Insights On Singapore's Politics and Governance From Leading Thinkers by Institute Of Policy Studies Singapore

Author:Institute Of Policy Studies, Singapore [Institute Of Policy Studies, Singapore]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789811204869
Published: 2019-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

2ND VOTING RESULT:

PROPOSITION — 210, OPPOSITION — 331

Chairperson: Proposition: 210. Opposition 331. What a good shift. Maybe during this break we can all think about the questions you want to ask because the next session will be an open round where all of you will get a chance to throw your questions at either of the debaters. And the first poll that you see 274 were for the motion versus 210 now; and 187 for the opposition at that time versus 331 now. Quite a change.

Alright, anybody who would like to ask a question, please raise your hand and please come to the mic. And you can ask your questions to either of the speakers. Anyone with the first question?

Questioner 1: Thank you, Chair. In light of the watershed election that occurred just now, with the percentages going exactly the other way round, and in the spirit of open debate, I would like to ask each speaker to please, ask one question, the answer to which, would turn over his own arguments. So in other words, critique the other side, ask yourself one question that would overturn the conclusions you come to, in light of this watershed election.

Chairperson: Let them argue a case for the other side, right? That is what you are asking them to do.

Questioner 1: Yes, but they have to do it themselves.

Opposer: Why would I want to do that?

Questioner 1: Because it is the prerogative of the voters to ask the politicians to do exactly this. We are voters, we voted for them, so it is our prerogative, as a voter myself, I am asking them to critique themselves, so that we know which better truth emerges from this self-critique. One question.

Opposer: I still do not understand the logic of your question.

Questioner 1: It is very simple, Dean Mahbubani, please ask yourself a question that would overturn the conclusion that you come to, and the same for professor Chua.

Proposer: I must say I have great difficulty following your question. But anyway, I must say that I expected that the second round of voting to be reflected in the first round of voting. Beng Huat and I were discussing the voting at lunch. We were convinced that the majority of you would be in favour of contestation and not of consensus at the beginning. So he was surprised as I was that most of you were in favour of consensus at first and contestation later, which is in itself an interesting reflection of what is going on here. So the question I had in my mind is simply: Is the composition in this room reflective of the general population in Singapore? If you had, in a sense, a representative sample of the population of Singapore, what would they say? I actually think they would argue for more contestation. And the reason why they would argue for more contestation — again going back to my point about context — is that it is in reaction to what has happened over the last 40 years.

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