Singapore 'in mid-life crisis' as it nears 50

A slowing economy, immigration issues and the rise of critical social media have fuelled growing discontent with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP), which has kept a tight grip on power since independence in 1965.

A Gallup poll in July showed Singapore was the 10th-most pessimistic country in the world, with 24 per cent of respondents believing their lives will be worse in five years than now.

Sociologist Tan Ern Ser of the National University of Singapore said people are comparing the present unfavourably with the “golden age” of the 1970s and 80s, when the country enjoyed stellar economic growth and rising living standards.

Now there is greater job insecurity, a rising cost of living and an “influx of foreigners competing for jobs, amenities and space”. 

“I guess there is a mismatch between their aspirations and reality, even though they aren’t doing too badly, if seen from a global perspective.” 

In a speech shortly after Singapore’s National Day on August 9, former prime minister Goh Chok Tong said the country was at an “inflexion point”. 

“In two years’ time, Singapore will be 50 years old,” he said. “We have progressed far as a country but we seem to be trapped in a mid-life crisis. I say this because according to some surveys, Singaporeans are amongst the world’s wealthiest but are also the most pessimistic.”

Goh pointed to domestic challenges including the low birth rate and ageing population, a reliance on foreign workers, and a younger generation with higher expectations. Some policies need updating, said the 72-year-old, who now holds the title of Emeritus Senior Minister.

“A new social compact between the people and the government will also have to be forged. Otherwise, I fear that Singapore will begin to go downhill.” Since Singapore was kicked out of Malaysia in 1965, it has been seen as one of the world’s great economic success stories. In truth, it was never a sleepy colonial backwater pulled up from the swamps, as portrayed in official narratives. Its strategic location had made it a thriving port well before independence.

But the PAP oversaw decades of economic growth that turned the city-state into an international financial centre and manufacturing hub, with a per capita gross domestic product higher than the US.

The leaders tolerate little dissent and maintain tight restrictions on freedom of speech and public assembly. But the “social compact” that Goh referred to keeps the party in power as long as the country prospers.

Yet, as he pointed out, there are signs that things are not working as well as they did in the past. 

GDP growth slowed to 1.3 per cent last year, from 5.2 per cent in 2011.

Singaporeans already work the longest hours in the world, according to some studies, and about one in five families employs a maid – mostly from the Philippines and Indonesia – to help them cope.

The suicide rate increased by 30 per cent last year to 467, a 20-year high.

And with foreign workers now accounting for 38 per cent of the population of 5.3 million, there is growing concern about the effect that immigration is having on the tiny island’s infrastructure and identity.

In February and May, thousands of people attended rare protests after a government policy paper called for the population to grow by 30 per cent by 2030, with immigrants predicted to make up nearly half the population by then.

The discontent has been fuelled by the popularity of social media and websites critical of the government. At the 2011 general election, opposition parties won six seats in Parliament – the most since independence.