Chronicle of Malaysia

The Malaysian Prime Minister's examination of the key agreement on water supply with Singapore and the high-speed rail link between Kuala Lumpur and the city-state are only visible signs of a different – and more loaded – market in Singapore. Relationship with Malaysia

The key issue for Lee Hsien Loong's People's Action Party (PAP) is that developments north of the Johor-Singapore Causeway have exposed vulnerabilities at home. The PAP has become the oldest ruling party in Southeast Asia and no longer has immediate undemocratic neighbors. The victory of Mahathir Pakatan reflects the worst fear of the PAP: his own possible defeat.

Even worse, some of the factors that contributed to the loss of Barisan Nasional (National Front) are also present in Singapore. The first is the challenge of leadership renewal. In the past three years, the PAP has been stuck in a battle over who should succeed Lee, 66, as prime minister, with the fourth-generation (4G) leaders featured

. Minister of Trade and Industry and former Chief of the Army, Minister of Finance, Heng Swee Keat, former Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore and Ong Ye Kung, Minister of Finance. Education and the Second Minister of Defense

without connectivity. They are in a very elitist party, largely unable to relate to ordinary Singaporeans. The leaders of 4G also suffer from the same problem that haunted the National Front, namely that they are integrated into the system. Emerging from inside the party and from the government, especially the military, they are of the system and are perceived as being for the system. The intertwining of the PAP and the bureaucratic state created singular agendas and led to a distancing of the electorate and its needs.

During the first two decades of Singapore's existence after independence in 1959, PAP obtained all seats in the legislature. . Since 1984, opposition politicians have won seats despite what government critics describe as continued political harassment of opponents and repression of public protests, combined with the alleged manipulation of electoral boundaries

. on 89 seats with 70% of the votes. Since this resounding victory, more conservative forces within the party have gained ground. Despite their popularity, reformist leaders such as Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Tan Chuan-Jin have been sidelined in favor of conservative alternatives. At the same time, the Singapore system has evolved into a more authoritarian direction, with restrictions on social media and attacks on civil society activists.

Prime Minister Lee, the son of Singapore's founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, makes the same mistake as Najib after the 2013 elections. deprives the system of a valve necessary for dissent and moves the country away from necessary reforms. He failed to acknowledge that greater openness and political reforms were integral to the PAP's victory in 2015. The dominant mode was to attack the Workers Party, its leaders, and the government. other figures of the opposition. These movements do not show confidence in a more open and mature political system – or even in the PAP itself.

At the same time, rather than being an asset to his party, Lee is becoming more and more of a liability. It's the same trajectory as Najib's. Questions have been raised about Lee's leadership of the popular "Oxleygate" with his brothers and sisters at their father's home managing his wife, Ho Ching, in Temasek, the sovereign wealth fund of the republic. Development Berhad (1MDB), the Malaysian state-run investment fund that has seen millions of dollars diverted by Najib, will be in the bilateral limelight. Assessments will be made to find out if Singapore has actually reacted to the alleged malfeasance and whether the purchase of 1MDB bonds by Singapore has strengthened the fund.

Meanwhile, in Malaysia, Mahathir's willingness to deal with 1MDB demonstrates a willingness not only to system, but to initiate an indispensable economic reform. Singaporeans will see obvious parallels with the economic policies of their own country.

Growth in Singapore's gross domestic product is expected to reach 3% this year, a significant decline from the previous decade. Importantly, much of this growth is driven by public spending (as was the case in Malaysia under Najib), particularly in terms of infrastructure. New jobs are not created in Singapore at the same pace as in the past. Even more compelling, the PAP continues to rely on immigration as an engine of growth, failing to use a combination of cheap labor and imported foreign talent to develop the economy. Demographic pressures remain real for ordinary Singaporeans, who continue to feel displaced. They are disappointed with the stubborn grip of the PAP on old and unpopular growth patterns.

The pendulum of discontent flipped against the PAP. The government has chosen to raise water prices by 30% in 2017 and this year it said it would increase the Goods and Services Tax (GST) by 7% to 9%. The electricity rate has increased by 16.8% so far this year alone. The cost of living remains high; Singapore tops the list of the most expensive cities of the Economist Intelligence Unit to live there for five consecutive years. High costs are exacerbated by persistent inequalities that are becoming more and more entrenched. The Gini coefficient is 0.46, but the income gap is deeply felt. Many people feel impoverished because of strangers. The social reform measures introduced for the "pioneer generation" (people born before 1950) and the increase in aid before the 2015 elections are considered inadequate to meet the current social needs of disadvantaged communities.

Changes in Malaysia have reduced the comparative advantage of Singapore. It is not only a question of greater democracy and changes in governance from the side, but also of the attention that "New Malaysia" brings to the way Singapore is doing. has remained locked in the past, far from embracing an alternative future. has eliminated the unpopular GST and the pressures exerted by the reform to counter the outsourcing of social mobility and inequalities are substantial. Malaysia is now seen as a potential model in the areas of governance. For example, greater transparency and greater attention to inclusivity are evident in the multiethnicity of new members of government. In contrast, the Malaysian presidential contest held in 2017 in Singapore sent a signal of exclusion and adoption of racial politics. This situation is aggravated by the fact that Malaysia is perceived to be opposed to regional authoritarian tendencies, promising substantial political reforms and the removal of many draconian laws that Singapore has in its books.

reduced the comparative advantage of Singapore. It's not only about greater democracy and next-door governance changes, but also about the "New Malaysia" focus on how Singapore is doing. remained locked in the past, moving away from an alternative future. EDITOR: Dr. Bridget Welsh

https://asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/New-Malaysia-makes-Singapore-look-outdated

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