Singapore 1991: Towards New Horizons

Abstract

The year 1991 started on a new note with the premiership having changed hands smoothly. With a more open style of government, the country looked forward to more years of progress and prosperity. Economic growth looked promising although the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries appeared to have gone into a recession amidst the Gulf crisis. As the effects of a lagged recession became apparent, measures were afoot to curb excessive wage increases and curtail the rising costs of doing business in Singapore. Singapore continued its drive to have a wider manufacturing base by working closely with Malaysia and Indonesia to develop the Johore-Singapore-Riau Growth Triangle. In line with the new thinking which has pervaded government circles, previous plans to privatize some of the Statutory Boards were maintained and Singapore Telecom and the Public Utilities Board were on stream for privatization in early 1992. There was much debate, however, on the merits and demerits of restructuring the health service and letting hospitals run as self-governing entities. During the course of the year, the Census of Population 1990 Data was released with some interesting findings on ageing and the changing racial composition of the Singapore population. It was also a year in which major plans for the future of Singapore were released: a National Technology Plan was made public in September while the initial framework for a national strategic plan was unveiled at the National Business Forum. These plans flesh out the ambitions set out in a publication called The Next Lap which was released by the government earlier in the year. Ethnic sentiments were aroused in some deliberate fashion during the elections which were held at the end of August. The ruling People's Action Party (PAP) lost three more seats in previously safe constituencies, reflecting stronger voter senti ments about having more opposition representatives in Parliament. The elections in August also brought forth the issue of language within the Chinese community. As some of the constituencies which went to the opposition were mainly dialect speaking, the government will have to work closely at grassroots level to ensure that clan and dialect loyalties do not shake the foundations of multi-racial society in Singapore. Ethnic issues were once again at the forefront as the government put forth proposals for community development along ethnic lines. With the setting up of Mendaki for the Malays in the early 1980s, the focus in 1991 fell on the Indian community and the poorer sections of the Chinese community.