Blog Response: Educational/Societal Issues

Corruption.

If you have been reading the local papers, you would have known that corruption is prevalent in developing countries like Philippines and Indonesia. It matters because Singapore is intimately linked with other countries, economically, socially and politically. Examples include our 'hinterland' Malaysia. Why does corruption exist? Greed, one of the seven deadly sins, is the main factor. Corruption can happen in any society, in any scale and this can affect me, you and society as a whole.

If you think our government is 'clean', I beseech you to think again. You would think that Singapore is a democracy, right? If you consider another perspective, corruption can indeed happen, albeit in a more subtle manner. For example, the dominant party in Singapore has been gerrymandering all these years, changing electoral boundaries to shape the results. The same governmental panel then decides who is eligible as a presidential candidate. There are probably legitimate reasons for their actions, but whatever the case, it shows the political apathy the people have. The consequence? Corruption left unchecked and out of control.

Corruption can be considered from several perspectives, especially in Indonesia. One, the people. People in corruption-tainted societies think that corruption is somewhat "good". Who would not like free cash just for putting up a party's flag outside your house? What about free Shirts, pens, hand phones, groceries? The people virtually do not need to spend a single cent on necessities during elections.
Two, the officials. These officials see vote-buying as nothing wrong, and these views are also supported by the people, if a survey by Newsweek is anything to go by. They count on vote-buying as "one of the methods to garner support", while the people's political apathy encourages this illicit act.

I somehow feel sorry for the officials. I do think that if they had the choice, they do not want to spend large sums of money each term to buy votes. Their actions are a result of intense political bickering. Newly-formed parties by businessmen with pockets lined with dirty money are a factor. These fly-by-night parties rise to power rapidly because of money. And to curb rallying support for opposition parties, the incumbent often engages in this type of money politics. The blame should not be put solely on parties though, society is also to blame. A lower-developing economy is more susceptible to corruption than a rich and prosperous one.

Although Singapore is relatively corruption-free compared to to the lelong style vote-buying in other countries, we must always be aware of societal issues. Singaporeans are a generally rational lot, and do not succumb easily to vote-buying unlike the political apathetic Indonesians. Nonetheless, it is worthy to note that corruption do exist in Singapore, in a subtle, warped democratic process. We, as Singaporeans, should vote wisely at every election, lest our every election becomes a political 'party'(pun unintended), run by money politics.