Ruling Elite of Singapore, The: Networks of Power and Influence by Michael D. Barr

Author:Michael D. Barr
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: I.B.Tauris
Published: 2014-01-16T16:00:00+00:00

The bloodbath in the Cabinet

Lee Kuan Yew’s departure was by far the most important single outcome of the 2011 elections, but it is also important to note how the rest of the shakeup has contributed to the changing shape of the inner circles of power. With a third of the Cabinet (seven people) leaving in the same month and their replacement by just three new faces, the implications for the elite go far beyond the superficial ‘generational change’ from old to young that was featured in the Singapore media – and indeed not all of those who stood down were so old. In Table 6.1 we revisit the statistics presented in Chapter 5 concerning the educational and professional composition of the Cabinet, and we find that 2011 marked a significant shift in the composition of the inner core of the elite that is very much in line with the shifting dynamics of elite composition as a whole.

Some of these shifts may turn out to be short term and correct themselves once the Cabinet is returned to its full strength, which, without an entourage of former prime ministers and deputy prime ministers in the Prime Minister’s Office, should be 17 or 18. A closer look, however, reveals that some of the longer term trends are also distorted by short term aberrations.

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