Author: Michael Barr, Flinders University
Last year was an unprecedented year in independent Singapore’s history. While the past few years have been challenging in terms of the government, the economy, certain segments of the Singaporean population, or escalating repression, 2023 encompasses all of the above. Restoring Singapore’s reputation for clean governance will not be easy.
In January 2023, the US Department of Justice discovered that six executives from the government-backed company Keppel paid US$55 million in bribes to win contracts with Brazilian oil giant Petrobras. However, when word of the incident reached Singapore, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) refused to indict or even identify the perpetrators, citing a “lack of evidence” and instead issued a “stern warning” to the former Keppel executives.
In May 2023, two ministers fended off opposition suggestions that they received preferential treatment in winning the lease for a luxury state-run bungalow. It was particularly embarrassing for Home and Law Minister K. Shanmugam, as properties that were part of his ministerial portfolio were being leased to ministers without going through a competitive bidding process. In his defense, Mr Shanmugam revealed that he pays S$26,500 a month in rent, an explanation widely rejected by ordinary Singaporeans who live in public housing and face a cost-of-living crisis. is unlikely to gain any sympathy.
In July, an investigation by the CPIB and former Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hian revealed misconduct by both ministers. But by then, Singaporeans were already reading about the upcoming scandal. The CPIB has arrested Transport Minister S. Iswaran on corruption charges related to Singapore’s successful hosting of the F1 Grand Prix.
A week after the Iswaran scandal broke, Parliament Speaker and former prime minister aspiring Tan Chuan-jin resigned, citing an affair with another government member, Cheng Li Hui, who also resigned. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong admitted that he had known about the matter for years, but did not seem to be too concerned about it until early 2023, by which time Mr Tan would be held accountable for various reasons. It was. Prime Minister Lee then allowed Tan to remain in Parliament as speaker for several months after accepting his resignation.
On the same day that Ms Tan’s affair was made public, years of footage filmed on a hidden camera in a restaurant was anonymously posted on social media, showing the couple having an affair from the opposition Labor Party (but only one MP). They were seen holding hands. For this reason, some commentators have claimed a degree of comparability with Tan Chuanjing’s story without questioning the source or timeliness of the revelation.
A multibillion-dollar money laundering case broke out in mid-August, resulting in the arrest of 10 young Chinese-born billionaires who made their fortunes through gambling and online fraud. They quietly faded into the background by living like other billionaires, holding memberships at the prestigious Sentosa Golf Club and Singapore Island Country Club, but neither It has been supported by political figures for decades.
Although it may be difficult for Singapore’s international reputation to recover from these scandals, the government is working hard to block domestic access to critical analysis of these scandals through laws such as the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act. I am doing my best. Further legislation for the domestic censorship legal framework, FICA, the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act, was enacted in December 2023. For this reason, the government’s knee-jerk response to the crisis has been to silence and intimidate critics, whether they are opposition leaders investigating government ministers, critical commentators, or those engaging in more personal attacks. There are more and more things to do.
This is the first time since 1996 that an investigation into corruption and misconduct has affected a cabinet minister. In 1996, then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and Finance Minister Richard Foo took personal action when Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew and Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong each accepted multimillion-dollar discounts from a real estate developer on an apartment development. investigation and tacit admission of wrongdoing. . The same real estate developer was recently questioned by the CPIB as part of the Iswaran 2023 investigation.
The Singapore government will no doubt want to forget about 2023. Still, the year ended with news of generational change, smoothing the path to the next general election scheduled for late 2025. Former deputy prime minister Thurman Shanmugaratnam was elected president with 70 votes. cents in the national vote after a popular alternative candidate was ruled ineligible. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has since indicated that he intends to hand over power to his designated successor, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, in 2024 “if all goes well”.
The government has also announced a series of very prudent welfare and housing policies aimed at supporting the working poor, older Singaporeans and those who own flats in older housing estates that have declined in value.
It remains to be seen whether these minor reforms will be enough for the People’s Action Party to maintain its current votes and seats in the next general election. It is certainly an inauspicious time for a new leader to take over. Wong won’t be alone. No doubt he will be supported by Mr Lee Hsien Loong as senior minister and perhaps Mr Shanmugam as deputy prime minister.
Michael Barr is Associate Professor of International Relations at Flinders University.He is the author of “Singapore’s ruling elite: networks of power and influence‘ and ‘Building Singapore: Elitism, ethnicity, and the nation-building project..