(Reuters) — When Singapore goes to the polls on Friday (September 11), Prime Minister Lee Hsieng Loong’s ruling People’s Action Party will face an unprecedented wave of young voters.
For the first time, citizens born after the country’s independence in 1965 will likely account for the majority of voters in the general election.
As of 2014, almost 54 per cent of citizens above 20 were born in 1965 and later. In 2010, the figure was 46 per cent born after independence. Singapore’s voting age is 21.
Young Singaporeans are generally happy with the PAP-led government, but are less satisfied than older Singaporeans with public transport, population management and civil liberties, according to a survey in June by Singapore-based Blackbox Research.
While they acknowledge the economic miracle engineered by the People’s Action Party (PAP), they are unhappy about the rising cost of living and an influx of foreign workers. Those issues took centre stage in the last poll in 2011.
In the 2011 election, the PAP won 60 percent of the vote, down from 67 percent in 2006, even though it won 81 of the 87 available parliamentary seats.
Since then, the government has introduced curbs on foreign workers, measures to cool a red-hot property market and subsidised healthcare cover for the elderly.
Apart from their usual resentment over the ills brought by Singapore’s economic growth, local media reported that young voters have become a concern for the PAP as they prefer more diverse views in politics, something seen as a disadvantage for the ruling party which has maintained an absolute majority in parliament for 50 years.
“I do believe that parliament do need a opposition to have a balanced voice. But what I believe in definitely has to be of quality rather than quantity. They must be at least on par, or not even better than the existing government to really bring out different voices that they feel that might improve those policies that are to really benefit,” said Gelene Sam, 31, at a PAP rally attended by Prime Lee last week.
The election also comes at a time when Singapore is experiencing slowing growth. The government last month revised its official gross domestic product growth forecast for 2015 to 2-2.5 percent from 2-4 percent previously.
Providing enough jobs for thousands of college graduates each year amid an economic slowdown has become another challenge for the PAP to win over young hearts.
“Actually there are many areas that we can look into, I mean for instance education or opportunities like education or career or even like opportunities for better living conditions, maybe my home area, so I think all these could play a big part for me as a student, more importantly education and housing would be a better, a main concern for me,” said 23-year-old first-time voter Jason Seh, an accounting undergraduate, who declined to reveal which party he would support.
Law and Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam, when asked to send a message to the young voters during a campaign walkabout at a food court last week, said the key was to make sure they understood the issues Singapore faces.
“The concern is if they don’t understand the issues, and just read some things which are purposely put out, which are not accurate. From my perspective, if everybody understands what issues Singapore faces externally and internally, and they compare it with our manifesto versus other people’s manifestos, we will be on very solid ground,” he said.
A nation of 5.5 million people with no natural reserves, Singapore has long counted on its people as its biggest resource which helped drive its transformation from a sea port with few natural resources into a key financial centre after independence in 1965.
The government has also placed a strong emphasis on practical skills such as science and mathematics in schools, with Singapore students usually excelling in international tests.
However, some young Singaporeans feel a sense of disconnection from the traditional paths that are laid out ahead of them: get into a top school; land a high-paying job; and hope that their children can build on their achievement.
“Hello new arrivals, welcome to the deep end, first world concrete third world system…” feature in the lyrics of Laek1yo’s latest song “Chicken Rice”, named after one of Singapore’s iconic local delicacies.
Fearing possible repercussions for criticising the government the local artist, who is also a graphic designer, did not want to be identified or reveal his age, but said he is in his early 30s. He asked to be addressed by his nickname, Laek1yo, which he picked after the city state’s late founder Lee Kuan Yew.
His latest hip-hop song “Chicken Rice” has had over 80,000 hits since it was posted on Facebook four weeks ago.
Laek1yo is one of a growing number of young Singaporeans who are turning their backs on the material joys of the long-cherished “Singapore Dream”, summed up as the “Five C’s” – cash, car, credit card, condominium and country club membership – to do what they enjoy, even at much lower pay.
“Here it’s really nothing else but money, it’s really boring. Everything equates to money, everything equates to profit. When you show off, when you invite someone to your house the first thing you say is how much you paid for it, your shoes cost, everyone knows how much everything of you costs, that’s success,” said Laek1yo.
“Just leave us alone, let us make up our own minds. Tell us both sides of the story. In fact don’t tell us anything. The Internet is there, let us go find out ourselves. Give us rules but let us think,” he added.
Laek1yo said he would not vote for any of the parties, but rather just submit an empty ballot paper.
This kind of maverick is likely to remain in the minority for now, said Chua Beng Huat, head of the Department of Sociology at the National University of Singapore, who believes most of the young will still vote for stability.
“By now, because they can get on the internet and say whatever they want to say, they’re not as constrained about their complaints, but a lot of those complaints doesn’t quite add up to demanding policy changes, so you know they vote, my sense is that at the end of it, most of them will still vote for stability and security,” he said.
The likely outcome of Friday’s polls are difficult to forecast because opinion polls are illegal in Singapore, so no one is making confident predictions.