Well, PM Lee is currently on the last point of his 5-point speech (Economy, Region, Population, Digital Age, Heartware) which focussed on Singapore having to adapt in a "rapidly-changing world". The rally speech has been largely unsurprising, with most of my predictions in the previous entry making an appearance (I'll re-post them below, and put the predictions which appeared in emphases), but there are several things which caught my attention.
1) There was no mention of new policies, which is a change from
last year's National Day Rally Speech where policies were announced to help those from lower income groups with issues like healthcare and housing. PM Lee announced that there would be no "quick-fix" solutions.
2) There was indeed a mention of the IMF and World Bank meetings, but no mention was made over the controversy of whether or not protests would be allowed. I had imagined, I confess, that he would talk a little bit of sovereignty and retaining independence/principles/traditions of stability even in the midst of this "rapidly-changing world".
3) PM Lee stated that the government would have to adapt to the Digital Age. This segment of the speech naturally held the most interest for me. He said: "PAP should be in MySpace" (I want to see
that happen, I tell you). He also mentioned that the ministries are considering new media like podcasts and vodcasts, and "will experiment".
This may mark an important milestone in the approach the PAP takes to new media. It appears that they are going to take to the Internet and appropriate it as a useful tool.
Good! PAP podcasts and Workers' Party podcasts 'facing off' on the Internet is infinitely more constructive to a democratic environment than no podcasts from anyone.
No doubt though, this will spawn some paranoia that the PAP is now starting to 'take over' the Internet and to control it (especially since PM Lee did say that the Digital Age will bring about new problems which need to be "managed" -- a word which has become particularly infamous since Denise Phua first used it in the context of the Internet). I say: take a more open-minded approach and look at these developments as having been positive. A 'light touch' remained a light touch after all, despite many suggestions to the contrary.
PM also mentioned that the government will "lose respect and moral authority" if they do not respond to criticism -- which I agree with. He took the mr brown issue head on as well, which is better than having swept it under the carpet, one supposes. His response came across as rather heavy-handed, in line with his stance that politics is about serious national issues, and that mr brown's "mocking and dismissive" tone was unacceptable in this light.
Even as I write this, the mainstream media is broadcasting its report on News 5 Tonight. It doesn't look like they are interested, however, in the underlying implications of the "Digital Age" segment of his speech, i.e. the PAP's apparent move to harness new technology for its own part in engaging Singaporeans with new media, and to change/update certain laws* -- something I feel is rather significant, because the PAP now seems to be taking themselves to the digital battleground, rather than relying on old methods of issuing official statements and replies.
I made comprehensive notes on the speech, but as I have no doubt that it will be given extensive coverage in tomorrow's papers, I hardly see the need to post them here :)
* Got me all excited; I'd thought he was referring to updat
ing laws. Apparently he was referring to old changes, and with regards to the Political Films Act, obviously not enough has changed.
Off the top of my head, here are some predictions:
overseas Singaporeans,
foreign talent,
oil prices affecting all of us and hence the need to accept rising costs of living, the realization that the
need to stay competitive will affect people from the lower income groups more, but that opportunities will be given,
re-training, maybe a welfare scheme or two, same goes for
older workers who find that their CPF is not enough, or those who struggle with healthcare costs. Also, the need to modernize our city to deal with
global visitors e.g. the IMF and World Bank, or beyond that, tourists; the Integrated Resorts (which will provide much employment), perhaps something about speaking good English,
the need to remain a stable society so as to attract investors, hence the need for law and order and
a tight watch over racial sensibilities (esp. given the threat of terrorism and also the Israel-Lebanon crisis), however, the need to balance that with liberal and progressive thinking,
people who know their minds and speak it, yet being mindful of their responsibilities (maybe blogs and journalists will get some sort of mention at this point). Also perhaps to balance globalization with the recognition that we are still very much our own sovereign nation and should only absorb the good stuff, not the bad, and to guard ourselves well from the shocks of globalization, and furthermore,
to always see Singapore as our home in this big wide world no matter how globalized it is, and hence stay together while we move ahead, etcetera, etcetera.
-- The words in bold print are the predictions that did turn up in his speech.
