GE 2025 DEBRIEF A personal insight

This is my proper debrief for yesterday’s GE 2025. If you find that it makes sense, feel free to disseminate it and help Singapore mature politically. 😊

GE 2025 DEBRIEF

A personal insight

Now that the dust has settled, we can see that the political situation remains almost the same, if not even more in favour of the ruling PAP who improved their popular vote from 61.24% to 65.57%.

So, what does this mean? If we are objective , we can make the following observations:

1. Singapore’s political system is a modification of the system inherited from her British colonial masters in that there is theoretical separation of powers between the Executive, the Legislative and the Judiciary. But in Singapore, the Executive dominates the unicameral (only 1 house) Legislative so much that most voters and the MP themselves do not realise that, by right, the Parliament is the national body with the greatest power, not the Executive. The legislative not only makes and amends laws, it also approves the annual budget as proposed by the Executive and provides oversight over Executive action. In fact, the Government, as embodied by the Executive, can be sacked by the house by a vote of no-confidence. (The Judiciary also has the power to review or stop executive action, but in Singapore, the political role of the Judiciary is also very muted.) So, the General Election and its results are of utmost importance. That’s the true role of MPs, to make up this most powerful body, not the friendly and helpful town council agents they are made out to be. MPs don’t make policies, only the Government and the ministers do, so you can’t base your vote on their own policy proposals, but on their ability to have objective or independent judgement.

2. If Parliament is really so powerful, then who controls Parliament? The people of course! Real power resides with the people. The people appoint MPs among its ranks to Parliament through their votes. So the populist narrative about the ordinary people being suppressed by their elitist Government should not make sense because they themselves are the Government!

3. I have some sympathy with populist views, but it’s the people’s own fault for not knowing their part in GE and not discharging their political duty. The people wrongly thinks that they are voting to choose a Government. No! They are voting to choose good law-makers! The party with the majority of MPs will choose their own team to form the Government, which the people have no say. Also, at every GE, the people feel that they are mere spectators, cheer-leaders or supporters of political prize-fighters in a contest in which they are supposed to choose their favourite candidates.

4. The problem is: because MPs were chosen on the wrong criteria of being amiable, being personally successful, and belonging to the “right” (incumbent ruling) party, this made the PAP the perennial winner in every election for 60 years, not only easily forming the majority Government, but has a long-standing super-majority. But, this renders the Parliament non-functional since its inception. Parliament and democracy did not work as they are supposed to, but both became merely procedural and their intentions are never realised. The attempt to use such empty-shell democracy to legitimise the Government had been in vain because the people’s power had not been realised in the Parliament. This deliberate delimitation of democracy in the early days of our independence was even acknowledged by Mr Lee Kuan Yew himself who justified it by the fact that the people were uneducated and the country was undeveloped and couldn’t handle real democracy.

5. The trouble is that the continuation of such a deliberate delimitation of democracy had rendered the people incapable of understanding the real purpose of GE. The severe consequence is that Singapore is in effect being ruled by a dictatorial party with a super-majority that enables it to change any law or any part of the constitution without any question or opposition; and with the Judiciary usually not having any appetite to intervene - then anything goes!

6. It is, in fact, very fortunate that the PAP has been largely benevolent all these years. But in recent years, according to their detractors, they have become more and more fallible.

7. The opposition parties thought they could break PAP’s hold on power by working hard and attracting many talented and sincere candidates. But they don’t realise that election success cannot come to them if they keep hammering the same way, no matter how hard they do. Both they and the voters don’t realise that their fates were already sealed in 1965. Lee Kuan Yew’s deliberate policy of limited democracy will not allow real 2-party or 3-party parliamentary democracy and PAP will employ all means to ensure that.

8. Nothing in the dynamics of GEs will meaningfully change as long as the deliberate delimitation of democracy set in motion for 60 years is not lifted. Only when the Government decide to allow it that Parliament can stop being just a token procedure, but take its place as the real body of supreme political power. 

9. Lee Kuan Yew’s original formula of focusing on achieving economic prosperity, maintaining racial and religious harmony and forging a national identity had served us well and 4G PAP leaders should continue to be on this right track. But for Singapore to take her rightful place as a modern and truly developed country, she must allow her politics to mature.

10. So, what can we do to move forward? For starters, the people must become more politically-aware and educate themselves politically. The opposition members should try to prove that they are people of great judgement and morals while their party elders should build up their parties to be ready to take over the Government when the time comes. They should forget about just being alternative voices in Parliament. They should stop claiming that they are a check on the Government because PAP’s super-majority means they can never be an effective check. As for the PAP, they should learn to trust the people, open up the political system and allow our Parliament to effectively function for the first time when 2030 comes.

11. Yet, the irony is that it is a vicious cycle. The more the people support the PAP and the higher the popular vote, the more PAP will feel that the people still has not matured and still needs a paternalistic party to protect them. So, the less they will open the space for democracy, leading to more needy and politically-dependent voters. And round it goes.

12. Perhaps then, let this piece be a clarion call for a new beginning for Singapore politics as Lee Kuan Yee had intended all along. But, ask yourself: are you ready?

Daniel Lee 

4th May 2025

Reference: https://civic-exchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2005/09/84-200509GOV_GoverningSingapore_en.pdf

Mitochondrial Metabolic Theory of Cancer

What is cancer?

1. A disease of abnormal or uncontrolled growth? Yes, but how and why?

2. A disease caused by somatic mutations? Well, cancer first or mutations first?

3. A disease caused by mitochondrial metabolic abnormalities induced by chronic non-fatal injury leading to a regressive evolution of affected cells into ancient and undifferentiated cells and each behaving as independent and competitive unicellular organisms within the human body. This we call the Mitochondrial Metabolic Theory of Cancer.

The theory proposes that any number of non-specific influences including age, viral infections, chronic inflammation, intermittent hypoxia, radiation exposure, chemical carcinogens, etc  gradually damages mitochondria by disrupting the oxidative phosphorylation process of ATP production.. This leads to the acccummulation of reactive oxygen species and acidification of the micro-environment which further damages both the mitochondria and the nucleus thereby driving somatic mutations. The gradual reduction of oxidative phosphorylation efficiency elicits a mitochondrial stress response through retrograde signalling that activates various oncogenes to upregulate receptors and enzymes in both the glycolysis and the glutaminolysis pathways constituting substrate level (vs oxidative) phosporylation. 

Cellular differentiation is a process maintained by the normal functioning of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, so its damage will lead to de-differentiation. This freedom from control will cause cells to enter its default state, marking an evolutionary return back 2.6 billion years back to being unicellular cells in which unbridled proliferation is driven by fermentation metabolism. So, cancer cells are damaged cells which evolved backwards to become independent unicellular organisms competing with neighbouring normal cells for survival instead of co-operating with them as part of a multicellular organism.

https://youtu.be/KusaU2taxow?si=RSuG5Kbt3EWaDiEQ

NEED TO STOP THE TIDE OF CHRONIC DISEASES

In a report “Diabetes: a defining disease of the 21st century” published on 24 June 2023 by The Lancet, it is estimated that more than 1·31 billion people could be living with diabetes by 2050 worldwide, more than double the 529 million in 2021. Type 2 diabetes, usually an adult disease, is now occurring in childhood and, in fact, its incidence in US  children had increased by 95% between 2001 and 2017.

Not only diabetes, but in the US, for those above 50 years-old, the number with at least one chronic disease is estimated to increase by 99.5% from 71.522 million in 2020 to 142.66 million by 2050.  For example, fatty liver disease which used to occur only in alcoholics, now affects 100 million non-alcoholics in the US and has become the most common liver disease in children there, having more than doubled in the last 20 years. Now, there is even an unexplained increase in cancer in millennials  in developed countries.

Chronic illnesses will cause about 70% of all deaths and account for at least 75% of healthcare spending in most developed countries.

Doctors can diagnose, treat, prescribe pills and give advice to control these conditions, but since their work do not address the underlying causes of these metabolic disorders, they cannot cure them. Management of these chronic diseases and their complications by clinics and hospitals will have to be long-term or for life, while the burgeoning number of new cases will add increasing stress to the system and costs to our economy.

Most of these worldwide trends are driven by demographic shifts causing national populations to age rapidly, the high stress of modern living, higher rates of obesity, widespread sleep deprivation, environmental pollution and occupational risks, tobacco use, alcohol use, and low physical activity. Yet, objective evidence seems to indicate that the most important factor is dietary in nature; especially the specific increase in consumption of high-sugar and high-carbohydrate ultra-processed foods since the 1980s. It is so prevalent that today, such foods make up 73% of US food supply.

To stop the tide, we need to empower our population to change their diet and lifestyle and political action to transform our food and social culture.

If the 3-year Covid-19 pandemic which resulted in 1,722 deaths necessitated a special national task force, this chronic disease tsunami would necessitate an even greater and wider effort to overcome it. The recently-launched Healthier-SG initiative is well-intended, but in its present form is ill-suited for the task as it is conceptually and operationally too narrow and misdirected. It is too tediously pre-occupied with data collection, selective age-group enrolments and individually-prescribed physical activities when it should be launching a free society-wide programme of culture change in our health landscape. Needfully, everyone of us will have to do our part urgently, starting from our children, our young and healthy all the way to our seniors, our doctors, scientists, researchers and politicians, to tackle the underlying causes of the crisis.

Though the challenge is great, much of what needs to be done is already known. First, we ought to start an honest and authentic conversation about the facts and the science. Then, we should believe that we are capable of changing our lifestyles. And finally, we must have the will and courage to do it!

THE IMPRECISION OF WEATHER FORECASTING IN SINGAPORE

And Its Implication For Climate Change Fallacies

On 1 June 2023, for the first half of June our Mets service forecasted that daily maximum temperature would range between 33-34*C and up to 35*C and rainfall to be near average.

More sweaty 29°C nights in S'pore in first 2 weeks of June 2023 - Mothership.SG - News from Singapore, Asia and around the world

On 16 June 2023, the forecast for the second half of the month was 34*C, up to 35*C on some days and below average rainfall.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/rest-of-june-to-remain-warm-temperatures-could-hit-35-deg-c-on-some-days

Yet, on 2 July 2023, it reported that the actual daily maximum temperature in June was actually lower than in May, ranging between 32-34*C. The actual rainfall was also higher than average, not lower.

Warm and dry weather expected in first half of July - TODAY

It is noted that our Mets Service weather forecasts which is only for a 2-week period had been wildly inaccurate. In fact the forecasted weather is the exact opposite to what actually later transpired. It predicted higher temperatures in June 2023, but it was actually lower; it predicted lower rainfall, but it was actually higher! 

So, on a global scale, how can we trust the shrill predictions of the urgent prospect of a burning planet destroying itself if average global temperatures were to exceed the average 1850-1900 temperatures by 1.5*C? That “Final call to save the world from climate catastrophe” report on 8 October 2018 warned that “going past 1.5*C is dicing with the planet's liveability.”

Final call to save the world from 'climate catastrophe' - BBC News

At the COP26 Summit on 6 November 2021, it was announced that the Earth had already warmed by 1.1*C and warned that if it warmed by another 0.4*C by 2100, this half-degree Celsius difference in temperature would make a “huge” “difference for life on Earth”! They predicted “that 70 to 90% of coral reefs will die off worldwide.” They also said that unheard-of storms will be so common that “infrastructure like buildings, roads and storm drains” may not survive. And “many small island nations around the world are at risk of becoming uninhabitable”, if further warming occurs.

How the climate would change if the world warms over 1.5 degrees : NPR

Now, on 17 May 2023, “researchers” now say “they are 98% certain the high mark (of 1.5*C) will be broken before 2027.” So, now they are no longer talking about 2100, but 2027! So, are the worldwide calamities they predicted for 2100 now going to happen in 4 years?

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-65602293

Now, back to Singapore’s erroneous temperature and rainfall forecasts during each of the two 2-week intervals in a single month in June 2023, it is noted that they are already off by 1-2*C in a small locality in a single month.. Such errors in a tropical island at the Equator like Singapore, which is known for its stable climate and weather, only tells us the foolhardiness of trying to predict the global climate which have wide latitudinal variations of temperatures and seasons over the next 77 years and worse, to warn of Hollywood-style planetary disasters over a 0.4*C increase of “global” (where is this temperature experienced anyway?) temperature over those 77 years!

This is not a man-made climate change that we are facing. This is a man-made pseudo-crisis that is illogical, unreal and non-existent. 

RIP -  QUEEN ELIZABETH II

As an avid stamp collector in my childhood days, these were my favourite stamps, mainly because of the beautiful portraits of Queen Elizabeth II in them. I admired them because she appeared so dignified, classy and frankly, so stately that she befits the best of what royalty represents. Unlike the celebrities and noisy politicians of today, her quiet, unassuming and mellow demeanour represents the temper of gentler and kinder times. Little did I realise that she also represented the exploitative nature of British colonialism. Such overbearing dominance of the British Empire has resulted in efforts by former colonies to bury the history of their colonial past.

 U                P

    kraine         eace

The bombs are here!

Please wake up,

Put up,

Buck up

And hurry up.

The end may be near.

Better shape up,

Match up,

Turn up

And stand up.

Don’t shed a tear.

Simply look up,

Chin up,

Cheer up

And pump up.

Got to banish your fear

To rise up,

Wise up.

Just don’t mess up

And never give up!

 RISK VS COST

The end of the pandemic is near.

It has become crystal clear -

We should not fear the risk of failure,

But that the cost of failure may be dear.

Trying every which way is now a must.

We should fail often and fail fast!

We’ll quickly learn to transcend the past

And complete the whole of our task!

 

F(OX)

Battered by waves of hard knocks,

The bull has turned into an ox.

But we can’t afford to live in a box.

We should remain the agile fox.

 2022   🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴

Twenty twenty-two,   🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴

What are we going to do   🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴

To stop this funny flu?      🔴 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴

Nobody seems to have a clue.     🔴🔴🔴🔴

Is Omicron Delta’s Waterloo?    🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴

An unlocking miracle out of the blue,    🔴🔴

A pandemic dream come true,       🔴🔴🔴🔴

The inevitable drop of the other shoe?  🔴🔴

Some say that’s bound to ensue.  🔴🔴🔴🔴

But, others just say “boo”,      🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴

Unimpressed by such hullabaloo.     🔴🔴🔴

So, who should we listen to?     🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴

Like you, I can’t help wondering too:     🔴🔴

Who, in a court of law, can we sue?      🔴🔴

For we are no closer to pulling through     🔴

Despite the troubles we have gotten into! 🔴

INNOCENT CHILD

Innocent child,

Running wild

Round corners loose or tight,

Falling left or right.

Full of energy and guile,

Under skies stormy or mild,

Navigating the night,

Yet never feel the fright.

Taking a breather during the lull

And a second to mull.

For the prize is within sight,

If we pull with all our might.

Let’s return to the hull,

If there’s too much to cull.

The future’s burning bright.

2022 is at a comfortable height.