership which promotes only those who are loyal to it, Singaporean governing elite treats the opposition as destructive forces. People's Action Party is continuously in power, and only loyal successors are permitted. There are incidents where opposition leaders are charged with legal cases to keep them away from active politics. Freedom of press and of speech is to some extend curtailed. It is justified on the rationale that too much of freedom will be misused by disintegrating forces. Public discussion on political issues is less promoted. Singapore civil society is seems to have learned what issues they can discuss and what not.