Sunday, August 08, 2004

Singaporeans wonder if new leader signals new era

SINGAPORE (AP) - As Singaporeans prepare for next week's handover of power to a new prime minister, many are wondering whether their future leader's rule will echo that of his authoritarian father _ the founder of modern Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew.

To mark the occasion, along with Singapore's 39th anniversary of independence on Monday, officials have declared August as "Celebrate Singapore'' month. Bright red banners declaring "Together, A New Singapore'' festoon the city-state.

On Thursday, Lee Hsien Loong, 52, will take over from Goh Chok Tong, who has led Singapore since 1990, when the elder Lee stepped down.

Under Goh, strictly controlled Singapore has loosened up in recent years, allowing bar-top dancing, all-night partying and bungee jumping.

Like his father, who led Singapore from 1965 until 1990, the younger Lee is expected to focus on improving the economy, observers say.

But he has promised "openness'' and a gentler, more consultative government. Lee has also said he would consider more flexibility in regard to topics on which the government now bans discussion. Race and religion are considered taboo in Singapore, and authorities sometimes arrest those who address these issues publicly.

But critics say Lee is not ready to stomach more substantive change.

"We are not making any progress forward ... this (handover) is not going to promote greater democracy,'' said veteran opposition politician Joshua "J.B.'' Jeyaretnam.

"Nothing is going to change, there is going to be a triumvirate with Lee Kuan Yew as the adviser, Lee Hsien Loong as prime minister and Goh as No. 2,'' he added.

Goh acknowledged last year that handing power to Lee may appear to be a dynastic succession, but insisted it wasn't. He and Lee senior said last month that Goh would remain in the new Cabinet as "No. 2,'' but his role remains unclear.

"I believe that Loong will find his own way to establish rapport with you,'' Goh said last year in announcing his successor. "He is not me, and he is not his father. Loong is aware of the people's perception of him. We have discussed it frankly among the ministers. I have told Loong that he has to let his softer side show.''

Jeyaretnam is not alone in his sentiments, analysts say.

"There has been some kind of concern among Singaporeans that (the younger Lee) will revert back to the iron grip of Lee senior,'' said Institute of Southeast Asian Studies Singapore political scientist Ho Khai Leong.

The elder Lee is credited with transforming Singapore from a colonial backwater into an efficient, modern country, but critics called his rule authoritarian.

Ho said people here see the handing of power to the younger Lee as "a sort of 'Back to the Future' scenario,'' referring to the 1985 movie in which the hero goes back in time.

"It will not offer much comfort to those seeking more openness,'' he said. "His speeches very much resemble his father's.''

In language that recalled his father's harsh rhetoric, the younger Lee threatened in January to "demolish'' Singapore's tiny opposition.

"When the opposition criticizes an action or policy, the purpose is usually to show that the government is not providing good leadership or making good policy,'' he said. "They are fully entitled to do so, but the government has to rebut or even demolish them, or lose its moral authority.''

Most of Singapore's fundamental social and political controls remain in place. Citizens, for example, still need police permits to gather, even in small groups, and people are fined for spitting in public or not flushing public toilets.

Two years ago, the younger Lee defended a policy stemming from his father's time in office that male civil servants were entitled to more medical benefits than their women colleagues because they are the traditional heads of Asian households.

The city-state also officially bans homosexual acts and a person found having oral sex could be given a life term. The government says homosexual acts violate conservative Asian norms _ which Singapore has been preaching since the elder Lee was in power.

Criticism of Singapore's conservative leadership has come from abroad as well.

The U.S. State Department and human rights group Amnesty International have slammed the ruling People's Action Party's practice of suing opposition politicians in costly libel lawsuits, saying it's designed to cripple the opposition by bankrupting them. Bankrupt people are barred from being lawmakers under Singapore law.

Lee, Goh and other party stalwarts say they sue to defend their reputations.

Jeyaretnam, 78, was made bankrupt after repeated lawsuits by ruling party politicians.

He told The AP he had doled out around S$1.6 million (US$930,000) in legal costs, fees, losses and fines over the years.

"Singaporeans want to see regime change but they are too afraid to stick their head above the parapet. I was prepared to ... but look at me,'' said Jeyaretnam, who has resorted to hawking books on street corners to settle his debts.

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