WHAT’S BEHIND THE SHIFT
One reason for the opposition increasingly attracting highly credentialed candidates? The traditional challenges that might have been deterrents are diminishing, said Dr Teo Kay Key, a research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) Social Lab.
These include perceived possible career setbacks from associating with the opposition and a substantially lower chance of being elected compared to joining the ruling party.
Dr Teo added that star opposition candidates in past elections have also demonstrated that theirs is a possible path.
“It speaks to a maturing of the political landscape where there are a number of political parties one can consider, if there is a wish to contribute to Singapore via politics,” she said.
“These parties also hold different ideas about various policy issues compared to the PAP, so (potential candidates) are able to take a look and decide which party is a better fit.”
Assoc Prof Goh, who left the WP in 2023, said that when he first made a public appearance in the party’s blue colours, many friends reached out asking if he was going to run into issues with his employer NUS.
“What I did on my part was to make sure I cleared with my head of department, and they were very supportive, they (said) that we do have folks who join the PAP and then become a candidate, and they can still remain as academics or lecturers,” he said.
“If the university is to be fair and equal to everybody, if you enter the political ring, you can enter as opposition or as the ruling party; it doesn’t matter.”
He added that “the time was right, because by then, we already had Chen Show Mao join the party”.
Any increase in credentialed opposition candidates has also been largely limited to larger and more established parties like WP, PSP and SDP.
Dr Felix Tan, an independent political analyst, said the likes of the WP have built a credible reputation over the past few elections. The PSP, while younger, has gained credibility from chairman Tan Cheng Bock’s political history, he said. The latter was a former PAP MP from 1980 to 2006.
“It’s always been a challenge for (the smaller political parties) because the individual leaders tend to be shifting alliances,” he said, adding that a lack of clear direction or focus makes it harder to attract top talent.
Assistant Professor Elvin Ong of NUS said larger parties simply have “better resources, better organisational structure, better leadership, and better logistical and communications execution”.
Nonetheless, joining opposition politics overall has become more “normalised” in the past 20 years, said Singapore Management University law don Eugene Tan.
“The fear factor does not exist anymore,” he said. “Most critically, they are also winning seats … It would be a different scenario if the opposition were to be confined to one or two elected seats in parliament.”
He cautioned, however, against a blanket notion that credentialed individuals were choosing to join the opposition rather than the PAP.
“Such individuals are still more commonly identified with the PAP than with the opposition,” said Assoc Prof Tan. “In terms of CVs, the evidence would show that the PAP still attracts more top-tier talent as well as ‘high-calibre’ talent.”
The PAP’s potential lineup for the upcoming election includes ex-Chief of Army David Neo, former CEO of the Agency for Integrated Care Dinesh Vasu Dash and Mr Shawn Loh, the former Finance Ministry director who oversaw the last two Budgets, among other leading public and private sector names.
