Dr James Gomez recently made a presentation at the 18 Biennial Conference of the Asian Studies Association of Australia. Dr Gomez’s presentation was titled, “Social Media and Opposition Parties: Networking for Singapore’s General Elections.” You can view the presentation here.
Dr Gomez, who contested the last General Elections in Singapore in 2006 under the Workers’ Party’s banner, is currently Deputy Associate Dean (International) and Head of Public Relations at Monash University.
The Online Citizen caught up with Dr Gomez and asked his views on the political scene in Singapore, in particular his take on the state of the opposition parties here.
TOC : Do you feel the opposition is more fragmented now or at least just as fragmented as say 20 years ago?
James Gomez (JG): The opposition has always been a collection of small groups around key individuals. Current configurations in the opposition landscape are no different. This is neither negative nor disadvantageous for the opposition movement in Singapore. In fact it allows more people to come onboard and be politically socialized into the opposition movement. It is important to take note that in one-party dominated electoral system this is the state of the opposition and such a situation is not unique to Singapore. Often, opposition parties eventually gain an upper hand when they work as a coalition to defeat the ruling regime.
TOC : Opposition parties have been saying that they will “work together”. But nothing concrete has been seen so far. Why do you think this is so?
JG: The opposition as movement has always worked together and there are numerous back door contacts among different individuals in the opposition. If you are talking about some kind of formal alliance, this will only occur when it is politically useful for the opposition, when there is public pressure and when the ruling party is on the verge of electoral defeat. Even then, it is the nature of politics that such alliances remain dynamic and in a state of constant flux.
TOC : Do you feel that the current leaders in opposition parties have too much baggage – of distrust and/or even personal dislikes of each other to be able to offer Singaporeans a true alternative? For example, Chiam sued the SDP; Low made some remarks which were interpreted as denigrating the SDP, in particular Dr Chee; Chia Ti Lik who is now one of the founders of the new Socialist Front had a falling out with Low’s WP; Goh Meng Seng, now sec gen of NSP, also left the WP; the recent saga between Kenneth Jeyaretnam’s Reform Party and Chiam’s SDA; Kenneth’s father; the unhappiness within the SDA – such as the PKMS fighting (literally!) among themselves, etc.
JG: You mention people that I know in the opposition movement hence it will be impolite for me to refer to any one individual or incident. But what I can say is that current leaders in the opposition are informed by their past experiences and these guide how they want to engage the PAP in the political landscape. Again, without public pressure or clear electoral gain, opposition parties will not work together on their own accord to form a broad based alternative.
TOC : What would you like to see in terms of opposition youth wings, the next generation of leaders? How different do you think they are from their current leaders? Are they too much conformists? Is there an individual or individuals who stand out among the opposition youths for you?
JG: I would like to see opposition youth wing members to be more politically independent. Most members of the youth wing to a large extent hold political values espoused by their party leaders. In that sense I don’t see them being very different from their current leaders. Political parties being political parties usually don’t let strong leaders within the youth wing movement to emerge. This is to prevent the youth wing to be used as a base to challenge party leadership. Hence, youth wings of opposition parties are very much under the thumb. Where there are one or two key individuals these will be absorbed into the main party leadership.
TOC : What is your opinion of the new parties – Reform Party (which is 2 years old) and the two new ones: United Singapore Democrats and The Socialist Front?
JG: Opinions of new parties are usually formed after their showing in their first elections. So let us leave it as that for the moment. But some self-promotion by such parties in the run up to their first elections is to be logically expected.
TOC : Does the presence of these 3 new parties offer Singaporeans more genuine choices or are they more or less the same in terms of political philosophies and these parties are nothing more than perhaps an ego trip for their founders?
JG: Forming a party and being responsible for its upkeep is a financially and emotionally draining undertaking. So I would say that it is more than an ego trip. More parties mean more people, resources and ultimately more choices for Singaporeans. Because we have not reached saturation point for opposition participation in elections there is still room for more growth. Once all seats are contested by the opposition in elections, the laws of natural selection will determine the growth curve for the opposition movement.
TOC : The PAP has spent quite an amount of effort in trying to establishing an online presence, compared to the opposition (except perhaps the SDP). Why do you think the opposition is so slow in catching on, and do you see this as the opposition relinquishing online territory to the PAP (given that so far online commentators have been pro-opposition); or do you see the opposition parties as unsure about new media as the PAP?
JG: What the PAP, opposition and commentators often fail to understand is the internet is a niche medium. For the opposition the value of the internet lies in its ability to manage its reputation among its key networks and supporters. Platforms such as Facebook are currently being exploited by the opposition at the moment precisely for this end – ie recruiting key party workers. But the challenge is still in offline politics, in particular how best to mobilize online political capital for offline political impact. Here the opposition parties clearly have the advantage.
TOC : Has the opposition grown in any substantial way in the last 20 or 30 years? If yes, what gave rise to it? If no, what do you think is the cause?
JG: Yes it has and it also has seen move turnover. More people have come onboard, they are willing to publicly identify with the opposition movement, provide resources to the cause and eventually move on. I attribute this partly to the internet and alternative political content that has helped more people socialize into opposition politics.
TOC : Do you think the opposition parties are in touch with what worry or what concern Singaporeans, such as job security or employment? There seems to be very little grassroots or on-the-ground interaction by the parties with ordinary Singaporeans – besides the parties selling their party newspapers on a weekly basis and perhaps, like the WP, some door-to-door activities?
JG: Yes they are, but whether they are clearly communicating it to the voters, that is a different matter. What I would say is needed is more strategic communication and dialogue with the voters. Opposition parties need to go beyond selling party newspapers and door-to-door visits to talk about issues. I am well aware of the various laws that prevent opposition parties from doing just that. However more pressure is needed on this front to free up the communicative space.
TOC : What do you think is the one issue which will be the focus in the next elections?
JG: It will be the foreign worker issue but it will depend on who has the “balls” to bring it up. When this happens the PAP will go into negative campaigning of the party/candidates and distract voters from this campaign message. Ultimately voters have to decide which party will effectively represent them in parliament without fear or favour.
TOC : What would be your advice to the opposition, as far as the next elections are concerned?
JG: Knowing the opposition they will probably not take any advice as most will be convinced of their own political principles and strategy. If I say they don’t take advice, they will challenge it to say they do take advice. The only way you can really make the opposition movement listen is through public pressure.
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I am impressed by JG’s insights into the opposition.
singapore is not like most if not all other countries in the world.
singapore does not have a strong opposition.
The only smart way forward is for these little pockets of brave and rare citizens to unite and synergise.
but can the country come before the self or ego?
It’s a no brainer for all oppositions to UNITE and fight and get one foot in before anything else. The mission is to DISLODGE the PAP regime. Set all egos aside. Single opposition parties will be crushed by all the tricks and schemes of the MIW monsters. Get your priorities correct. Let the citizens back you. It’s Opposition or PAP-everyone must now choose!
You think Singapore’s David Copperfield can do it?
LOL.
It’s not just “setting aside all egos”.
The major considerations are the monthly MP salary of $14,000 and life-long pension. And now with the increased possibility of “entering” the lucrative parliament through NCMPs, we can forget about “opposition unity” among those who place their self interest first before anything else.
Put pressure by threatening to vote PAP? This is a bad alternative.
ToC, I think readers would welcome ideas on how the public can put pressure on opposition parties to team up, or at least not to squabble so much.
Nonsense and A Tan – well said and agree.
This is the time to do it.
You can only have pressure. If you have unity. Look at blogosphere and ask yourself Dr Gomez, is there any unity? No. You have people going their own way. Doing their own thing and now with the people like the bp who have broken off relations with the Singaporedaily. Now they are even more isolated than ever. Now things are so bad, everyone is reading in their own corner. They dont even want to talk to each other any more.
TOC should try to unite the blogging community. Thats if the others will listen to you.
I sincerely believe that there are a lot of MOLES in opposition. PAP is not PAP all these years for nothing. Their machinery has roots in every facet of Singapore’s life. Plus the Singapore culture is Kiasi & Kiasu, what big thing can you expect from the people? We are now left with only our own personal eternal flame. If we extinguish it ourselves, get ready for a new era of darkness.
I have a vision that PKMS can be a great impact on the political scene, if there are people good enough to turn it into a multi-racial party and change the ‘M’ of PKMS to multi-racial. They have the money, resources and enough minority candidates.
How about TOC start a petition to ask all the opposition to unite? The number of people who will sign the petition may sway the various leaders into movement.
i rather vote for PAP than PKMS(I will never trust these UMNO lackeys)
Perhaps James Gomez will want to explain why he left the Worker party? Isn’t his departure leading to further fragmentation of the opposition?
Let New Citizens or PR Vote
i like idea from btanx.
who knows, maybe many of the opposition supporters (diff opp parties) also would like to see their leaders unite ?
Leave no stones unturned.
Try or wait for another many years.
I urge all oposition parties to cast aside their differences and come together, at least for the coming election and for the underclass. The coming election offers the best opportunity ever. Make the best of it. The ground is rumbling with grievances, dissatisfactions, miseries , indignations etc. This whole place is innundated with FTs severly jacking up the cost of living, housing, medical, transport, food etc. Indigeneous Singaporeans are rob of jobs and displaced. Have we become a plutocracy where the rich reigns mighty. The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. This is the first step that the opposition parties must make. Get into Parliament, learn the tricks of the trade in governance. We need legitimate representations not the NCMPs and NMPs. Forgo this time, there may not be the next time when the new citizens, FTs outnumbered indigeneous Singaporeans and they sure must bear allegiance to who brought them here. Then we are truly done with. We need to reclaim our country of birth. All the good news, the lofty GDP growth, plentiful jobs and exuberance reported in the broadsheet we are not feeling them. May be self aggrandizement or may have gone to the FTs. Forge a temporary alliance and work your way through. Change must come this time. It’s now or never. Best of luck JG, you people now have my undying support.
Mr Gomez, long time no see, since the last election, u look good, and alot of fresh…. good life, better stay there, we suffer, never mind…..
Strange how being OPPOSITIONS to the dictatorship PAP, they still cannot unite. The age old adage holds true that; Your Enemy’s enemy is your Friend. So why all the infighting?
Even in the Twilight Movie Eclipse, this basic wisdom is applied for the Cullen Vampires to work with their natural enemy, the Werewolves, to fight the New Vampires. Duh?
So clearly, there is hidden agenda in the opposition circle. Given PAP’s deadly tentacles, dun be surprised many moles are operating as “opposition”.
Nevertheless, my votes will NEVER go to PAP. Rather vandalize the voting slip with Swiss drawings. LOL.
I ever seen JG at Bugis Junction. I said hello and he was surprised how come i know him but he dun know me. hee hee … I gave him a thumbs up in appreciation of the things he done for the 33.3%.
JG, give us more!
If cannot work together…..how to work for the fellow country man…..life is oridi complicated enough ….please do not make it worse…..
why talk about FT and LT…..Talent is talent….if you dont have the talent…then sign on NS/Police…..at least u can protect the citizen. no use always complain unless u talented in complaining