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Populist pandering may cause more harm than good

That the United Kingdom chose to leave the European Union serves as a warning as to what popular votes can do. Many youths chose to stay, but most of the old chose to leave. Is such an outcome on our own shores implausible?

That the United Kingdom chose to leave the European Union serves as a warning as to what popular votes can do. Many youths chose to stay, but most of the old chose to leave. Is such an outcome on our own shores implausible?

Singapore’s post-independence generation has been raised in an age of plenty. Naturally, they set higher expectations for their future than earlier cohorts, in terms of jobs and prospects for upward mobility.

Increased education levels and opportunities to travel enhance their awareness of and aspirations for their lot. Millennials seek meaning beyond existential terms. Our country must find ways to cater for these elevated expectations.

We have seen how prolonged periods of unemployment among youth in the developed world have brought social unrest. Many may vent their frustrations through their votes.

At the other end of the spectrum are Singapore’s pioneers and its fast-greying population. They have different expectations, albeit no less urgent than those of the post-independence generation.

Given increased life expectancies, Singapore will need to provide the means to support the older generation. The dwindling birth rate means the tax burden will fall on the shrinking population of successive generations.

It is not unfathomable that age may polarise our people.

As the seniors gain in number, they may clamour for more say, perhaps using their votes to assert their rights. Thus, it is plausible that the status quo we have been used to in governance may be disrupted, even abruptly.

If electorates vote with self-serving interests, our future governments would be hard put to appease the disparate expectations. A populist approach may not guarantee an outcome that would serve the nation well in the long term.

The jostle for resources and a say in how they are shared would heighten, especially when the economy slows. Governance would be difficult, if not insurmountable. Would this scenario scuttle our path towards SG100?

It begs the question of whether the rule by majority still serves us well under a democratic system.

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