What do they fear?

I've often wondered- What does the PAP fear?

Singapore, jewel of the South East and economic powerhouse of the 20th century. In the early 1960s, Lee Kuan Yew was the right man and his belief in the fundamental of leadership by complete executive authority was the right one. An infant nation requires a firm hand, intelligence and steadfast decision making to weather the birthing pains of a rising city-state.

Too many cooks spoil the soup so goes the old adage. LKY was one chef and a good soup he did make.

On the advent of the 21st century, something changed. The nation grew more intelligent as a people. Suddenly, the lost sheep that MM Lee had led out of the darkness had gained an awareness and intelligence of its own. We evolved, we started to question. We wanted to take ownership. But this "ownership" meant involvement and involvement continued to have a high price (defamation suits mostly). So we remained uninvolved but increasingly vocal.

Yet the infamous iron grip remained. Screw up after screw up:
- Mas Selamat's escape (a theoretical kansas city shuffle)
- Loss of billions in investments fiasco's by Temasek under the Prime Minister's wife
- Loss of millions by town councils
- the lack of accountability for the above screw ups
- perceived uneven application for the rule of law (CASE protest versus Tak Boleh Tahan protest)
- perceived uneven application of constituitional rights (PAP cycling event versus WP cycling event at the East Coast)

Why then? Why should a party so famed for its pristine white shirts and whiter than white anti-corruption stance be so afraid of a few protestors?

Why does the Thai king enjoy such absolute love from his people? Why does the PAP who has given years of prosperty fear the loud opinions of a decided few?

Does the PAP believe it's own convictions and/or public relations spiel? Complete belief in one's convictions and moral authority indicates a willingness to stand before a court of opinion of the people. A Christ-like defense: where the unrighteous (enemies of PAP) can throw accusations at the righteous and no amount of slander may stick.

That the loud protestations of the vocal few will be dismissed by the adoring masses. What does the PAP fear? What do they have to hide? What's been lacking that might become so glaringly revealed if the people finally stood up and let themselves be heard?

Is it our climate of fear or is it theirs?

Majulah Singapura.

With embers of patriotism,
Percevale