Interesting prospects ahead for the opposition

SINGAPORE – Following the latest development of events, Mr Kenneth Jeyaratnam has taken on the role of Secretary-General in the Reform Party set up by his father, the late Mr Joshua Benjamin Jeyaratnam (JBJ). A Cambridge-trained economist, he joins the ranks of one of the rare father-son legacies in Singapore politics.

The late Mr Devan Nair made the following observations of the senior JBJ:

“For one thing, despite Jeya’s courage, he displayed a woeful lack of economics. He clearly never knew at any point of time how Singapore clicked economically. And it was as plain as a pikestaff to me that in five years of free performance in ‘parliament against the likes of Dr Goh Keng Swee, Mr Lim Kim San et al, he would stand exposed in public for his abysmal ignorance of economics.”

It turned out that JBJ proved Mr Nair wrong to a certain extent. As highlighted by Mr Ng E-Jay in an earlier report, JBJ argued against the introduction of the Goods Services Tax (GST) by the government, citing that it is an inefficient form of taxation for a small economy like ours. And companies, firms or a consortium involving the latter which dominate or monopolize the market may put arbitrary price-setting mechanisms in place. The losers will be the poor in the end. JBJ’s arguement has largely proven true down the years. Now, with Kenneth taking over the mantle, any detractor would have to think twice with regards to making the same assertion on a lack of economics expertise that was targeted at his father.

Economics expertise aside, Kenneth is also tech-savvy in the sense that he understands the usefulness of an online media platform in supplanting his campaign. As a contributor to a prominent citizen journalist platform such The Online Citizen, he has articulated on certain changes that he has enivisioned such as 1) A minimum wage for old and young workers to prevent companies from importing cheap labor from other countries 2) Higher tax credits for lower income households 3) A reduction or suspension of GST that affects the lower income groups 4) Reduction in fee services and charges (school fees for instance) 5) Reductions in employee CPF 6) Massive investment in education and infrastructure (developing green technologies for instance).

It appears that Kenneth has not shown all the cards in his sleeve as yet, and what he has articulated on TheOnlineCitizen is a mere harbinger for things to come.

Kenneth’s presence would be an interesting addition to political debates between the opposition and the ruling party. Mr Lee Hsien Loong, the current Prime Minister served in Singapore’s economic hotseat as the Minister for Finance and Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Both Mr Lee and Kenneth are Cambridge alumni too.

Prospects appear promising. Not only will he enjoy the support of his father’s supporters, but his economics expertise will allow him to address pertinent topics regarding our economy, which translates to bread and butter issues on the ground level. In order to build on existing support, the candidates’ ability to address bread and butter issues can prove crucial. This can win over the ‘what can you do to put food on my table’ type of voters.

Another interesting aspect of Kenneth’s ascendency will be his election strategy. Will he contest in a Single Member Constituency(SMC), or a larger Group Representation Constituency (GRC)? If more candidates join the Reform Party, Kenneth would have enough numbers to spearhead a GRC challenge. Or he can choose to target an SMC. Possibilities abound, and at the moment, Kenneth is holding his cards close to his chest. We will definitely hear more from him in the future.