Singapore’s biggest political
protest since allowing these events at a downtown park in 2000
may signal growing difficulty by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s government to push policies without broader support.
Thousands of protesters gathered on Feb. 16 at Speakers’
Corner at Hong Lim Park at the edge of the city’s financial
district in the rain to oppose the government’s plan to raise
the population through immigration. Lawmakers from Lee’s party,
which has ruled Singapore since independence in 1965, endorsed a
white paper earlier this month that outlined proposals to allow
more foreigners through 2030 to boost the workforce.
“It’s a big red flag and they cannot go on with business
as usual, with their old way of doing things of letting it blow
over and letting emotions run their course,” said Terence Lee,
who teaches politics at National University of Singapore. “This
is not an emotional hump. I won’t be surprised if significant
changes happen at the ballot box in 2016.”
The rally increases pressure on the government to slow an
influx of immigrants that has been blamed for infrastructure
strains, record-high housing and transport costs and competition
for jobs. Singapore’s population has jumped by more than 1.1
million since mid-2004 to 5.3 million and may reach 6.9 million
by 2030, based on the proposal. That stoked social tensions and
public discontent that is weakening support for Lee’s People’s
Action Party.
‘Work Harder’
“They will have to work harder at seeking buy-in rather
than putting policies across as imperative,” said Eugene Tan,
assistant law professor at Singapore Management University and a
nominated member of Parliament, who said the protest is the
biggest in recent memory. “Gone are the old days where the
government believes what is the right thing to do and they don’t
care what the public thinks and do what is right. Doing what is
right is no longer enough.”
Outdoor protests are banned in Singapore as authorities say
the laws help maintain social stability in a country that was
wracked by communal violence between ethnic Malays and Chinese
in the 1960s. Since easing the restriction more than a decade
ago, large-scale protests at the park have centered on issues
such as losses from mini-bonds to the city’s worst subway
breakdown, rather than politics.
Organizer Gilbert Goh, who promoted the event mainly
through Facebook, estimated 4,000 people joined the
demonstration at the 0.94-hectare (2.3-acre) park that served as
a venue for political rallies in the 1950s and 1960s. They sang
patriotic songs and held signs saying “we want to be heard, not
herded,” and “waiting for 2016,” when the next general
election is due.
Unprecedented Protest
The turnout, which he earlier estimated at as many as 5,000
two days ago, made it the biggest protest on a political issue
since independence, Goh, who was an opposition party member,
said in an interview yesterday.
The Workers’ Party, the only opposition group with elected
members in Parliament, said on its website the plan to spur
economic growth through immigration isn’t sustainable.
“A 6.9 million population won’t be good for
Singaporeans,” said David Tan, a 48-year-old who owns a garment
textile business and attended the protest. “We have 5.3 million
people and we can hardly cope. Even if the government can take
care of infrastructure, it won’t help much in terms of quality
of living.”
There may be as many as 6 million people in Singapore by
2020, and the government will boost infrastructure to
accommodate a further increase in the following decade,
according to the white paper published last month.
Angry People
“The size of the crowd shows people are angry,” said Tan
Jee Say, a candidate in Singapore’s 2011 presidential election,
who gave a speech at the protest. “It will send a signal to the
government and I hope it will react in a sensible way and see
that people are concerned.”
Protesters expressed unhappiness with the policy that could
see citizens, including new ones, making up only one of every
two people on the island smaller in size than New York City by
the end of the next decade should the population reach 6.9
million. Singapore is the third-most expensive Asian city to
live in and the sixth globally, according to an Economist
Intelligence Unit ranking of 131 cities published this month.
“Instead of increasing the population of this country so
quickly, maybe we should focus on those that have been left
behind,” said Sudhir Vadaketh, author of “Floating on a
Malayan Breeze.” “A lot of Singaporeans are feeling a great
sense of loss of identity. With continued high immigration, I
worry about that sense of identity being diluted even more.”
Under Pressure
In a city with 3.3 million citizens and 2 million
foreigners, complaints about overseas workers depriving locals
of jobs and driving up home prices helped opposition parties win
record support in the 2011 general election. Lee is under
pressure to placate voters without disrupting the entry of
talent and labor that helped forge Southeast Asia’s only
advanced economy.
Since the 2011 polls, Lee’s party has lost two by-
elections. Lee Kuan Yew, the prime minister’s father who was the
city’s first premier, stepped down from the Cabinet after the
2011 elections. He was hospitalized on Feb. 15 for a condition
linked to irregular heartbeat, and was discharged yesterday. The
ruling party still holds 80 of the 87 seats in Parliament.
Ranked the easiest place to do business for seven straight
years by the World Bank, Singapore is competing with lower-cost
neighbors such as Malaysia and Indonesia for foreign investment.
“Singapore is moving toward becoming a normal democracy,”
Tan from Singapore Management University said. “Foreign
investors who are astute will realize that these are inevitable
developments.”
To contact the reporter on this story:
Shamim Adam in Singapore at
sadam2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Linus Chua at
lchua@bloomberg.net
Enlarge image
Singapore Protest Exposes Voter Concern About Immigration
Suhaimi Abdullah/Getty Images
The rally increases pressure on the government to slow an influx of immigrants that has been blamed for infrastructure strains, record-high housing and transport costs and competition for jobs.
The rally increases pressure on the government to slow an influx of immigrants that has been blamed for infrastructure strains, record-high housing and transport costs and competition for jobs. Photographer: Suhaimi Abdullah/Getty Images
Singapore Protest Exposes Voter Worries About Immigration
