Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07SINGAPORE108
2007-01-16 09:44:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Singapore
Cable title:  

AN UNCARING ELITE IN SINGAPORE?

Tags:  ECON ELAB SOCI PGOV SN 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO8459
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHGP #0108/01 0160944
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 160944Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2246
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SINGAPORE 000108 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/11/2017
TAGS: ECON ELAB SOCI PGOV SN
SUBJECT: AN UNCARING ELITE IN SINGAPORE?


Classified By: E/P Counselor Ike Reed. Reasons 1.4(b)(d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SINGAPORE 000108

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/11/2017
TAGS: ECON ELAB SOCI PGOV SN
SUBJECT: AN UNCARING ELITE IN SINGAPORE?


Classified By: E/P Counselor Ike Reed. Reasons 1.4(b)(d)


1. (SBU) Summary: A vituperative internet posting by the
daughter of a ruling party MP helped spark a recent public
discussion on the role of Singapore's bureaucratic elite and
its relations with the rest of society. There is a growing
concern among average Singaporeans and even within the elite
that certain educational policies are creating a more
isolated and detached elite. In addition, growing income
inequality and concern about the influx of "foreign talent"
have added to the general population's unease with the elite.
However, over the last several months, the GOS has announced
measures to reduce income inequality and the fear of foreign
workers that could generate discontent among the average
Singaporean with the elite's handling of the economy. End
Summary.

Get Out of My Elite Uncaring Face
--------------


2. (SBU) Over more than four decades in power, Singapore's
People's Action Party (PAP) has built an enviable record of
delivering economic prosperity and a high quality of life in
the island state. It attributes a good deal of its success
to its assiduous cultivation of a bureaucratic elite to run
the government ministries and government-linked corporations
(GLCs). Potential high fliers are identified early on and
encouraged to join government service and are rewarded with
overseas scholarships, generous compensation, and fast track
promotions. With the PAP's dominance over parliament and the
mainstream media, the bureaucratic elite faces few external
checks on its policies, but its track record of success has
earned it grudging popular acceptance.


3. (SBU) Occasionally, however, grumbling about the elite and
its high-handed style can flash into the open. Over the last
couple of months, a vituperative exchange of internet blog
postings sparked a public discussion on the role of
Singapore's elite and its relations with the rest of society.
It started when Derek Wee, a 35-year old, commented on a
blog about the economic insecurity many Singaporeans feel and

the "pressure cooker" nature of society. In response, Wee
Shu Min, an 18-year old scholarship student at the
prestigious Raffles Junior College and daughter of PAP MP Wee
Siew Kim, blasted him and his concerns. She called him one
of Singapore's many "wretched, under-motivated, over-assuming
leeches" and told him to "get out of my elite uncaring face."
The mainstream media eventually picked up the story and MP
Wee Siew Kim only added fuel to the fire when he issued a
non-apology for his daughter's comments saying "if you cut
through the insensitivity of the language, her basic point is
reasonable."

The Clone Factory
--------------


4. (SBU) There has always been a gap between the bureaucratic
elite and the general population, commented National
University of Singapore sociology Professor Alexius Pereira.
The government has developed an efficient "clone factory" to
turn out civil servants with the specific skills and
personality it needs. Pereira characterized the GOS's ideal
civil servant as calculating, rational, thoroughly
unsentimental, and willing to do what he or she thinks is in
the national interest. If that means ripping out a cemetery
to make way for public housing (which has happened),so be it.


5. (C) In the past, the gap was tempered by the sense that
the members of the elite could (and did) come from anywhere
in society. However, some trends indicate that social
mobility is slowing down, leading to concerns that the elite
may be becoming more detached and isolated from the rest of
society. For example, the Public Service Commission has
noted that in the last five years one-third of its
scholarships have gone to students whose family incomes (USD
6500 per month or more) are in the top 13 percent. Only
seven percent of scholarships went to students whose family
incomes (USD 1300 per month or less) are in the bottom 17
percent. PAP MP Cedric Foo, who attended university in the
United States on a government scholarship, believes the GOS
should modify the public scholarship program to direct more
funds to students from lower income families. Some have also
criticized Special Assistance Plan (SAP) schools, which
almost exclusively cater to gifted students who also excel in
Mandarin. PAP MP Inderjit Singh told us the SAP schools were
a bad idea since they isolated students from the rest of
society and resulted in increased racial separation. Both
the scholarships and the SAP schools are seen as important
stepping stones to the upper reaches of the civil service.

Not All Boats Are Lifted
--------------


SINGAPORE 00000108 002 OF 002



6. (SBU) Growing income inequality and concern about the
influx of "foreign talent" have also generated some unease
among ordinary Singaporeans with the elite. While the
Singapore economy has enjoyed strong growth the last few
years, there has also been rising income inequality as the
incomes of the poorest households have fallen in real terms.
From 2000-2005, the gini coefficient (a measure of income
inequality where a higher percentage corresponds to greater
inequality),always on the high side, steadily increased from
.490 to .522 while the ratio of per capita income in the top
20 percent of households compared to the bottom 20 percent
increased from 20.9 to 31.9.


7. (SBU) To address concerns over a low birth rate and
shortage of talent, the GOS has meanwhile been encouraging
highly-educated foreigners to take up Singaporean
citizenship, with some success. In 2005, it granted
citizenship to 12,900 foreigners, up from 7,600 in 2004.
This has generated predictable resentment, particularly among
low and middle income Singaporeans concerned about
competition for jobs and the implications for their upward
mobility. Since most foreign workers in fact take menial
jobs that Singaporeans will not or can not do, the
competition may be more perceived than real, noted Institute
of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) researcher Terrence Chong.
But many working and middle class Singaporeans still bridle
at the government's perceived favoritism toward foreign
talent. For example, a public opinion poll published by the
Straits Times indicated that 43 percent of respondents
thought the government cared more about highly-educated
foreigners than Singaporeans and 65 percent thought these
foreigners were able to enjoy all the privileges of living in
Singapore without any of the responsibilities.

Nip It in the Bud
--------------


8. (SBU) Notwithstanding a tendency toward political tone
deafness, the GOS recognizes the need to defuse resentment.
It has announced over the last several months a number of
measures to alleviate both income inequality and the fear of
foreign workers that could generate discontent with the
elite's handling of the economy. For example, the government
is instituting a "Workfare Bonus" to dispense money to people
in the lower-income households, provided they work. The GOS
doesn't want to create a system of welfare entitlements,
noted MP Foo, but wants to direct more resources to the
working poor. Meanwhile, the GOS is cutting health care
subsidies and raising the cost of school tuition for
foreigners. This is expected to give Singaporeans a sense
that they are being treated better than foreigners, noted
ISEAS's Chong. In addition, it will give foreigners a
greater incentive to become Singaporean citizens, observed MP
Foo.

Comment
--------------


9. (C) Popular resentment against the elite is nothing new in
Singapore. However, it has long been part of the implicit
social contract that the PAP and elite civil servants tell
people what to do in exchange for policies that deliver
peace, prosperity and the good life. At times, the elite
demonstrates astonishing arrogance and political
insensitivity (e.g., MP Wee Siew Kim),which in other places
might lead to real political problems. But the Wee Shu Min
incident and the government's subsequent policy adjustments
also highlight how adroitly the PAP manages the domestic
situation and why it has been successful for so long. The
government rarely if ever acknowledges a mistake. But once
it has made one, it moves quickly and quietly to defuse and
deflate grievances that might lead to wider discontent.
HERBOLD