Challenging Democracy: Singapore’s Increasing Rejection of Democratic Values
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47611/jsrhs.v11i3.3690Keywords:
Singapore, People's Action Party, Autocracy, Democratic Values, DemocracyAbstract
Singapore is a relatively young country that earned its independence from Malaysia in 1965, yet this developing democracy has achieved a remarkable GDP per capita that in 2019 was higher than the US’s. Fostering economic growth has been a top priority for the country’s dominant political party, the People’s Action Party (PAP) who has controlled the country’s executive branch since 1959. However, in order to remain the dominant political party, the PAP has compromised the country’s democratic institutions and the people’s civil liberties. In the general parliamentary elections, the PAP has increased the usage and severity of electoral manipulation tactics in order to ensure elections in their favor. Not only have they eroded the legitimacy of elections, but they have also repeatedly abused control of the judicial branch to push for decisions that suppressed opposition parties and protected PAP leaders. Lastly, the PAP, in order to suppress the spread of anti-PAP sentiment, has shut down news websites, jailed journalists, and threatened the livelihood of anybody who criticizes the PAP, contradicting constitutional civil liberties. The People’s Action Party has brought a number of economic benefits to Singapore, yet economic growth has come at the expense of the liberal democracy, trending Singapore in the direction of autocracy and challenging the notion that democracy is the only path for a developing nation’s success.
Downloads
References or Bibliography
Attorney General's Chambers. Contempt of Court. https://www.agc.gov.sg/legal-processes/contempt-of-court.
"Author Alan Shadrake Released from Singapore Jail." BBC News. Last modified July 9, 2011. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-14091137.
Department of Statistics. Singapore Economy. April 2022. https://www.singstat.gov.sg/modules/infographics/economy.
Election Department. July 2020 Election. July 2020. https://www.electionguide.org/elections/id/3338/.
———. 1988 Parliamentary General Election Results. https://www.eld.gov.sg/elections_past_parliamentary1988.html.
———. 1991 Parliamentary General Election Results. https://www.eld.gov.sg/elections_past_parliamentary1991.html.
———. 1997 Parliamentary General Election Results. https://www.eld.gov.sg/elections_past_parliamentary1997.html.
Elections Department Singapore. 2001 Parliamentary General Election Results. 2001. https://www.eld.gov.sg/elections_past_parliamentary2001.html.
"Electoral Divisions." Elections Department Singapore. https://www.eld.gov.sg/elections_map_electoral.html.
"Explainer: Singapore's Electoral System." New Naratif. Last modified March 26, 2020. https://newnaratif.com/explainer-how-singapores-electoral-system-works/.
Healy, Tim, and Santha Oorjitham. "Muzzling the Watchdog? The Government Cuts the President's Veto." CNN. Last modified November 30, 2000. http://edition.cnn.com/ASIANOW/asiaweek/96/1122/nat7.html.
Iyer, T.k.k. "Censorship of Films and Video Tapes: The Films Act, (No. 22 of 1981)." Malaya Law Review 24, no. 2 (1982): 327-34. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24863950.
"Jolovan Wham Fined and Sentenced." Front Line Defenders. Last modified 2021. https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/jolovan-wham-fined-and-sentenced#case-update-id-9683.
"'Kill the Chicken to Scare the Monkeys' Suppression of Free Expression and Assembly in Singapore." Human Rights Watch. Last modified December 12, 2017. https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/12/12/kill-chicken-scare-monkeys/suppression-free-expression-and-assembly-singapore.
NG, Kelly. "What You Need to Know about the Public Order and Safety (Special Powers) Bil." Today Online. Last modified February 27, 2018. https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/what-you-need-know-about-public-order-and-safety-special-powers-bill.
Ngerng, Roy. "What Does Data Tell Us about Singapore's General Elections?" The News Lens. Last modified July 13, 2020. https://international.thenewslens.com/article/137665#&gid=1&pid=1.
President of the Republic of Singapore. President's Duties. https://www.istana.gov.sg/The-President/Presidents-Duties/Constitutional.
"Prosperity versus Individual Rights? Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law in Singapore." International Bar Association. Last modified July 2008. https://studylib.net/doc/8662096/prosperity-versus-individual-rights%3F.
"Reserved Election for Community That Has Not Held Office of President for 5 or More Consecutive Terms. Report no. 19B. October 10, 2016. https://sso.agc.gov.sg/Bills-Supp/28-2016/Published/20161010?DocDate=20161010&ProvIds=pr9-.
Sen, NG Jun. "How It All Unfolded: The AHTC Case in a Nutshell." Today Online. Last modified March 10, 2022. https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/how-it-all-unfolded-ahtc-case-nutshell.
Sim, Dewey. "Singapore Website The Online Citizen Goes Offline after Funding Disclosure Row with Government." South China Morning Post. Last modified September 16, 2021. https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3148970/singapore-website-online-citizen-goes-offline-after-funding.
"Singapore: Academic Jailed over Kangaroo T-shirt, Judiciary Severely Criticized." Asian Forum for Humans Rights and Development. Last modified January 20, 2009. https://www.forum-asia.org/?p=5309.
"Singaporean Authorities Shut down The Real Singapore News Website." Committee to Protect Journalists. Last modified May 5, 2015. https://cpj.org/2015/05/singaporean-authorities-shut-down-the-real-singapo/.
"Singapore: Authorities Given Broad New Powers to Police Protests." Amnesty International. Last modified April 4, 2017. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/04/singapore-authorities-given-broad-new-powers-to-police-protests/.
"Singapore: Defamation Suits Threaten Chee Soon Juan and Erode Freedom of Expression." Amnesty International. Last modified November 5, 2001. https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/singapore-defamation-suits-threaten-chee-soon-juan-and-erode-freedom-expression.
"Singapore: Drop Charges Against Opposition Leader." Human Rights Watch. Last modified February 8, 2011. https://www.hrw.org/news/2011/02/08/singapore-drop-charges-against-opposition-leader#.
Singapore Government. "Acts and Regulations." Infocomm Media Development Authority. https://www.imda.gov.sg/regulations-and-licensing/Regulations/Acts-and-Regulations.
Singapore Government. Constitution of the Republic of Singapore. August 9, 1965. https://sso.agc.gov.sg/Act/CONS1963?ProvIds=pr14-.
———. Lee Hsien Loong v Singapore Democratic Party and Others and Another Suit [2006] SGHC 220. https://www.elitigation.sg/gdviewer/s/2006_SGHC_220.
———. Public Order Act. October 9, 2009. https://sso.agc.gov.sg/Act/POA2009.
———. "Media Centre." POFMA Office. https://www.pofmaoffice.gov.sg/media-centre/.
"Singapore High Court Rules That The Online Citizen Bloggers Defamed Prime Minister." Committee to Protect Journalists. Last modified September 3, 2021. https://cpj.org/2021/09/singapore-high-court-rules-that-the-online-citizen-bloggers-defamed-prime-minister/.
"Singapore: J B Jeyaretnam --Defamation Suits Assault Freedom of Expression." Amnesty International. https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/asa360051998en.pdf.
Singapore Parliament. Administration of Justice (Protection) Act 2016. 2016. https://sso.agc.gov.sg/Act/AJPA2016.
———. Info-Communications Media Development Authority Act 2016. Report no. No.22 of 2016. September 30, 2016. https://sso.agc.gov.sg/Act/IMDAA2016.
———. Newspaper and Printing Presses Act. https://sso.agc.gov.sg/Act/NPPA1974.
———. Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act 2019. Report no. 26. June 28, 2019. https://sso.agc.gov.sg/Acts-Supp/18-2019.
"Singapore Presidential Election Won by Tony Tan." BBC News. Last modified August 27, 2011. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-14690176.
"Singapore Suspends Independent Website, Threatens It with Closure." Reporters without Borders. Last modified October 15, 2021. https://rsf.org/en/singapore-suspends-independent-website-threatens-it-closure.
"Singapore: The Death Penalty: A Hidden Toll of Executions." Amnesty International. Last modified January 2004. https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/asa360012004en.pdf.
Tam, Waikeung. Political Representation of Racial Minorities in the Parliament of Singapore. July 12, 2019. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/japanese-journal-of-political-science/article/political-representation-of-racial-minorities-in-the-parliament-of-singapore/D1836EC371EE5A08656672CA1CF69354.
Tan, Netina. Constitutional Engineering and Regulating Ethnic Politics in Singapore. November 2012. http://www.law.nyu.edu/sites/default/files/ECM_PRO_074075.pdf.
———. "Manipulating Electoral Laws in Singapore." Electoral Studies. Last modified July 10, 2013. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0261379413001145.
Tan, Netina, and Bernard Grofman. "The Electoral Authoritarian’s Subtle Toolkit: Evidence from Singapore." Institute for Advanced Studies. Last modified July 2016. https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/bitstream/handle/document/47766/ssoar-2016-tan_et_al-The_Electoral_Authoritarians_Subtle_Toolkit.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y&lnkname=ssoar-2016-tan_et_al-The_Electoral_Authoritarians_Subtle_Toolkit.pdf.
———. “Electoral Rules and Manufacturing Legislative Supermajority: Evidence from Singapore.” May 5, 2017. http://www.socsci.uci.edu/~bgrofman/201-TAN%20and%20%20GROFMAN-Plurality%20Bloc%20Voting-_j.%20Commonwealth%20-nqf%20Text.pdf.
Tung, Ngiam Shih. How Gerrymandering Creates Unfair Elections in Singapore. 2020. https://newnaratif.com/how-gerrymandering-creates-unfair-elections-in-singapore/#_edn3.
Wong, George, and Woo Jun Jie. "SINGAPORE in 2018." Southeast Asian Affairs, 2019, 297-324. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26939701.
Yei, Seow Bi. "Everyone Has Right to Choose a Lawyer." The Straits Times. Last modified February 6, 2018. https://www.straitstimes.com/politics/everyone-has-right-to-choose-a-lawyer.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Copyright (c) 2022 Arya Kumar
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright holder(s) granted JSR a perpetual, non-exclusive license to distriute & display this article.
