Forum: The (In)Significance of Political Elections in Singapore

(Someone please attend and tell me about it...)

Organized by the Department of Political Science, NUS, no less, and supported by Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.

25 February 2006 (Saturday), 8.30am
NUS Lecture Theatre 8

Since the 1960s, general elections in Singapore have continued, many say convincingly, to reinstate the People's Action Party as the ruling party. Since the early 1990s, when the Presidency became an elected office, Singaporeans have only voted once for their President. What does all of this mean for the future of elections as an institution of democratic politics in Singapore? Are elections really able to express the will of the people? Have elections ever presented real choices and alternatives for voters? Can elections continue to act as a government's main source of political legitimacy? Are elections anything more than political spectacle to periodically re-enchant a depoliticized administrative state? These questions and others will be discussed by a panel of experts in the Singapore Forum on Politics 2006:

Dr Gillian Koh
Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Policy Studies
"This Is Not An Election Ploy!" Dissecting the Government's Policy Agenda

James Gomez
Assistant Secretary-General (2nd), Workers' Party
You Have a Choice: Empowering Singaporeans to Elect their Representatives

Viswa Sadasivan
Chairman, The Right Angle Group
The Media's Roll In Political Elections

Chandra Mohan
Advocate & Solicitor, Tan Rajah & Cheah and former Nominated Member of Parliament
Political Elections in Singapore: Constitutional and Legal Perspectives

Dr Geh Min
Nominated Member of Parliament and President of Nature Society (Singapore)
Do We Have the Government We Want?

Professor Kirpal Singh
Associate Professor of Literature & Creative Thinking, Singapore Management University
Alternatives to Political Elections: A 'Post-Electoral' Democracy?

Chaired by
Dr Kenneth Paul Tan
Assistant Professor, Political Science Department, NUS

Admission is free. All are welcome.

But you need to register.

Please confirm your place by sending an email to Zauwiyah Majid (polzm@nus.edu.sg) with the following details:

Title/Name: ______________
Designation: _____________
Organization: ____________
Telephone number: _______
Postal address: ___________

As these Forums have been very well attended in the past, please register early to avoid disappointment. All enquiries should be directed to Dr Kenneth Paul Tan, c/o polzm@nus.edu.sg.

About the Speakers:

Dr Gillian Koh contributes to the Institute of Policy Studies' work in the area of Politics and Governance. Her on-going research interests lie in the areas of state-society relations, public consultation, and the development of civil society in Singapore. Her recent projects include a study on public consultation reviewing the work of the Economic Review Committee (2002-2003), Remaking Singapore Committee (2002-2003), and the Censorship Review Committee (2002-2004), and organizing a cross-sectoral public forum on the Government's proposal to license a casino in Singapore. She is also currently involved in a survey on national identity and other political attitudes of Singaporeans, and another project focused on developing scenarios of Singapore in 2030. She is also currently a member of the Supervisory Panel of the Feedback Unit, Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree (1988) from the National University of Singapore, a Master of Arts degree (1990) in Third World Studies at the Department of Sociological Studies, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom, and a PhD in Sociology from the same department and university in 1995.

James Gomez is the 2nd Assistant Secretary-General of the Workers' Party (WP). He joined the WP in 2001 and served for a period as chairman of its Policy and Communications committee chairing two public consultation exercises on the New Poor and Social Cohesion and the Casino Proposal. He was also recently part of a six-person committee that put together the latest Workers' Party Manifesto. He is presently, vice-chairman of the North-East Area Committee and advisor to the Northern Area Committee. James by profession is a researcher and has lectured at various universities and published widely in scholarly books and journals.

Viswa Sadasivan is Chairman and founding partner of The Right Angle Group of companies - one of the largest independent TV production companies and consultancies in Singapore. With more than 20 years in the TV and media industry - in news and current affairs as TV anchor of programmes such as Feedback and Talking Point, Senior Controller, and in other top management positions - Viswa is one of the most respected and experienced media figures in Singapore. Over the past 7 years, Viswa has also established his credentials as a much sought after strategic communications and crisis management coach and consultant. In public service, Viswa has been on several key government committees and boards that include the Economic Review Committee (2003), Remaking Singapore Committee (2003), Media Development Board, the government's Feedback Unit, the Central Singapore Community Development Council, Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA), National Youth Achievement Award Council, the Singapore Mediation Centre, and the Government Parliamentary Committee on Defence & Foreign Affairs. He is a respected political and media commentator/observer in Singapore. Viswa holds a Master of Public Administration degree from the Kennedy School of Government and Administration, Harvard University.

Chandra Mohan has been an advocate & solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore since 1977. He is a partner in the law firm of Tan Rajah & Cheah. He is the current President of the National University of Singapore Society (NUSS). He graduated from the University of Singapore in 1976 with a Bachelor of Laws (Honours). From 2001 to 2004, he served as Nominated Member of Parliament of Singapore. He is a member of the Council of the National University of Singapore, Chairman of the International Relations Committee of the Law Society of Singapore, member of the Management Committee of Action Group for Mental Illness, Justice of the Peace and Deputy Registrar of Marriages and Licensed Solemniser, and member of the Criminal Law Advisory Committee, Ministry of Home Affairs. In the past, he has served as President of the Law Society of Singapore (1995 to 1997), Board Member of the Board of Legal Education of Singapore (1995 to 1998), Vice President and Senate Member of the Singapore Academy of Law (1995 to 1998), President and Secretary of the Roundtable (a civic and non-partisan organization in Singapore) (2001 to 2004), and member of COMPASS, Ministry of Education (2002 to 2004).

Dr Geh Min (MBBS, FRCS, FAMS) is an ophthalmologist by profession. She is a nature lover and a committed conservationist of both our natural and man-made heritage. She is presently serving her 5th term as President of the Nature Society (Singapore) and has sworn in as a Nominated Member of Parliament on 29 November 2004 with serving term from 1 January 2005 to 30 June 2007. She is a board member of The Nature Conservancy's Asia Pacific Council and the Water Network of Public Utilities Board. She is also on the Board of the Singapore Environment Council and heads the Environment and Health Functional Committee of the South-West Community Development Council. She was also a member of the URA Focus Group on Land Allocation for Concept Plan 2001, the URA Subject Group on Rustic Coast Parks & Waterbodies Plan, the Air & Climate Change focus group for the implementation of the Singapore Green Plan 2012, SGP2012 Coordinating Committee, the resource panel for Women's Workgroups at Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, and the Advisory Committee of the National Weather Study Project. She sits on the board of many arts organizations.

Professor Kirpal Singh is today recognized internationally as a Creativity Guru and is a frequent Keynoter and Plenary speaker at some of the world's most powerful conferences and seminars on Creativity & Innovation. As a writer of fiction and poetry he has an established reputation and he is always on the international Reading/Performing circuit. As a boundary-breaking scholar his numerous essays/articles/books continue to prove provocative and engaging and, as he ruefully puts it, "if only people had listened 15-25 years ago"! Kirpal is now working on a book Leadership Across Cultures: Do We Ever Learn?