Quora Answer: Do the Majority of the Rich in Singapore Support the PAP?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “Do the majority of the rich, in Singapore, support the PAP government?”

It is quite reasonable to say that a majority of the wealthy in Singapore do support the PAP government.  From a socioeconomic perspective, they have delivered.  If it is not broken, why fix it?  The concerns of the upper classes are not the concerns of the lower classes and vice versa.

For example, when we consider the impact of increased immigration, we view it differently.  To someone lower in the economic ladder, they see competition for jobs, even if that is not the reality.  For someone higher in society, they see a larger potential market.  To grow, we need the best from all over the world.  Where there is an inadequacy is how the policy is explained to the masses.  People who are disadvantaged naturally see danger, and not opportunity, because their concerns are more immediate – food and shelter.  It is, thus, government policy to address that in tandem with polices of economic growth.

As a business owner and a finance professional myself, I am not moved by emotive issues.  I am interested in facts and numbers.  In that light, the Opposition have not exactly put forth a coherent series of policies that I can agree with.  I am not convinced by a flat wealth tax, which would disadvantage me at no immediate gain.  I am not convinced by a reduction in national service, which would impact National Education.  I am not convinced by an immediate stop in immigration, because that would negatively affect the trade environment.  These are populist measures not grounded in economic reality.

Personally, as long as the government has delivered in the areas that matter, such as healthcare, economic growth and an improvement in the quality of life, it has fulfilled my expectations.  I am not interested in useless nebulous ideas such as “more democracy”.  How do we measure that?  As it is, I am not convinced that every single person automatically deserves the right to vote.  Why should my vote be equal to the next ten idiots who are casting it based on emotions, and immediate gratification?

I personally do not believe in absolute press freedom, or a liberal democracy style freedom of speech.  Freedom of speech must be balanced by responsibility for what is conveyed.  I welcome measures to curb the irresponsible “alternative” media.  We do not require online mobs, and the machinery of outrage pornography to achieve things, or to function as a counterbalance to the system.  Society needs to distinguish between those who know and those who do not.

As such, myself, and those like me, have little reason to vote against the incumbent.  Our authoritarian system made possible a social engineering exercise that dragged this country from a backwater to one of the wealthiest nations in the world.  I see no reason why we should change it because some idealistic fools think the grass is greener on the other side.