Welcome to the season finale of The Mynah Podcast! Our editor Ruby is joined by Chong Ja Ian, Kirsten Han, and Lim Jialiang to discuss the 2025 General Election. The day after Polling Day, we tried to make sense of the results – Lawrence Wong's strong mandate, the WP holding onto its wards in what was otherwise an opposition wipeout, etc – and discussed the idiosyncrasies of Singapore’s information-poor political environment, MPs' many hats, whether Kenneth Jeyaretnam was right, and how the work continues beyond the ballot box.
Chong Ja Ian is a political scientist from Singapore. He examines U.S.-China dynamics in Southeast Asia and the broader Asia-Pacific. His research covers the intersection of international and domestic politics, with a focus on the externalities of major power competition, nationalism, regional order, security, democratization, contentious politics, and state formation.
Kirsten Han runs We, The Citizens, a newsletter focused on democracy, human rights and social justice in Singapore. During the GE, the portion of her brain not taken up by election-related matters was about the size of the PPP’s Tampines vote share, so she was very glad to be able to vent on Mynah’s podcast.
Lim Jialiang is the founder of the beer distribution company Watering Hole. Before that, he managed a hawker stall in Chinatown for four years. He was the guest on The Mynah Podcast’s first-ever episode, Political Economy Rice.
For full context on this episode, read our newsletter. Some show notes:
Alia Mattar on a proposed national anti-scam insurance scheme.
PAP candidates Elysa Chen and Jasmin Lau both gave interviews , with the former describing how she was “kicked into politics” and the latter comparing being voted in to a civil service posting where “we don’t go there because we chose to.”
Jeremy Tan’s rally speech for Mountbatten SMC and his website that lists his policy proposals, many based on Bitcoin use.
Monday of Palestine Solidarity is an informal collective for citizens to engage MPs on Singapore’s position on Palestine.
Josephine Teo recounts 'ambush' incidents at Meet-The-People Sessions.
In 2022, volunteers from the Transformative Justice Collective attended cabinet ministers’ Meet-The-People Sessions about the petition calling for a moratorium on the death penalty. More information, including how to sign it, here.
Chan Chun Sing’s views on how “MPs who have to juggle multiple responsibilities are in a better position to empathise with Singaporeans who are similarly doing so”.
The story about Ng Chee Meng meeting convicted money launderer Su Haijin – whom we refer to incorrectly as Su Haiyan in this episode – has developed since our recording and now involves a number of politicians.
One example of how governments can require transparency from politicians is Australia’s Register of Members' Interests. MPs must declare interests like directorships, property, sources of other income (including their spouse’s), and gifts.
In a 1999 interview, Lee Kuan Yew suggested that Singapore would start a Speakers’ Corner, bringing up Dr Chee Soon Juan who had been arrested for trying to make a speech. Speakers’ Corner was established a year later.
Kirsten mentions research by Erica Chenoweth, a political scientist, showing that 3.5% of a population participating in protests in nonviolent campaigns results in successful serious change.
Blackbox Research released the results of their final-week polling after we recorded the episode. According the Parliamentary Elections Act, publication of election survey results is prohibited between the writ of election and election day.
Mynah Magazine started as a print magazine for untold Singaporean stories in 2016. Our fifth issue will be out in 2025.
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The music for The Mynah Podcast was written and recorded by Daniel Seah. Special thanks to Nicholas Yeo for recording this episode.