Singapore in 2015: SG50

How should a review of Singapore in 2015 be best framed? By an acronym and a number: SG50. This was the year Singapore celebrated its fiftieth year of independence, with the ubiquitous SG50 logo embossed on and attached to almost anything.¹ Much like an individual turning middle-aged, the year was one where the nation experienced loss, made decisions about its future, reflected on and celebrated its past with pride, and tried to become comfortable with its own skin.

Domestic Political Developments

National Loss: The Passing of Lee Kuan Yew

Loss in 2015 for the nation came in the form of the death of former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew on 23 March at the age of ninety-one — just under five months before the city-state was to celebrate fifty years of independence. Lee passed away after being hospitalized for severe pneumonia on 5 February. Lee’s elder son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, declared a week-long period of national mourning and all national flags were flown at half mast during that period. After a private wake, his body was moved to the Parliament House of Singapore on 25 March where he lay in state for four days before his cremation on 29 March.

Lee’s death has undoubtedly closed a chapter in Singapore’s history, as he is widely regarded as the key founding father of modern Singapore. Co-founder of the People’s Action Party (PAP), the political party that has governed Singapore uninterrupted since home rule in 1959, Lee was Singapore’s first and longest-serving Prime Minister. He oversaw the rapid development of the nation in one generation from underdeveloped to developed status. In a televised address to the nation on the day of his father’s death, Prime Minister Lee maintained “[t]o many Singaporeans, and indeed others too, Lee Kuan Yew was Singapore”.² The immense measure of the man and the intimacy of the ties between him and the nation may be found in the tributes paid from abroad, the number of people who queued for hours to pay their respects when he lay in state and the numbers who lined the roads to see the cortege travel to the funeral service and the crematorium. With regard to international tributes, some examples include U.S. President Barack Obama describing Lee as “a visionary who led his country from Singapore’s independence in 1965 to build one of the most prosperous countries in the world today”,³ UK Prime Minister David Cameron holding that “Lee Kuan Yew personally shaped Singapore in a way that few people have any nation …[and] made his country into one of the great success stories of our modern world”,⁴ and all New Zealand government departments and public buildings flying their flags at half mast on the day of the funeral.⁵ As for the unexpected number of people who paid their respects as he lay in state, just over 23 per cent of Singapore’s population did so either at Parliament House or at community tribute sites around the island.⁶ Moreover, over 100,000 people lined the streets in heavy rain to see the funeral procession make its way to the service at the National University Cultural Centre and finally the Mandai Crematorium.⁷

Returning to the Old Normal: The General Election

With the passing of Lee Kuan Yew and the massive National Day celebrations over with in August, all eyes turned to the general elections held on 11 September 2015, where Singaporeans had the opportunity to decide who best could steer them into the future. This general election was one of several firsts. Firstly, it was the first general election since Singapore’s independence without the participation of Lee Kuan Yew. Secondly, it was also the first general election where there were no walkovers — all seats were contested. Challenging the 89 PAP candidates were 28 candidates from the Workers’ Party (WP); 12 from the National Solidarity Party (NSP); 11 from the Reform Party (RP), 11 from the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP); 10 from Singaporeans First (SF); 8 from...