A brief introduction
Since Singapore gained independence from the British in 1963, there have been 14 general elections held. Each candidate represents a constituency and voters can choose who will represent them in Parliament for the next term. Following the 2020 general election, 93 Members of Parliament (MP) were elected to the 14th Parliament. Parliamentary terms last for a maximum of five years, and with each new Parliament, about a quarter of them are new faces.
Singapore's current Prime Minister (PM) is Lee Hsien Loong. Even as PM, he has his own constituency division to care for and stands for election representing his constituency.
The Prime Minister chooses members of the Cabinet by advising the President. The Cabinet is responsible for all government policies and the day-to-day administration of the affairs of state.
It comprises the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Ministers, Ministers, Ministers of State and Parliamentary Secretaries of the various ministries. They are Defence, Foreign Affairs, Health, Transport, Sustainability and the Environment, Social & Family Development, Communications & Information, Culture, Community and Youth, Education, Trade and Industry, Manpower, Finance, Prime Ministers Office, Law, National Development, Home Affairs.
Uniquely Singaporean: Group Representation Constituency (GRC)
GRC is a type of electoral division or constituency in Singapore in which teams of candidates, instead of individual candidates, compete to be elected into Parliament as the Members of Parliament for the constituency. Each voter of a GRC casts a ballot for a team, and not for individuals. The GRC scheme was brought into existence on 1988.
There are 31 constituencies in Singapore, comprising 17 GRCs and 14 single-member constituencies (SMCs).
The original justification of the scheme was to guarantee a minimum representation of minorities in Parliament and ensure that there will always be a multiracial Parliament. At least one of the MPs in a GRC must be a member of the Malay, Indian or another minority community of Singapore.
Stagnant racial diversity in Parliament
Since the introduction of the GRC scheme, the proportion of minority MPs has remained stagnant. Critics note that the scheme may undermine the esteem of minority candidates as they would not be sure if they are elected on their own merit or due to the scheme. One wonders if the slate of candidates at each election would have been more or less diverse without the scheme.
When compared to the proportion of each race in Singapore’s population, political representation of racial minorities is balanced. In 2019, Malays account for 15% of the Singapore population, they represent 13.2% of the MPs. Indians and minorities of other groups account for 7.5% and 1.5% of the population respectively in 2019, they represent 11% and 3.3% of MPs respectively.
Growing participation of women
Historically, women in Singapore played a small role in the country's political scene. There were no women in Parliament for 14 years from 1970 to 1984. In recent years, Singapore has seen an increase in female representation in Parliament, but there are only 3 women in the current Cabinet. In 2015, Grace Fu was appointed the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, and Josephine Teo as Minister of Manpower in 2017. Indranee Rajah spent 4 terms in Parliament before she was appointed a Minister in 2018.
Young Parliamentarians alongside veterans
Heng Swee Keat and Tan See Leng entered Parliament in their 50s, but became ministers in their first term. S Iswaran and K Shanmugam are one of the longest serving MPs, with both entering Parliament relatively young. K Shanmugam entered Parliament when he was just 29 years of age. Amongst the current MPs, only Tin Pei Ling, Raeesah Khan and Nadia Samdin, have become MPs by that age. Desmond Lee can take pride in being Singapore's youngest Minister, a position he achieved when he was 41 years old.
Public vs private sector
In this visual, MPs are grouped according to their first occupation. Tradionally, the ruling party has a preference for candidates with some public sector experience, especially for those earmarked for potential appointments in the Cabinet after being elected. Many senior officials from the military and police force have also entered politics.
Diverse pathways to a seat in Parliament
MPs are now grouped according to their last held occupation before entering Parliament. Ideally, MPs should offer a wealth of experiences gained from their years of working and community involvement. Some MPs have either switched career tracks, or succeeded in climbing up the corporate ladder to senior roles, while making time for community or grassroot activities. With t
A one-party political system?
Singapore has never and will unlikely see a rotation of the ruling party like in Western models of democracy such as United States. Opposition parties contesting have long maintained their position of simply providing a check and balance to the People's Action Party, which has won every election since Singapore gained independence from the British in 1963.
The Worker's Party won a further 4 seats in the 2020 General Election. The WP's numbers in Parliament are still small and lack the one-third required to break the PAP's parliamentary supermajority, which allows the PAP the ability to amend the Constitution with few obstacles.
Beyond party affiliation, is there diversity in Parliament?
Parliament should be representative to offer the electorate a sense of belonging and inclusion. It should draw upon the widest possible pools of talent and experience and reflect the different gender, age and ethnic groups within society. Based on the subset of attributes of each MP,
- Gender
- Age
- Ethnicity
- Prior work experiences
- Years in politics
with the exception of party affiliation and constituency representation, a clustering algorithm is applied to group similar MPs, with each attribute having equal weight. A distinct separation of female and male MPs can be observed, along with some obvious groupings, which are loosely clustered. Within these groups, some are relatively tight pairs or trios. This can be interpreted to mean that there are few MPs who are similar to one another.
Chasing after a better proportion of representation alone is not ideal. What matters is that the people Singaporeans have voted for to represent them contribute constructively and voice the concerns of their constituents during Parliament sessions.
“Look at each of the candidate as an individual, understand his background, understand his or her thinking... what they stand for and see how they can make a contribution, rather than pigeonhole anyone of them just because of a single dimension of their background.”
Mr Chan Chun Sing, Minister for Trade & Industry
Hopefully, with this diverse group of members, a more robust debate and exchange of alternative perspectives will flow and lead to better policy-making.