Face Change Phase Change

I still remember the stunned look on the faces of George Yeo and his GRC team when their lost to the WP in the last GE finally sunk in. The outcome caught them completely flatfooted. There have been quite a few tentative changes in their policies since then, but by and large, the core of their policies have remained unchanged.

For the most part, they are still trying to defend the indefensible and justify the unjustifiable. Take for example the current blogger's post that apparently went viral and Minister of State Mr Tan Chuan Tjin's response:

MOS Tan Chuan TJin responds to blogger’s post gone viral

Reading through the article and some of the forum comments, I cannot help but feel the gulf and disconnect between Mr Tan's response and where the commenters were coming from.

There has been a phase change in the psyche of the Singapore electorate, the scale and depth of which apparently has yet to sink into the consciousness of the government leadership. In chemistry, all it takes to kick start the crystallization process is just a tiny seed crystal. All it took to set off the conflagration in the Middle East was Mohammed Bouazizi's act of self immolation in Tunisia.

Similarly, WP's election victory in the last GE is the seed crystal that is catalysing the change in the political ground. It is in the nature of such changes that once the process begins and the ball starts rolling, it is extremely difficult to reverse the process without expending a huge amount of energy or effort. Nothing the government has done thus far even comes close to addressing this challenge.

The old playbook doesn't work anymore. I think the government realises this, hence the reticence in holding the by-election in Hougang. Same-old same-old just isn't going to cut it anymore. It may be time for the really good men to cut ranks for the good of the country if they cannot institute change from within or else be equally guilty by continued association with the status quo.