Today is a very special day on the show because
my guest is not just an expert. She's family.
My sister, respected journalist and insightful
political commentator Bertha Henson. We are here
because of her latest work, How to Be a Singapore
Election Superstar. This isn't just another book.
It's a deep dive into the world she has observed
and analysed for most of her career. She's giving
us a personal, honest look. and the political
journey, helped along by the sharp wit of her
two fictional civil servants, Chin and Chai.
I'll be asking her about the true sacrifices
of public service, the complexities of our system,
and why she felt compelled to share this knowledge
with her readers now. This is a story about the
rules, the risks, and the reality of the Singapore
political dream. Hi, everybody. We're at this
place, the Labrador Tower called Gets Up for
my sister, Bertha Henson's new book launch for
how to be a Singapore GE superstar. Let's check
out what's happening in the book launch right
now. Please write more books. Write more, more
books. Facebook is not enough. We need the proper
books. Thanks, Bertha, for contributing to the
discourse of Singapore politics. May you continue
to do so and stay healthy always. Thank you.
Hi, Bertha. It's great to be here at your book
launch. All the best to you. Hi, Bertha. Congrats
to your book launch. All the best. She's a very
beautiful woman, right? And she has written a
very nice book, which I haven't read. I haven't
read, but I presume it's good. So if it's no
good, I'll come to her. Okay. Okay. A refund.
A refund. Yeah, I need a refund. I want to thank
everyone. Those of you who've made the time to
come here. Thank you for buying the book. And
you can still buy some more. Okay. The Sure Move
Mic 2 receiver kit was used during the filming
of this episode. Some things that people don't
know, I mean, you know, are also in the book.
Of course, I mean, basically, if I've covered
elections, there are some things that I don't
write much about, which I do, you know, or some
things I expand more on. So they will find some
interesting things. All the more reason for you
people to pick up the book. Really, man. I mean,
hidden little gems that you don't know about.
Before we begin the show, here is an important
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Sure merchandise with your purchases. Now, let's
start the show. Welcome to this episode, everyone,
for our series called Ink Spill, where we feature
writers, authors, poets, people who are really
struggling to make money, you know, because their
books, you know, nobody bloody reads, right?
We say that in this series of Ink Spill. But
I have with me in studio once again for this
season, like I did last season, my sister, Bertha
Hansen. Hello! Hey, hello. I guess my brother
didn't have much of a choice. Since I'm his sister
and he does ink spilling, he better start with
me. I got to spill your ink lah. Oh, I will kill
him. Very simple. No choice. Gunpoint. Okay.
Okay, sis. So today, this afternoon, you launch
your new book. Yep. So it's in Kinokuniya. It's
in Popular Bookstore. And it's in the other one.
What's it called? The Book Bar. The Book Bar.
Where they serve you books and no booze. And
it's available in all these places, including
online. And if people want to go to Popular Bookstore
today or go to Kinokuniya, they go to the self
-help section to buy a book. No, actually, it's
out in front. Very nice. They displayed it out
in front. Because it's a how -to. If it's a how
-to thing, I would think it is self -help. She's
got a new book. As you can see, it's on our podcast
desk. It's called How to Be a Singapore... I
cannot say that word because, you know, YouTube
not fair one, but you can read it for yourself.
It's right there. I cannot mention the E word
for some strange reason. Okay? Otherwise, I'm
going to get in trouble with... the powers that
be behind YouTube. But you can see the title
of the book, How to Be a Singapore Eh Eh Eh Superstar.
And it's a how -to book. If you're thinking of
becoming, am I right? If you're thinking of becoming
the next Big Sing and the next GE, please refer
to this book. No, I mean, it's not really a how
-to. A how -to is a way in which I can encapsulate
everything in it with a very general... I mean,
it could have been, excuse me, are you a politician?
It could have been just that too. But this is
not a serious review. I would think it's quite
serious. It's just written in a very... not -so
-serious way. The content is way serious. The
content is serious, but done in a not -so -serious
way. What is your main goal, actually, when you
first started out writing the book? Well, you
know, I had a G or whatever, that G -E. No, G
-E is okay. Okay, G -E book for 2020. So, this
time round, I was thinking, I don't want to do
the same thing, you know, which is G -E 2025.
So I decided that it's time maybe I pull everything
I know together and find a concept to fit it
in. So basically, me and my partner in crime,
Cheyenne, we managed to come up with a concept
and marry some of the things that we have done
together, like the Chin and Chai couple. Which
has become, what's the word for it? Which has
become a cartoon strip. Well, I'm not so sure
that it's become a cartoon. Well, we call it
a cartoon strip. We did start off as a cartoon
strip before. It started out actually as just
two guys and it's all text. It started out all
text. Correct. It's all text. Yeah. And then
later on, you know, basically then I realized
Cheyenne can do this kind of things, draw cartoons
and stuff. So we decided, okay, let's make it
more interesting for people and use it to explain
political issues or any kind of concepts. So
that's what we did with the two bureaucrats here.
In case some of you who was just watching Bertha
for the first time on my show and you didn't
watch the episode last season, you should have.
If you haven't, go find it and watch it. Cheyenne,
her so -called partner in crime, is not a lady.
No. Strangely. To this day, I still don't know
what the fellow's name is. But he goes by Cheyenne.
Can you beat that? Okay. Anyway, you said the
book is hopefully entertaining, but also informative.
Yes. So what was the hardest part about making
serious Singapore politics easy and fun to read?
Wow. You know, I'm lucky to have a lot of experience
making serious things readable. So basically
how to boil down concepts. Make sure that, you
know, you can read from beginning to end without
having to stop and say, hey, what's happening?
What are you talking about? So, I mean, that's
a very useful skill I've used for the book. Okay.
Then secondly, you know, what was not easy was
there's so much information. So, you know, how
do you put it together? You know, divide up the
chapters, come up with a concept. Make sure it
isn't one long, boring read. So we had to find
new ways of chopping up the narrative, so to
speak. And this wasn't going to be a GE 2025
review. We wanted it to be much bigger so that
young people will be able to understand what
the Singapore political system is like. And also,
old people... I think it would be a very good
nostalgic refresher for them because there are
lots of stories in it as well. How about any
young person out there who picks up this book
and do you think it would be a good handbook
of sorts to guide them along to? Maybe I will
run for the next. Or a few GEs later. Well, I
can tell you that the later half of the book
has plenty of tips. Like, you know, what you
do when you meet residents. Ah, there you go.
What you do at rallies. What you don't do. What
will get into trouble. Even a look at some of
the rules. Not just the political structure,
but, you know, the electoral rules themselves.
Right. You know. So, I think there should be
quite a lot there. You know. I mean, I've covered
elections. for many, many years. So, you know,
some of the tricks and, you know, the twists
and the turns, I'm quite able to put that down.
Okay, now that you're talking about that, since
1988, you've been covering GEs, right? You said
the E word fully just now. Okay, okay. Okay,
we're going to bleep that one out, Kai. What's
the one biggest difference in Singapore politics
today that a new candidate needs to know before
jumping in? I would just say read my book. There's
so many things. There's just so many things.
Do you want me to go and give the game away?
I think basically we must understand that. One
thing, one thing. Biggest difference. The biggest
difference. Wow, that is very hard. You mean
the biggest difference compared to what? The
biggest difference. What's the one biggest difference
in Singapore politics in general today as compared
to all these years? In the past? In the past.
Oh, okay. Then you get the need to know before
jumping in. I think essentially, first of all,
the electorate has changed. That's something
that's very clear. Okay. Yeah. So the demands
of the electorate are quite different then than
now. Also the competition, I don't just mean
within the PAP, but also among the opposition
slate, it's gotten heavier, it's more contestable
now. Okay. So you do, you can't just be, one
bright spark and that's it, you know, and hope
to make waves, you know, because there are a
lot of different bright sparks there. Okay. And
so you have to, in a sense, measure yourself
against them as well. Okay. So like, for example,
in my first two chapters, the first chapter is,
you know, so it's, you know, you think what,
you have what it takes, first of all, you know,
so it goes from the, I wouldn't call silly, but
you know, the little things like, you know, have
you got the guts? Have you got the brains? Uh,
you know, can you take some of the jokes? Uh,
are you too thin skin? You know, so some of the
things, uh, uh, and they're all backed up with
anecdotes of the past, the people who could take
it or couldn't take it, you know? And, and so
basically if you want to talk about it, it's
all in the book. Yes. It's all in the book. Yeah.
Uh, some things that, uh, Some things that people
don't know, I mean, you know, are also in the
book. Of course, I mean, basically, you know,
if I've covered elections, there are some things
that I don't write much about, which I do, you
know, or some things I expand more on, some,
you know. So they will find some interesting
things. All the more reason for you people to
pick up the book. Really, man. I mean, hidden
little gems that you don't know about. And you
use the last G. to frame the whole discussion
in your book, right? How did the shift to our
current PM's leadership affect the way you wrote
about the party, his party, the leading party,
and the political future? Oh, in the book? Yeah.
You mean in the book? Yeah. Not very much, really.
I mean, basically, referring to the GE itself,
well, it was really a new... PM coming into the
system. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we, this GE is in
fact some kind of mandate of sorts to legitimize
his position. Right. Both in the country and
in the party. But, you know, I don't think I
dealt so much on that, on that part of it. Okay.
In the book. You know, as I said, it isn't just
a commentary on this GE, you see. Okay. Because
I took a much broader look. Like, for example,
the GRCs, the NCMP scheme, the nominated MP.
So there were all these other things, you know,
that sort of deal with the structure, the infrastructure
of the system that I also talked about. So that
makes it quite different from past books. So
we can safely say that this is not a review of
this year's. Of the latest, the last recently.
I would like to say I came out with a summary.
It's basically like part primer, you know, part
history, part review. That's why I said the concept
is different and difficult to come up with. In
fact, I tell you, I don't know how many times
I had to rewrite and change my first chapter,
you know, because I realized that if I do it
this way, I can't fit this. If I do it that way,
I can't fit this. So basically, we took a lot
of time just defining how we want to conceptualize
it. Okay. Your chapter asks, can tahan or not?
For a regular person thinking of joining politics,
what is the single most brutal part of the job
that people don't realize until they start? Start
as a candidate or start as a politician? As a
candidate. As a candidate. It's tough out there,
man. I mean, you know, I think whether you're
on the ruling party side or on the other side,
it's tough out there. Because essentially, people
are getting a lot more demanding, that's for
sure. So they have certain expectations which,
and if you don't meet them, I think the good
thing is Singaporeans mainly are polite. Yeah.
But, you know, it does have an, and if you are
thin -skinned, it will have a very bad effect
on you. Okay. So that's tough, you know. And
I find that, being able to relate to other people
in people to people will get harder and harder,
you know, because I see the younger and younger
lot just don't know how to do it anymore. Yeah.
You know, but the other thing is this, you still
cannot do without the personal touch because
even if they don't know how to do it or can't
do it, people appreciate it. Yeah, they can't
leave it to an AI. Yeah, people appreciate it.
People appreciate it because, you know, you sort
of took the time. Yeah. We've been doing nothing
this season, Akai, except talking about AI, right?
Oh, no. Yeah, there's a lot of talk about AI.
All right. You said, you talk about how voters
care so much about candidates' academic record.
Why do Singaporeans value having a lot of degrees
more than real -life, on -the -ground experience?
Did I say they value academic records? I did,
huh? Yeah. So one of the things I said that is
something that you must have. I mean, of course,
Singaporeans will all say we don't care. Yeah.
But we do. So, you know, let's not be so whatever
about it. I mean, you know, you have to be someone
like Chamsitong or something. Right. Who can
get through this, you know. But then, you know,
in that sense, we reward the people who try to
work very hard. very, very hard. But now, you
want to come in, you know, and you want a good
first shot at it, you better have some of that
behind you lah. Some credentials. Some credentials.
And that's the term now that people are using.
It's not like whether you're a good academic
star or whatever. Yeah. It's basically, are you
highly credentialed? Yeah, which basically means
your academic record lah. No lah. But also means
like, you know, after that, You know, you have
some position, work in some place, you know,
your startup or whatever. So, you know, so, you
can't have people who, who, with nothing to really
show and then have the people say, you're okay.
Not now. So, basically, that hasn't changed.
It's the same, isn't it? It's been like that
all the while. True. That would be true if there
were no other issues at play. Yeah. They still
want to see whether or not you've got, which
school you came from, what your degree is, what
degree do you have. Yeah. Although sometimes
it may kiss of death. I mean, if you've got a
great degree and double degrees or whatever,
it's best not to harp too much on it. So lucky
thing, we've got somebody from Tanjung Katung
Secondary. Who? Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. My
neighbouring school. My neighbouring school.
Yeah, man. I mean, just think about it. You know,
I was quite proud of it, actually, when I heard
that he was from, it was in those days called
TK Tech. Correct, TK Tech, yeah. So, you know,
from TK Tech, I said, wah, not bad. Actually,
I wonder why they call it. Tanjung Katung Secondary,
you know, when actually with his time, it was
still TK Tech, if I'm not mistaken. I don't know.
He's not much younger than me. So, yeah, I used
to go there for, we used to, a lot of us used
to go there for technical classes. Technical
classes. Yes, yes, yes. So, I wonder why they
call it, eh, TK Tech is TK Tech lah. They need
to go and sugarcoat the whole thing and call
it Tanjung Katung Secondary School lah. Okay,
let's talk about politicians. MPs often regret
missing their family life. From watching the
system, what's the one thing that needs to be
fixed so an MP can have a more normal family
life? Opinion, opinion. You know, I think the
first thing you should understand is that when
you go into this, you should not expect a normal
life. I mean, sorry, but you have decided that
you are worth coming into public service. You
got married to it. Yeah, and I think it is up
to your family to be more understanding of your
ambitions and your wishes. So, you know, I don't
think flexible work -life balance is something
we should give to our respective representatives
in parliament. You know, I mean, just imagine
you come and then you want my vote and you say,
oh, by the way, I only work nine to five. Oh,
come on. But 20, 25 years from today, when you
have our Xennials in leadership. They probably
might want to look at things that way, you know.
If they want to. Work -life balance, you know,
even for a politician. No, no, no. You get work
-life balance for me. It doesn't mean that you
are the ones with work -life balance. I mean,
I know we don't want to be like the Japanese
Prime Minister. Sis, you and I will be super
bloody old by then. You know, they're not going
to listen to us. No, no, no. You see like the
Japanese Prime Minister, right? She's a one workaholic
apparently, you know. I mean, I don't expect
you to... To go that far. But if you do, I won't
say a word. But I don't think you should complain
about it. She doesn't, but her subordinates do.
And you know. If she works late, they work late
lah. Yeah, but you know, if you don't want to
work late, you don't want to be with a boss like
that, then quit lah. That's true. That's very
easy for me. Workers' party. The workers' party.
Otherwise, no, that's not right. I can't say
that. The workers' party. BAP like? Yes, thank
you. PAP line. That label, isn't a clever strategy,
you know, that, you know, you think it helped
them somewhat in votes or does it hurt them?
I don't know, you know, I mean, they are trying
to wear it like a badge of honour, you know,
to say that, hey, you see, we've reached this
status. I mean, I've heard a few MPs say that,
rallies and all that. Frankly, It depends on
how you view a PAP, like as people with brains
can execute, maybe not as good, but still like
that. Or PAP -like as in, just as a very superficial
version of the PAP. Yeah. Or, you know, I think
there was a little worry on the PAP side, you
know, that if you describe them as PAP -like,
they say, actually okay what, also like PAP.
So therefore, vote for them would be okay what,
you know. So, you know, it's a tech that can
be used any which way. Sure. But I tell you how
I think. I learned about this L -I -T -E thing
because it's a tech term. When you go to, if
you want to download an app, right, they've got
the light version. There's a light version, which
is a free of charge version. Free of charge version.
Okay. Which you probably can use for maybe a
month, two months, three months. And then after
that, you're going to subscribe to the better
version. I thought I use it in terms of food.
Calorie light, fat light. When okay. Yeah. The
light version, right? Yes. Of apps and all that,
right? That's the virtual version. That's the
cheap Charlie version that all the cheap Charlies
would use. Yeah. Like, you know, I don't want
to pay for AI, but I use the AI Lite version.
Yep. Yeah, okay. You're going about AI again.
Thanks, you know. By the way, if you call the
Workers' Party PAP Lite, then should you call
the PAP WP Lite? Ah, have you thought about that?
I mean, essentially, sometimes... No, because
I think sometimes the PAP has policies which
are actually quite... I won't use the word populist
because they don't like it. And, you know, but
quite popular, you know. And so basically, you
know, when they do these things and, you know,
they always accuse others of wanting to be popular.
Right. So I would say they are also WP, right?
Okay. I'm going to move on to the next question.
I don't want to get myself into bloody trouble.
I don't know how you do things like this, you
know. I damn scared. Okay. Your analysis points
out that the PM controls the committee that draws
the election boundaries. Correct. If you could
make one change, what would it be? Do you think
changes are required in the first place? Oh,
of course I do. Okay. I think we are an anomaly.
Okay. Or maybe an anachronism or whatever it
is. We are a real outlier in this area. Okay.
Essentially, the one change is basically there
must be some oversight of some sort and shouldn't
be from the ruling party. Do you think by and
large people know this? That it is an outlier
when it comes to this? Oh. I don't know. I mean,
usually, I don't, I think people know that gerrymandering
takes place everywhere. That's what they call
it. Yeah. Yeah. You know, and, and sometimes,
you know, people will say I was like, not so
bad or whatever. Right. But, you know, I don't
think something like this should be left on the
basis of trusting the person in charge to make
sure that the boundaries are fairly distributed.
I also say. So, you know, and I think there is
a need for us to open some window into this whole
room full of maps and whatever to see what they
are up to. Yeah. So, you know, I don't think
that the government has any leg to stand on where
the EBRC is concerned, especially when in the
past, when they were not in government, they
made such a big fuss and wanted all sorts of
checks. on the committee. So, you know, so when
you're in power, of course, you think differently,
right? But I really, to me, it's not about who's
in power, who's not. To me, it's about the people
who live here. Yeah. And you know, what is it
we need? Yeah. To be dependent on basically people
is to be not good enough. We should be dependent
on a proper system that is sturdy enough with
enough checks, enough balances. no matter who
is holding the power. So that is my key concern
for Singapore. Okay. The GRC system. Is it still
the best way to make sure we have minority race
representation in Parliament? You know, one of
the reasons I wrote this book is also because
I happened to be there when a lot of innovations
were put in place. You know, I mean, the white
paper, select committee hearings, all that, I
was there to report on it. So in fact, it's very
strange that, you know, like NMPs and GRCs and
GPCs and town councils, everything happened when
I was in the middle, in the newsroom reporting
on these things. Right. So I have a very close,
I wouldn't say attachment, but I'm very interested.
in this sort of topics. The GRCs, you know, one
thing about our innovations is that there's always
some justification, which is very natural, no,
very rational and very commonsensical. But, you
know, there are ramifications and other consequences
and side effects that we don't want to look at,
you know, because we are focused on this. this
thing called, for instance, multiracial representation.
Okay. Yeah. So actually, I'm beginning to think
that to have this kind of, if, you know, if the
idea is that you must like the GRC because it
guarantees multiracial representation. If not,
you are not for multiracial representation. It's
a very bad argument. You know, I think this kind
of first principles argument, maybe 20 years
ago can. But the fact is, if we agree that multiracial
representation, you can have it in parliament,
whether you are raised blind or not, if you just
make the GRC smaller and fewer. Right. You know,
I mean, you really don't need, you know, the
whole island. I mean, you look at the state it
is now. I mean, the constitution doesn't say
you have to go and GRC the whole place and only
leave like, you know, eight or nine single seat,
you know. And in the beginning, it didn't start
that way. Okay. So, you know, then you start
wondering. Yeah, there were very few, I remember.
Yes, there were half. Long time ago. When it
first started out, the parliament, half the seats
were GRC seats. The other half were single seats.
And there were only three member GRCs and now
they are not there anymore. But the constitution
does say three members can be there. Okay. So
it's three to six. So what we don't have now
are the six ones. Okay. Because I think. I think
the PAP, the government realised that people
were really unhappy about this. Especially since
with six member GRCs, there are plenty of walkovers.
You can't find people to stand against you. Do
you believe that voters have this assumption
that if they vote for the opposition, the government
will punish their town? By withdrawing resources.
Well, whether the government punishes the town
or not, frankly speaking, it has realized that
saying so is not a very politic thing to do.
Whether they do so in other ways, that's something
we have to go in and take a look. You know, I
mean, there was even one time when I remember
the PM suggesting that they were... pull out,
you know, your PCF kindergartens and stuff. Yeah,
yeah, yeah. Yeah. No, they didn't, I think, in
the end. You know, I remember that it was in
some, it was in a newspaper article that we did
some research on. Yeah. But I did put that point
in because I'm not, I don't think it was done.
Okay. You know, so it's like the upgrading, HGB
upgrading carrot. That was a threat. It was perceived
as a threat. Yeah. And you know, and I think
the fact that people ignored it, You know, and
showed that maybe these things can't work. But
you know, one thing I found interesting, even
till today, people still don't think the vault
is secret. Yeah, okay. Yeah. Do you think it
is? Oh, yeah, I do. How come? I don't know. I
would think that if it's not, you know, somebody
would know. Okay. The trouble is we are guessing
here. Everybody guess, guess, guess, guess, guess.
And then nobody is. So nobody's saying anything.
Where's the evidence? Yeah, where's the evidence?
I don't know. So what evidence is there? People
speculate. From what I heard, people speculate
because there are serialized numbers. Yeah, the
serialized numbers are there. That's why I'm
not saying it's happening that way. Administrative
reasons. I need to know that you are. Number
100 and whatever. Yeah, to make sure that you
actually get a ballot. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You
know, unless you want to like distribute the
ballot paper at the polling station and then
you go in and do something. I also think that
it prevents cheating. You know, you must remember
that you can't just look at it as... Double votes
and all that. It prevents cheating. Yeah. 2025,
nicknamed as the Podcast GE. Yes. What's the
secret to why podcasts here, I'm so happy when
I heard there's no podcast, connect with young
voters better than TV news or rallies or even,
you know, even the press. No, I think we need
to, it is not that it connects better, but it
is increasingly going to make inroads. into the
media, the media space. Because, you know, you
put up a rally, it's shown on TV and people,
and, you know, Mediacorp has to show it on TV.
There will be a lot more people viewing it than
doing a podcast. Yeah. So, you know, things like
that, you cannot fight the numbers. Right. So,
when you talk about podcast, it does, the good
thing about podcast, it does reach a bigger range
of people, I think. You know, a range. So, you
know, I'm not so sure it's only the young people
you're talking about, no? But it's a whole mixed
bunch of people. I mean, I take myself for example.
If I appear on a podcast, I have people telling
me, hey, I saw you on the podcast. And then I
say, oh, you know, people and they are people
I don't know and probably people who don't read
me on Facebook or whatever. Yeah, but they recognize
me from there. So, it's a question of reaching
many different little groups. Okay. So in that
sense, the proliferation in GE 2025 is quite
remarkable in the sense everybody is going to
this business. We've become kind of mainstream,
you know. Not bad, huh? Yeah, but I mean... It's
not enough just to be asking questions though.
Yeah. I mean, like now you're asking me questions,
right? I have to ask questions. Yeah. In my old
job, I ask questions too. Yes. Yeah. But you
know, it's got to be sustained sometimes by,
you know, your own information. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. I am just a guy asking questions and let
my guests tell the stories. Okay. Oh my God,
that's so lame. Yeah, I'll let my guest tell
the story. It's not me. I'm just the glue that
bind the glitter. I'm not the glitter. Okay,
okay, okay. The million dollar HDB flats, huge
topic. Yes? What's the most radical but realistic
idea a party, in your opinion, can propose to
make HDB flats affordable without completely
crashing the value as an asset? My God, that
would be... Too big a question for me. Even the
different political parties. No, it's too big
even for me to advance an opinion because there's
so many variables involved. Yeah. I mean, you've
got land costs, construction costs, how much
a role should private sector prices play in it.
So, you know, do you want to get, you know, developers
involved or should it just be a HDB thing or,
you know, then, you know, you've got your BTO
and I don't know how many, how many, you know,
permutations of flats you've had. In the past.
Right, right. So I really don't know. So what
are we trying to fix here? Are we only trying
to fix affordability? Is that the question? Or
what else are we trying to fix here? You know,
if you're trying to fix affordability, anybody
can suggest any kind of solution. But it's a
big issue, isn't it? I mean. Of course it is.
In society, it's a big issue. Yes. Because the
young people are all worried about, you know,
can I get my BTO and whether or not I can afford
my BTO. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But, you know, as an.
older person, I can always say, eh, what's wrong
with renting first? And then until you can afford
to buy, then go and buy. So, you know, the expectations
are of varying kinds. To want immediately to
have a ready -made future for yourself is sometimes
not possible. But the narrative that has always
been sold into people's heads has always been,
we will always ensure that you, you know, that
Singaporeans can afford their own homes. Yeah,
when? Good point. Okay. Most times, no, most
times it is sort of fixed at marriage, right?
You get married, you get flat. Yeah, but if you
want to buy, even if you rent and then property
prices keep going up, you'll never be able to
afford to buy one anyway. Well, they may come
down. Oh, really? Or you may save more. You know,
so the thing is, you know, I think this idea
that our path must be smoothened in some way
and a little setback will make us feel, why?
I mean, we have to be a lot more resilient than
that. Okay. I know this is all funny daddy talking.
Yeah, I don't know what the young people might
be saying. Those who are watching this episode,
what they might think about this. Whatever they
might think, they go and think. But remember,
it's not just the fact that you want a home.
is the fact that people who are older are living
in homes that are now going to hit expiry date.
Okay? So your whole lease decay thing also comes
in. So as I said, the HDB issue is far bigger
than just, can I afford my HDB flat? You know,
I mean, basically, your flat prices are coming
down for the older flats. Right. Which brings
in yet another variable. Is my flat really an
investment? So, you know, So I think there are
too many objectives that have been, you know,
soldered onto HB policy. And sometimes we can't
achieve all of them to everybody's satisfaction.
Yeah. And we might have to trim off some. The
ruling party, you know, they're doing things
like, you know, giving you a CDC vouchers and
promoting master plans. I mean, of course they
can do it, right? How can a small, opposition
party compete with this kind of large -scale,
wallet -focused, grassroots? They can't. Ah.
So, basically, one answer, they can't. They can't.
No, I'm serious. You know, the only way they
can compete is to change the mindset of Singaporeans
and to tell them that all these things, yeah,
you're very happy, nice and good, but it also
means what, what, what, what, what, what. So,
you know, so there must be this awareness in
people. of what is actually happening than just
say, wah, so good ah, you know, therefore. So,
you know, it's hard to, it's hard to fight. I
mean, I've seen the opposition parties try to
fight it, but the resources are just nowhere
near. Yeah, of course not. Yeah. Yeah. So, basically,
basically, basically, wave the white flag lah.
Okay. I mean, how to? Or carry it. Yeah, exactly.
How to? So it's kind of a jam situation, you
know. You note that opposition parties usually
don't try to actually form the government. Is
Singapore designed to only ever have a one and
a half party system? Oh, one half party system.
That's Pui Tam Seng's idea, right? Yeah. I think
I'm so I'm so gabra though I've only heard one
and a half party system but in a sense I mean
his analogy is quite correct you know his party
is only half yeah yeah so no I think it is very
hard to have a party say I want to form a government
although Red Dog United has said so unless you
know unless you know it's very hard because you
know to you really must have that certain mass
of, you know, a core group of people who are
very, very strong. Yeah. And I think it's also
very difficult because the fact is the PAP, the
politicians and the civil servants and the, you
know, stat boards and the government companies,
they are all so integrated. The machinery is
there. The machinery. It's not just the machinery.
The machinery is interlocking one, no? Yeah,
yeah. And no, so even if you do manage to pull
out one part and then you try and supplant it,
I'm not so sure whether it's that easy to get
the machinery going. I mean, in the past, I've
heard opposition members say that, oh, the civil
service is supposed to, you know, you have to
carry on, you have to do this, you have to do
that. You know, I mean, on paper, it all looks
good. Yeah. It's what they say at rallies too.
Oh, don't worry, the civil service will continue
to carry on. Yeah, so sometimes we have this
great faith in theories, you know? And we sort
of say that, you know, this is the way it works.
But I don't know. I don't know whether this is
the way it works or whether or not, you know,
so when they tell me arm slaying approach and
all that, are you kidding? Are you sure? Again,
this is the other big thing that we might want
to solve. How much of a hand should the state
have in society or people's businesses? Because
even the wonderful thing about the Singapore
system is that the PAP itself doesn't really
have to exercise it because it is almost natural
for the people on the other end to just accept
it as it is. The Bo Pian Syndrome. Bo Pian Syndrome
or yeah, maybe, I guess. Really Bo Pian or what?
I mean, there is, I don't know. To me, as far
as I can see it, I might just wave the damn white
flag and call it a day. Very hard, man. No, I
think there must be some idealism. And I'm quite
sure even in the PAP, there are idealists. For
those who are not waving the white flag, given
the high risk of losing deposits. No. Why did
new independent candidates like Jeremy Tan do
so well and surprised everybody in GE 2025? What
did he get right? Let's use him for an example.
First of all, you know, he's only I don't know
how old and he's already a retired person. Yeah.
And I think people sort of admire young people.
who have done well materially or, you know, in
certain ways. He is a success at a very young
age. Yeah. And who is willing to take the plunge,
you know, come out and practically dare the system.
Yeah. You know, and... Ballsy lah, this fella.
Ballsy lah. And, you know, not... And there's
a system without even a political cover with
him, you know. Right. I mean, you can't... You
didn't hide behind political parties. The guy
went there, babe. almost butt naked doing this.
What was that thing we call the day when, on
nomination day. My goodness, that fella. Yeah.
Can even tell us, the PAP supporters, thanks
for coming here to support me. My good. Wow.
It was, in a sense, a bit refreshing. It is.
It was. Yeah, it was. So, you know, and I think
some of his, some of the way he speaks is very
personable. So, you know, So as a person, people
connect with him. They could relate. Okay. That's
how he did well. And plus, he's proven to be
successful in his own right. Well, yeah. So that's
the credentials. Yeah. I don't know which school
he came from. That one is what we don't know,
right? Oh, okay. Do we know which school he came
from? I'm sure we know, but I can't remember
which. Okay. So that guy is quite refreshing.
I didn't forget him. It was fun to watch him.
Okay, last question. After writing this whole
book, what is the most essential piece of non
-political advice you would give to a genuinely
good, passionate person about to start their
political journey? I would just say, don't bother
with the white flag first. I would say, first
of all, read my book. No, when you talk about
starting political journeys, you must first understand
the journey you are going to undertake. But a
lot of people are so confused about why the system
is the way it is. They don't know the why and
the wherefores and all that. And then you want
to come in and immediately say, I hate this or
I like this. Hello. Be a little more knowledgeable,
please. Because even if you're not passionate
about your political journey, you can't help
but be part of it simply because you are a voter.
Yep. So don't downplay that. that duty that you
have to know a bit about the political system
before you cast your vote. Basically do your
research, do your homework, see whether you can
tahan lah, like you said in your book lah, can
tahan or not. Oh yeah, but you don't have to
join the fray. I mean, you know, my point actually
with the book is that, is that, okay, it's sort
of, okay, gimmicky lah, to say, you know, how
to be, you know, do the elections. But essentially
the point is to tell people, know something about
this gigantic thing that happens every four,
five years, what the political system is about.
So I'm using this as an entry point into the
book. If I have managed to give you some idea
of this is why things are this way, oh, this
is how it happened, that's good enough for me.
Because right now, knowledge is at a very abysmally
low point. Okay. Okay, everybody. I'm going to
end this episode right now before I get into
more shit. You know I don't like to talk about
all these kind of things, right? But, you're
my sister and you're just boot very nice. So,
must talk about it. Okay, but this is quite scary.
That's why I'm wearing my Prata t -shirt. You're
going to flip if you get it. Okay. You're going
to flip if something goes wrong. But I also have
my Milo Chino. Okay. Okay, everybody. Thank you
for joining us in this conversation for this
week's episode. It's our Double Bill weekend.
You had an episode yesterday. You got one today.
And today, we really want to launch this one
because my sister launched a book this afternoon.
And once again, you can get... How to be a Singapore
superstar. She mentioned it a couple of times.
Did you know? I don't know how this episode.
You can get this book in all the good bookstores.
Kinokuniya, Popular, and Book Bar. You can even
go online to these stores and buy them. Buy a
few copies, you know. And if you want to have
her sign a special autographed copy. Oh. When?
You're doing the signing thing? I don't know.
I mean, essentially, I left it to my distributor
to arrange the date. The guy named Cheyenne,
you mean? No, no, no. Oh, okay. A proper company
doing this. A proper company that arranges for
signings. And distribution of books. And distribution
of books. Okay, anyway, if you're not on Bertus
Facebook, you might just want to... Get on her
Facebook. Don't go there and troll her. If I
know who you are, I'll tell you. I'll come after
you. So you just go to her Facebook. Then you
look out for updates where and when she will
be at that book signing. And if you want to get
your backsides there, please go ahead and do
so. This is Chris Hansen. I hope you've enjoyed
this episode of Ink Spill. Stick around. A couple
more episodes to go before we say bye -bye to
Season 6 and start working on Season 7. Until
next week, same time, same place, same channel.
Stay safe. Take care, everybody. Bye bye.