Debate on President’s Address: Leon Perera on building trust in an open society

Instead of a political landscape where the public innately trusts the Government, but innately distrusts the opposition or vice versa, Singapore should strive for a politically educated populace that accords trust based on facts and evidence from independent institutions, said MP Leon Perera. Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday (Apr 18), he suggested various ways to strengthen an open society where citizens care, listen, understand and debate policies. Firstly, delink the People’s Association from the ruling party, as the current system creates a sense that state resources are invested in promoting the Government's thinking and the ruling party’s politicians, which “unlevels” the playing field for politics and ideas, he said. Secondly, create an ombudsman with investigative capacity to strengthen accountability. Thirdly, ensure that funding for civil society and the arts is handled by independent committees that are not linked to the Government of the day. Fourthly, publish every single public opinion poll and data collection effort conducted with state funds, redacted only for anything that has clear and strong commercial or national security sensitivities. This would allow for better-informed debate among political parties, civil society groups and citizens, he said. Fifthly, allow opposition MPs to engage school students in their capacity as MP, alongside those of the ruling party. Mr Perera stressed the need to “mould the mental habits” of citizens from a young age and nurture independent, critical thinking. “Our future citizens need to be able to see both sides of a question in a way that will inoculate them from the demagogues and foreign interference attempts of the future,” he said.