Singapore in 2013: The Times They are a-Changin'

Summary

Overall, 2013 was certainly annus mirabilisfor Singapore owing largely to major socio-political domestic issues seizing newspaper headlines. Domestic events have been so jarring to the Singaporean soul that some have even taken to describing such events as characteristic of a nation undergoing a mid-life crisis. In comparison, issues related to foreign affairs were remarkably steady and tame. Moreover, discussions on economics — customarily at the forefront of Singaporeans’ minds — took a back seat to socio-political issues, with the economy doing better than expected as Gross Domestic Product grew by 3.7 per cent and median salaries increased by 3.9 per cent in real terms. With socio-political domestic issues consuming the attention of most, it is somewhat unsurprising that the year was bookended by a by-election loss for the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) candidate on 27 January and Singapore's first riot in forty years by a large group of foreign workers in Little India on 8 December.

Domestic Political Developments

Another By-Election Loss

In a year littered with noteworthy socio-political issues, perhaps the major socio-political event of 2013 in Singapore was PAP candidate Koh Poh Koon's by-election loss to Workers’ Party (WP) candidate Lee Li Lian in the singlemember constituency of Punggol East. The constituency had become vacant owing to the resignation of its MP and Speaker of Parliament Michael Palmer after revelations of an extra-marital affair in late 2012. Through her victory in a by-election that also saw the Reform Party and the Singapore Democratic Alliance field candidates, Lee became the first female opposition member to win a single-member constituency since Singapore achieved political independence in 1965. The WP win was the PAP's second consecutive by-election loss in twelve months.

Many viewed the result as heralding the first signs of a cataclysmic change in the Singapore political scene. One political commentator even described the result of the Punggol by-election as “devastating” for the PAP and said that they should interpret the results as “more than a wake-up call” as their “efforts to win over the electorate are not working”. By and large, the result of the by-election was significant for three reasons. Firstly, the sizable (nearly 11 per cent) winning margin between the top two candidates in a four-corner fight may indicate how the WP is, from the electorate's perspective, becoming an increasingly credible check to a PAP-dominated Parliament.