Don’t Simply Oppose. Propose. A Reflection By Darren Mak

Regardless of politics, food is a common love shared by many. Coincidentally, Dr Chee had recently opened up a new café and we spoke about the business and how it was negatively affected by the heightened alert ping pong we are stuck in. In his case, he said, it was especially difficult because the entire concept of the café was to have a common space for people to interact with each other, read, or just take a break from their hectic lives. This yearning for freedom and instinctual craving for communication was something Dr Chee brought up several times over our discussion. Could I be surprised? He is a man who has built a legacy for himself of standing by the principle of freedom regardless of adversity, and that is an indominable spirit that is one of a kind.

You can’t get him down.

I must admit, having never lived in any ward where the Singapore Democratic Party ran, I knew little about the party and had to do some research prior to the meeting with Dr Chee. His history is one that is difficult and peppered by setbacks, but in his own words over the years you learn to navigate them in a better way and roll with the punches. I understood better why he is seen as a freedom fighter of sorts, willing to put everything on the line to stand by his principles. Even when speaking with him, he alluded to his deep reverence for freedom and the right to communication. His youth days were characterised by his struggle for it, so of course we had to talk about the young and youth culture today.

A Singaporean freedom fighter. Picture credits: The Independent SG

It was actually a very timely topic to talk about, as freedom of expression is something that many of my peers are struggling with in the internet and social media age. While it has brought about great changes in terms of facilitating information to be shared at a speed never seen before in human history, it has also brought about new challenges for the digital natives born into this age. I shared with Dr Chee how many young people nowadays have developed a fear or cautiousness of expressing their views online – not because of fear for being arrested per se, but because of backlash from other people online if they say the wrong things. Young people have confided in me how they have privated or even deactivated accounts because they have seen how vicious the internet can be if they hold the ‘wrong’ view.

Yellow ribbon got nothing on this. Picture credits: VIT Today

This was, unsurprisingly, something Dr Chee could sympathize with. As opposition in politics, he has been caught more than once on the ‘wrong’ side of the aisle, and been attacked personally for it. Now, the younger generations face the same kinds of fear but in a different arena. He shared with us how his teenage children have told him about wokeness on the internet and the intergenerational differences that they face as well. He shared some advice on how he handles such differences – the family and interpersonal bonds are important because they are more important than any differences in opinion, though of course with hard limits on what is acceptable or not such as harming others. To me, society should be like that as well, and especially in today’s world we should be more tolerant of diversity, not less. I hope we get there sooner rather than later.

I just had to. Sorry.

Speaking with as big an opposition figure as himself, it would have been a missed opportunity not to talk about his aspirations for Singapore in the political sphere. In the latest elections, Singapore had her first ever formal Leader of the Opposition title granted to another party, the Worker’s Party. This opened up resources and manpower allocations to the office, giving the opposition more flexibility than before. We asked Dr Chee what he would do if he had access to such resources and he shared with us his great ambitions.

A new chapter. Picture credits: SingaporeLegalAdvice.com

It was not particularly surprising, though, as even without these resources SDP has been publishing and proposing alternative policies and proposals. He replied that he would ensure MPs worked full time in their offices to provide a direct space for concerned Singaporeans to raise their concerns and also propose concrete plans to reform the education and economy. Even though we didn’t have enough time to go into every single proposal in detail, a key thing stuck out not just from Dr Chee himself but also something that Rahman has been talking about for a long time on the show. For a world class parliament where potentially nation defining ideas and policies are debated, it is important not just to simply oppose, but to propose.

Kudos to those who put in so much work to do so.

It actually reminds me a lot of the activist and civil society scene, where some have gained a bad reputation for simply criticising everything without constructively bringing forward any workable solutions or strategies. Dr Chee and SDP in this regard definitely break that mould despite the limited resources available to them. With the new office of the Leader of the Opposition, hopefully this is the beginning of a new and more vibrant chapter in Singapore’s history.

Click on the links below to listen to the 2-part podcast on Plan B on Spotify.

Episode 1: Figure of Resistance, Part 1

Episode 2: Figure of Resistance, Part 2