In the aftermath of GE2020, one analysis of the results has been that the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) lost the youth vote.

Whether that is conclusive, is still up in the air.

Yet, one Straits Times forum letter writer has taken the post-election assessment one step further, offering an expanded explanation and a solution.

Youth have forgotten LKY's warning

In a letter published on Jul. 19, Tan Ying San posited that the elections showed young Singaporeans lacked an appreciation for the warning penned by the late first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in his 2011 book "Hard Truths To Keep Singapore Going".

"I believe that years of peace and prosperity have lulled the young into a state of complacency," wrote Tan.

"They think what we have now is a natural state of affairs. They want to import hip American ideas without due regard to our circumstances."

The letter writer proceeded to list some Singaporean institutions and policies — such as CPF and Housing Development Board's race quota — as examples of when the nation's leaders "took in the lessons of other countries" without copying them.

Tan added that Singapore's success starts with the nation having "the right political leadership and political landscape".

'Hard Truths' to be added to education curriculum?

So what was the writer's remedy to the current circumstance where young people are said to have turned away from the PAP?

"I suggest that Singapore introduce Hard Truths To Keep Singapore Going into the junior college, polytechnic and university syllabuses," wrote Tan.

"We need to educate the young on the unique situation we are in."

Tan elaborated that the point was not necessarily to "teach Mr Lee's solutions", but instead to examine what he said in the process of conceiving relevant solutions.

The writer ended with a hard truth of their own:

"I hope the young realise what is at stake. In the following months, when the world economy tanks further, some of the hard truths will become clearer."

Losing the youth vote in Sengkang

Following the PAP's loss in Sengkang GRC to the Workers' Party, both The Straits Times and Today carried reports that converged on one point: that the PAP had lost the youth vote.

This analysis was borne out of data showing that Sengkang GRC's 120,100 voters were mainly young couples living in HDB estates and that Sengkang residents are younger than the national average.

Other newer analyses are expected in the near future.

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