Breakthrough: Roadmap for Singapore's Political Future
Derek da Cunha
Singapore: Straits Times Press, 2012
ISBN: 9789814342070

"What political party helps an opposition to come into power? Why should we not demolish them before they get started? Once they get started it's more difficult to demolish them." --Lee Kuan Yew

The People's Action Party, the nation's ruling party since 1959, made Singapore a byword for political status quo. The electorate was known to be stolid, politically apathetic, indifferent. Until 2011. In a general election that witnessed Singaporeans' desire to alter the political landscape, the PAP saw its vote slide to an all-time low since Singapore's independence. The opposition Workers' Party secured six parliamentary seats. It was a significant breakthrough. Opposition parties have always been confronted with major obstacles on their road to Parliament, not least the multi-seat electoral divisions known as Group Representation Constituencies. With the fall of Aljunied GRC to the WP and the defeat of two Cabinet ministers, GE2011 shattered the ruling party's aura of virtue and invincibility.

Breakthrough: Roadmap for Singapore's Political Future examines the circumstances and context of WP's parliamentary gains, and where almost 2 out of 5 Singaporean voters opted for an opposition party. Singapore's electorate, post-GE2011, is polarised between those who subscribe to the status quo and those who want it altered irrevocably. As a consequence, Singapore's political future is certain to be marked by unexpected twists and turns, many of which will likely be counter-intuitive.