A History of the People's Action Party: 1985–2021 by Shashi Jayakumar

Abstract

Reviewed by: A History of the People's Action Party: 1985–2021 by Shashi Jayakumar Michael D. Barr A History of the People's Action Party: 1985–2021. By Shashi Jayakumar. Singapore: NUS Press, 2021, 782 pp. ISBN: 978-981-325-128-1 Commissioned institutional histories are generally gentle in their interrogation of their subject matter, but they sometimes offer new and hitherto confidential data that compensate for analytical shyness. Shashi Jayakumar's commissioned history of Singapore's People's Action Party (PAP) definitely qualifies for such praise. Let us begin with the story of the selection of Goh Chok Tong to replace Lee Kuan Yew as prime minister. Page 12 tells us that the choice of Goh was settled at a meeting of 'younger ministers' on 30 December 1984, and the results were conveyed to PM Lee the next day, but two paragraphs down Jayakumar reveals that the results of the meeting had already been written up and submitted to Lee the day before the meeting, on 29 December. So, who really chose Goh as PM-in-waiting, and when? And why does Jayakumar repeat the standard (and false) mythology on pages 94 and 385 (n. 137) as if he had never written page 12? Interestingly, the entry of Lee Hsien Loong into politics in 1984 is also revealed to have been less clear cut than is usually depicted. The official narrative [End Page 130] emphasises that it was Goh Chok Tong (not Lee Kuan Yew) who approached the younger Lee to join politics, with acknowledgement that there were divisions in the Old Guard over his entry. Jayakumar's new sources reveal that Lee Kuan Yew was more involved than is usually thought, especially after opposition began surfacing in Cabinet (pp. 38–43). One of the recurring highlights of the book is revelations of how often Lee Kuan Yew has been given insufficient credit for his achievements. Jayakumar reveals that Lee was the prime mover in the introduction of multi-member Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) (p. 75), Non-Constituency MPs (NCMPs) (p. 71), the elected presidency (p. 72), Nominated MPs (NMPs) (p. 79), Town Councils (p. 87), and Speakers' Corner (p. 277), even though credit for most of these innovations is usually given to Goh. And when Catherine Lim criticised PM Goh for failing to shake himself free of Lee's dominance in 1994, it was Lee who secretly drove and in part dictated (literally, as it turns out) Goh's counter-attacks (pp. 263–67). Hence, Jayakumar has belatedly confirmed Lim's critique. This does not mean that Goh has no achievements to his name. It was Goh's idea to use HDB (Housing and Development Board) upgrades (and also the supply of kindergarten places!) as incentives for voting PAP and punishments for wards that vote for the opposition (p. 201). Goh also led the charge for reducing government control and agency in Singapore's economy, making it more market- and business-friendly (p. 172). Significantly, however, Jayakumar traces the PAP's subsequent electoral problems back to this ideological U-turn, since it left many Singaporeans wondering if the government really cared much about their welfare any more (p. 189). This popular query was validated when, in 2001, Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong dismissed concerns about the social consequences of increasing the numbers of foreign workers (to help business) with the words, 'some other part of Government' will be looking at that (p. 261). Except it seems they didn't. In a masterpiece of understatement and disconnection, Jayakumar reports two chapters later that the housing and transport crises generated by sudden population growth during the 2000s came about because 'there was a reluctance to build ahead of demand' (p. 417). The shift towards openness later spread to the media, arts, culture and the internet (pp. 260–63), but not so much to politics. One of the most remarkable features of the book is the thoroughness and candour with which the author documents the corruption of democracy by the deployment of government resources and state power on behalf of the ruling party (pp. 22–23, 68–70, 127, 177, 188, 194–95, 198, 202, 228, 347, 542–44...