Singaporeans have long rolled their eyes at the stereotypical Asian parent mentality that often defines societal attitudes towards learning and education.
You know how it is; nothing is ever quite good enough. An A- is dismissed for not being an A. One’s accomplishments are frequently measured against those of others, prompting questions like: “Why you never score higher than your friend?”
Though we have since come to decry this attitude whenever it rears its ugly head, it’s strangely ironic to see that same spirit unabashedly manifest itself after the dust had settled on GE2025.
Much of the public reaction thus far, from those who desire more pluralism in Parliament, has been to lambast and lampoon opposition parties for their perceived failure to wrench more constituencies away from the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP).
Worse still is the hand-wringing over Singapore’s supposed failure to mature as a democracy, simply because more non-PAP voices haven’t been elected to Parliament to offer broader, more incisive perspectives.
The dismay is understandable. It speaks to the “divine discontent” in our Singaporean DNA, which then-Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong described in 2016 in his National Day Rally speech as a function of us being “always not quite satisfied with what we have, always driven to do better”.
Nevertheless, while the disillusionment is understandable, it may be misplaced—highlighting instead an opportunity for a hopeful, collective mindset shift among Singaporeans and their leaders. One that can lay the foundation for a stronger, more resilient future in the next six decades to come.
(Continue reading the full article here.)
(Published as “Rethinking Political Progress in Singapore Beyond the Pass/Fail Lens” on 11 May 2025 in Rice Media.)
