The people of Sengkang, Aljunied, and Hougang have elected the Workers' Party. In turn, all eyes are now fixed on the alleged partisanship of the People's Association.

Quick thread on that history (and our political future), as adapted from various scholars:

Michael Hill & Lian Kwen Fee (1995) on the origins of S'pore's parapolitical institutions, also known as government-sponsored grassroots organizations:

(cont)

On the S'porean Left, the PAP’s weak rural presence, and the People’s Association Ordinance of 1960:

"[T]he task of the community centres, under the People’s Association umbrella, [is] to ensure the survival of a non-communist state by providing the necessary ‘bridge’ between government & masses. [T]his bridge would be made up of civil servants and party cadres." - Lee Kuan Yew

"Retribution for the wrong choice of MP is to come in the form of mismanagement of the estates by Town Councils and funds allocated to those councils."

"What is strikingly evident in the above account is the close relationship between these parapolitical organizations and the PAP..."

“[T]he PAP is able to rely on the impressive variety of grassroots ancillary organizations with which it has close links.”

Kenneth Paul Tan (2003) on the political functions of the PAP-controlled grassroots sector:

(cont)

PAP-controlled grassroots sector as a means to secure political support, and to co-opt community leaders:

PAP-controlled grassroots sector as a means to co-opt women and youths, as well as a system of surveillance, control, propaganda, and feedback:

"During the election period, the PAP branches spring into action, ‘sleeping members’ are called up and the whole campaign machinery, well-oiled between elections, runs according to well-established operational procedures guarded jealously by the party’s grassroots leaders."

PAP-controlled grassroots sector as a barrier to democracy and civil liberties:

Elvin Ong (2015) on the Meet-the-People Sessions:

"I investigate how Singapore's Meet-the-People Sessions (MPS), an institution that resembles constituency service in advanced liberal democracies, actually works to contribute to the PAP's authoritarian durability."

(cont)

"That [MPS] exists in an authoritarian regime is [...] puzzling [...] First, if a successful authoritarian regime controls all levers of government, why would it develop an institution that purports to solve a constituent's problem by writing appeal letters to itself?"

If S’poreans are to build a country that reflects their growing desire for justice, equality, diversity, and accountability, then we'll have to, as the Workers' Party manifesto declares, "safeguard the independence of national institutions".

Last, as @lim_jialiang alludes to, folks will have to negotiate the relationship between the PAP, a political party, and S’pore’s (quietly powerful) civil service.

The latter has been built in the PAP’s racial, classed, and gendered image.

https://twitter.com/lim_jialiang/status/1282935547061653504

To the 40% of S’poreans, the dispossessed, and the marginalized, there’s much work to do (yall knew that already).

Elections & electoral politics aren’t silver bullets. Continue to speak up, to build communities, to cultivate consciousness.

This thread: https://twitter.com/posthumandancer/status/1282167705903288320

SDP: https://volunteer.yoursdp.org 

WP: https://www.wp.sg/volunteer-for-wp/