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The 2015 Singapore Swing: Depoliticised Polity and the Kiasi/Kiasu Voter

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-18, 18:02 authored by James ChinJames Chin
The results of the 2015 Singapore general election (GE) saw the People’s Action Party (PAP) reverse the decline in support of the past few GEs. Many writers cited as some of the key reasons for PAP’s strong showing: a flight to safety, the superior PAP campaign, the personal popularity of Lee Hsien Loong, the 50 years of Singapore's Independence (SG50) feel-good factor, changes in government policies since 2011, direct government subsidies to the pioneer generation, the passing of Lee Kuan Yew, and the mainstream media’s attack on the credibility of the opposition. In this paper, the author offers an additional explanation, that is, the underlying causes of the PAP’s electoral success were the policies laid down after Singapore’s independence and some key cultural traits of this island nation. The policy of depoliticisation led to the creation of a social contract under which political liberties were voluntarily sacrificed in return for economic growth and prosperity. The author further argues that the cultural traits of kiasi and kiasu tipped the balance in favour of the PAP when voters decided that the outlook for the Southeast Asian region was negative and Singapore needed the PAP to steer the country during this period of uncertainty.

History

Publication title

The Round Table

Volume

105

Pagination

141-148

ISSN

0035-8533

Department/School

School of Humanities

Publisher

Routledge

Place of publication

United Kingdom

Rights statement

Copyright 2016 The Round Table Ltd

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Government and politics not elsewhere classified

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