As the so called lucky third generation Singaporeans, many of us today have grown up in an environment comparable to any other first world country in the world, and many of us have in effect come to take for granted many of the benefits and comforts that our home country Singapore has in essence provided for us these numerous years.But as most of us would know by now (given the constant and maybe not so subtle reminders of our very own PAP), Singapore wasn’t always the cozy cosmopolitan city that it is today.

It was only through the leadership of the great and esteemed Mr Lee Kuan Yew all through the 90s and perhaps even up till today, that Singapore has been transformed from the insignificant country that we most undoubtedly were in the past, to the present economic power (albeit a small one) nonetheless, no longer insignificant or small (except perhaps in the truest geographical sense of the word).

We have one of the highest standards of living in the world (and yes that includes the scandinavian countries too, well at least some of them). We are upheld as a model for sustainable and yet tremendous economic development by the international community, and well we have almost everything that we could need for (except babies, but its ok we have foreign talent babies, who can also play pingpong).

Our government which is basically synonymous with the words PAP, has and is continuing to provide for the multitude of masses that today make up the Singapore public. From CPF to Medisave, from SMRT to NTUC and from Mediacorp to childcare centers, PAP has provided numerous services and made immeasurable improvements to many of our lives today. But point being has all these benefits which we Singaporeans now take for granted become the noose that holds us back?

Think about, every single day, we come into contact with one form or another pro-PAP posters, media or even the news which is as with most other countries, state owned. Most of the comforts and everyday life activities (even the daily 9pm Channel 8 drama) are ultimately, though subtly sometimes, associated with the most esteemed ruling party the PAP. And guess what, they know it.

Last year’s GE brought to light a few rather interesting facts, such as the fact that not all Singaporeans are in fact insanely pleased with the ruling government and the almost utter arrogance (at least in our view) of our government which saw them fielding candidates such as Tin Peiling with political heavyweights like SM Goh.

Yet, PAP still received a good majority of the votes, which really shouldn’t come as a surprise considering their wonderful track record and perhaps some gratitude from voters who witnessed Singapore’s first world transformation. But think about it this way. Could the voters who cast votes in favor of our ruling party be voting because of the belief that PAP will help to maintain status quo and also because the thought of the removal of the PAP from the seat as the top ruling party resulting in possible political economic social turmoil is too scary to imagine?

Even assuming that PAP does not directly control the large civil service sector and the other public government owned entities in Singapore, the very fact that a political party has been in power for more than 60 years would suggest a certain amount of it’s rootedness and entrenchment into the very heart of the country. Just take for example, the Temasek holdings,the sovereign wealth fund owned by the government of Singapore. Would it then be some kind of coincidence that the current PM Lee’s wife happens to be its CEO, perhaps this may be just pointless speculation but still it indelibly links the PAP with one of the largest and most important companies in Singapore.

Emasculation of public – providence of “massage thingies” such as housing, education, healthcare transport that seem to be publically controlled but are in reality tools of the PAP government to retain their political dominion over Singaporeans.
They appear to give us a lot autonomy touting democracy and meritocracy as the preferred means of governance which has been justified throughout the world. However, is it truly a democracy? Is there even a choice of governance in Singapore, given that should the PAP ultimately lose power to opposition groups people will lose everything
The political freedom to choose or has that right been taken away from us.
How many of us have actually stopped to ponder

When every voter casts his or her vote, we would expect that the foremost question would be “would this party be able to better my life or aid my country in its progress”. Singaporeans are not by any means stupid, (perhaps thanks to the world class education that MOE, created by PAP provides) should any political party other than the PAP come to power in the near and probably immediate future, a huge amount of turmoil and problems would result, for one, property prices and foreign investment might crash due to the hitherto unproven track record of any other political party in Singapore other than the PAP. Now if you knew that your house home and all the other 5 Cs that you’ve worked so hard to obtain might be threatened by that decision you make on that tiny slip of ballot paper, would you think twice or maybe thrice before voting low thia kiang or lynda chiam?

Now so our point being that while all the benefits and luxuries that the PAP has provided us Singaporeans with today may actually be relatively taken for granted and barely noticed, they have in effect perhaps begun to constrain us and like all those Aunties who went for PAP rallies for chicken rice (not very sure about that one) turned us into miniature PAPettes.

-          What we have now and how it’s the good life  (done mostly)

-          What are in the interest of the government

-          How the government uses it to remain in power, how actually civil service (eg education) caters to government

-          Implications on us (done): eg people dont dare to vote

Rest assured, in the coming GE 2014 we would most undoubtedly be voting for the glorious PAP because we actually want to keep all our beautiful condo, car, credit cards and all those things that the PAP has so graciously provided. As you can see, the PAP has managed to infiltrate into so many aspects of our lives that Singaporeans cannot bear to part with. We are rendered powerless to choose partly because of our need for the sense of security that the PAP is able to bring, but also because PAP influences so many sectors that many expect a radical change if PAP was ever taken out of power. Singaporeans are not receptive to change --- is this also the consequence of having power taken out of our hands? Whatever happens, it remains to be seen whether Singaporeans, that has been silently (or maybe not so silently) been made impotent by the PAP, will be able to one day take true power into our own hands.