Singapore has been used to high economic growth rates of 8-10 percent year after year, until the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the current downturn in overseas demand for goods produced by this newly industrialized economy. "That phase of our economic development is over," President S R Nathan said at the opening of Singapore's 10th parliament. "Going forward, if we can make 4-6 percent growth per year, we will be doing well."

What Nathan said was not new, and similar warnings have been heard since last year. But it has triggered a lively debate in Singapore because he chose to say this at the opening of the new parliament, which usually sets the tone for the government policies in the next five years. This week, more than 20 MPs spoke up in parliament in response to his speech, and some began criticizing their own government's policies. Even some media commentators have dared to take a critical view of some government policies, something not always seen in Singapore.

"It's a wake-up call that things are not going to go away. We have to moderate our expectations and things are going to change," observed Braema Mathi, a corporate communications manager and former member of parliament (MP).

The current recession has led to thousands of Singaporeans being retrenched, a scene that many in this country of 4 million people still find themselves trying to get used to. Unemployment is now at 6 percent, with more than 108,000 out of work. This is the highest unemployment rate in 15 years. Latest figures indicate that it is not only the older workers and the unskilled or semi-skilled that are losing their jobs, but also tertiary-educated Singaporeans in their 20s and 30s.

Amid the backdrop of changes in the region in recent years, as well as the effects of the September 11 attacks on the United States and the global economic slowdown, Nathan told parliament that indeed, the world has changed. "The next few years will present us the most severe challenges in our nation's history," he said.

Singapore's economic woes have prompted its government, led by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, to pump millions of dollars into job fairs, training schemes and getting community development councils to assist in job-hunting.

"Far more fundamental moves are needed to get the unemployed working again, not, of course, in the jobs they hanker after, for these are gone, but in whatever jobs there are available," observed Straits Times social commentator Chua Lee Hoong. She argues that what is needed is a wider approach, including a change in some cultural values. "Singapore's Confucianist society is one that aids and abets fussiness," noted Chua. "When society conditions you to think that social status and personal identity depends on your type of job and level of pay, society has contributed to the worker's fussiness."

This thinking was evident even in parliament this week, when new MP Indranee Thurai Rajah suggested that the government could assist in setting up a job-matching scheme where unemployed women who can provide domestic services could be matched with busy executives who may need their services. An older male colleague immediately shot down the proposal. "It wouldn't work in Singapore because people don't want to be domestic workers. It's a cultural thing," he said.

The irony is that a large portion of the 100,000 Singaporeans looking for jobs are believed to be women, who have been laid off when factories closed shop and moved to cheaper labor destination such as China. Meanwhile, Singapore employs more than 100,000 foreign maids, mainly from the Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Myanmar.

In the past 30 years of building itself up to become one of the wealthiest in the region, Singapore has given pride of place to academic achievements. But in his speech, Nathan hinted at the need for a fundamental shift in this social value system. He said the government's priority now is to strengthen the spirit of entrepreneurship and risk-taking among Singaporeans. "We should inculcate in the young a more inquiring and adventurous spirit, and encourage them to think up new ideas and create new opportunities," he said.

Nathan said this would include encouraging Singaporeans to take part in sports and the arts, instead of putting premium only on careers, and developing a stronger civic society. The government has also said it wants Singaporeans to speak up, even if they disagree with the government. But not many are yet convinced that the country's leaders are prepared to accept public criticism.

Still, to indicate that the government means business, this week, the party whip was lifted in parliament to allow government MPs to speak their mind on the president's speech. In a parliament of 84 members, 82 belong to the ruling People's Action Party (PAP). A number of PAP MPs took up the challenge to speak up, among them the former Speaker, Tan Soo Khoon, who criticized both his party and cabinet ministers for not doing enough to make Singaporeans feel less cynical about what goes on in the House.

"If we really mean it this time, if we want to ease up, why impose a whip?" he asked. "After all, we have such an overwhelming majority in the House that it is inconceivable that the government would ever be defeated in a vote."

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Trade Raymond Lim called on the government to make it easier to register civil society groups. He argued that it would create more room for participation and debate in the political process and deepen Singaporeans' emotional attachment to their nation.

Chiam See Tong, one of only two opposition MPs in parliament, used this week's parliamentary debate to lash out at the ruling PAP. He said that the government's current drive to encourage creative thinking and to foster a sense of entrepreneurship was "20 years too late".

"Twenty years have been wasted mainly in trying to contain the opposition, instead of spending that time to open up our society," he argued. He added that during this time, the government has introduced the teaching of Confucianism in schools, an approach that he said teaches one to be "subservient and obedient" to authority.

If the government treats the opposition as shabbily as it does now, Singaporeans will continue to be skeptical about the government's intentions for reforms to meet the problems that lie ahead, warned Chiam.

                                                           Home