SDP's Chee Soon Juan uses the Wall Street Journal to poke the government

Government pokes back and an overseas forum letters fight ensues.

Martino Tan| December 04, 12:52 AM

Many Singaporeans probably did not know that Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) Chief Chee Soon Juan wrote a commentary in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) last weekend.

This is because many of us do not subscribe to WSJ and the commentary is behind the WSJ pay wall.

But the commentary has now piqued the interest of some Singaporeans, thanks to the Singapore Consulate-General's feisty remarks about Chee. Below are the pick of the lot:

1. Chee "rehashes old arguments without a sense of reality".

2. [I]t is "dishonest of Mr. Chee to claim that it has failed, or that we have done nothing".

3. "Chee is not interested in facts".

4. Chee "might do better to take the interest of Singaporeans to heart, rather than pander to the editorial tastes of the Western media"

Meow...

Anyway, here's a summary of Chee's commentary that got the government folks so grouchy: 

CSJWSJ

Source: SDP website

1. A bold new vision is needed for Singapore.

2. Despite being one of the most prosperous county in the world, measures of social harmony and happiness indicate that Singaporeans are far from pleased with the status quo.

3. The degradation of values such as freedom, compassion and equality has contributed significantly to Singaporeans’ disenchantment with the current system.

4. Without democracy Singaporeans cannot have a national debate on the future direction of our country.

5. An alternative vision: Privately owned small and medium-sized enterprises, instead of state-owned conglomerates, need to be the prime drivers of growth; the wage structure should ensure that the working poor don’t see their real incomes shrink even as the number of billionaires rise; the elderly should not have to work menial jobs; the media must be free from state control; and the political system needs to change to allow free and fair elections.

Here is the full letter by Consul-General Jacky Foo to the WSJ (Dec, 2.) yesterday:

In his op-ed last week (“A New Vision for Singapore,” Nov. 28), Chee Soon Juan rehashes old arguments without a sense of reality.

He takes issue with income inequality in Singapore. Indeed it has increased, as it has in many other countries. But in Singapore, the low-income have access to high-quality education, health care and public housing, like other citizens. Families earning just 1,000 Singapore dollars ($800) a month can afford to own a two-room apartment. Indeed, 80% of households in the bottom income quintile own their homes, with an average of more than S$200,000 net housing equity. Their wages have also grown by 10% (in real terms) in the past decade, unlike the stagnation often seen elsewhere. There is no parallel in other countries. Our model is not perfect, but it is dishonest of Mr. Chee to claim that it has failed, or that we have done nothing.

Mr. Chee criticizes government-linked companies. His charges are absurd. GLCs include highly successful, internationally renowned companies, such as Keppel, SembCorp and Singapore Airlines. They provide good jobs and opportunities for Singaporeans, but they make up just 10% of the economy. Privately owned small and medium-sized enterprises employ seven in 10 Singaporeans and enjoy the bulk of government support.

But Mr. Chee is not interested in facts. He is out to make a political case and trim his sails to the wind. When he writes in The Wall Street Journal, he attacks GLCs, but when he writes for the Huffington Post, he attacks free-trade agreements, in particular the U.S.-Singapore FTA.

Mr. Chee claims Singapore lacks a democracy. The reality is that elections in Singapore are free and fair. Every time Mr. Chee and his party have contested, Singaporeans have rejected them. He might do better to take the interest of Singaporeans to heart, rather than pander to the editorial tastes of the Western media.

 

Did we learn anything from this exchange of letters?

Maybe.

Here are four observations from an argument that many do not care about:

1. Irritate the government by writing in the Western media: The only way Chee can irritate the government is to publish a commentary in one of those big international papers (New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times). The government will ignore everything else that Chee does in Singapore.

2. Is Hong Kong special? Why was the Consulate-General in Hong Kong "arrowed" to respond on behalf of the government? Maybe this is because the Wall Street Journal Asia headquarters is stationed in Hong Kong.

3. Print is king: The government appears to respond only to criticisms published in print. The government ignored Chee's earlier commentary in the influential Huffington Post, but replied to Chee's WSJ commentary.

4. The Western media has its own agenda: The Workers' Party is the most influential opposition party in Singapore but you will not find any WSJ commentary from WP Chief Low Thia Khiang or WP Chairman Sylvia Lim. At least WSJ is fairer to the Malaysians. Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim represents Malaysia's opposition voice and his commentaries can be found in WSJ.

Top photo from SDP Facebook page.

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