YouTube video

The Show with PJ Thum — Episode 3 — How Singapore’s Elections are Qualitatively Unfair.

Historian Thum Ping Tjin (“PJ”) comments on the oppression of peaceful climate change activists, Lee Hsien Loong’s continued teasing of us about an election amidst the coronavirus crisis, and continues his explanation of how the electoral system is deeply unfair. The historic use of arrests and lawsuits, the threats of punishment, and the slanted media coverage create an atmosphere of fear in which people are afraid of voting against the governing People’s Action Party (PAP). Lisa the Clairvoyant Malayan Sun Dog then predicts the result of the next Singapore General Election.

An Online Citizen (trailer): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkEOHZ0VM6E

A History of Backstabbing in the PAP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXcJL7f0Mw8

Apologies for the error at 14:00 – The photo is of Phey Yew Kok, not Teh Cheang Wan. Both were PAP Ministers who were convicted of corruption and they wore similar blocky black glasses, so we confused the two. We regret the error.

N.B.: This video was filmed 28 January 2020. The introductory segment was filmed 2 April 2020.

Thum Ping Tjin (“PJ”) is Managing Director of New Naratif and a historian at the University of Oxford. A Rhodes Scholar, Commonwealth Scholar, Olympic athlete, and the only Singaporean to swim the English Channel, his work centres on Southeast Asian governance and politics. His most recent work is Living with Myths in Singapore (Ethos: 2017, co-edited with Loh Kah Seng and Jack Chia). Reach him at pingtjin.thum@newnaratif.com.