INTERVIEW: My interview with RAVI PHILEMON (former Editor of "The Online Citizen"), 29 March 2012

Dr Kieran James (left) and Ravi Philemon, Choa Chua Kang, Singapore, 29 March 2012

My exclusive interview with RAVI PHILEMON (social activist and former Editor of The Online Citizen)

By Dr Kieran James (University of Fiji)

Interview at: Choa Chu Kang, Singapore, 29 March 2012 (as amended and approved for publication by RP on 28 & 29 June 2012)

Roderick Chia, Kieran James, Jarrod Luo (ex-SDP), 29/3/2012

Kieran James Question 1: Hi Ravi, can you begin by telling me how you first got politicized on the opposition side?

Ravi Philemon: It all started with Queens Park Rangers when I was teenager...

KJ: Queens Park Rangers Football Club?

Ravi: It was the FA Cup, Tottenham versus QPR. It could have been QPR against Everton or Spurs. It was an underdog up against a top team in the English Premier League. They held them to a draw. I never thought QPR would hold them to a draw. It made me think that the underdogs can make something out of themselves if they just try. I have always been politically informed. I have always felt for the underdogs. I’ve never voted for the PAP my entire life because I felt it [the system] was very unfair. I had benefitted from the PAP; I came from a disadvantaged family. I was homeless since the age of eleven (was staying with relatives), my mom was my hero, she had three jobs, [and] my sisters (staying in a charitable hostel) in the convent, my mom had to rent a room.

In those days in the 1980s if you were willing to work hard enough you could make something of yourself. In the late-1980s my mom bought a two-room HDB flat, 85 square metres. It was a place we could call our own. I remember about being politically informed. It was just the perceived unfairness.  I was someone who benefitted from the system. So I have always been involved with the community because I have come from a disadvantaged family. My career has always been with people who are disabled or disadvantaged.

In 2004 I went to the USA. It gave me a totally different perspective of advocacy. Here the advocacy is a quiet advocacy. You try to negotiate with them and move boundaries softly. In USA I learnt that quiet advocacy is good but there is a place for advocacy which is seen and heard. My children taught me this. They were affected by the Virginia Tech massacre. They organized a vigil at the school [in the USA]. They asked me to go. I asked “who is organizing?” They said “just me and my friends”. When I went there I was pleasantly surprised as the whole school had gathered. This was a student-led initiative. Teachers were there to support the initiative. It doesn’t matter who initiates. It’s important to invite the right people and be seen and be heard.

We came back to Singapore soon after 2008. So, coming back to Singapore, I worked with a shelter for homeless people. I remember one incident quite clearly. I advocated for a client of the shelter. I wrote in to HDB, I got a reply from the Government saying if I wanted to advocate for a client I should write to the government agency, not HDB, and they would negotiate government to government. That was frustrating. Why do I have to go the roundabout way? I see things from a different perspective because I was disadvantaged. It is not only lack of a house. Homelessness is a symptom of many root causes. I wrote a very mild article. Nobody wanted to publish it. A few months later I sent it to TOC [The Online Citizen]. They published it and that is how a relationship started, July to August 2008.

I helped Jeanette [Chong-Aruldoss, NSP] in the campaign of 2011 but I’m not a party member. I have been asked to join various political parties.

KJ: How would you describe your political philosophy?

RP: I’m more of a socialist so any party that...More importantly I want to be somewhere my contributions can count. I like to pioneer things.

KJ: Would you consider standing for election?

RP: I would like to contest the next election. As to which party I’m not sure yet. I think it’s important for the people to have the choice. For me I think conscience is very important. I will align myself with a party which I think can and will be the conscience of the nation.

KJ: What do you think will happen within Singapore politics over the next 10-15 years?

RP: PAP will still be in power. Depending on how well the WP do I suspect they will continue to keep Aljunied and Hougang. I think they will go into areas formerly contested by other political parties such as Marine Parade [GRC] and Tampines [GRC]. They will have to grow as a political party. Although SDP is the most vocal on the net and they have many intellectuals I think it will be very difficult for anyone from that party to be elected in the next three elections, not because they are not capable but because too much damage has been done by PAP for them to recover their image problem. I’m speaking as an outsider who may not know their inner workings. What they are doing is good. Coming out with alternative policies and having intellectuals is the right thing to do. The Health Policy is a good initiative.

KJ: What do you like about the SDP Health Policy?

RP: I think it’s good because now we know there is not just 3Ms – Medisave, Medishield, and Medifund. We can think beyond the 3Ms. They talk of health care not being a commodity which I agree with as well. One area I have difficulty in accepting is the one-size-fits-all or “single payer plan” as they call it. I would like to see “single player plus” plan where the companies can come in and add to what the state is offering. Every ward will have just two beds for everyone regardless of income. It’s commendable that you [SDP] would think of something like that as it helps to contain diseases. You can’t have 6, 8, 20 people in a ward. Even layman’s wisdom will tell you you need fewer beds. But what if I want a ward for myself? I can go to private hospital but they may not have all the equipment. Public hospitals are state-funded and may have money to buy more equipment. Yu may be discriminating the other way around. I feel “single player plus” will be a fairer system. I’m not rich but I want to stay in a single bed ward. I want my privacy. For me I don’t think one size will fit everyone. I have worked with people with disabilities for twenty years. Everything has to be individually tailored. I like giving people as many options as possible.

KJ: How does the opposition gain 50.1% of votes in a given constituency?

R Chia celebrates WP wins Aljunied & Hougang, 9/5/2011

RP: This is what other parties are moving to. WP and NSP are both trying to capture the middle ground. SDP is a little off centre but they are trying to gain the middle ground. SDP will have to move more towards the centre and talk more about bread and butter issues but also still push boundaries. Where does my child go for Primary 1? People are concerned with this and with train and bus crowding, playground space, prices of food in hawker centres, things like that, parking charges, petrol and diesel prices, etc.

KJ: What do you think of today’s announcement giving priority to Singaporeans over PRs in primary school admissions?

RP: It was sad. Singaporeans were given priority last many years [laughs]. What’s the value of citizenship? It’s a step in the right direction. Foreigners should not be discriminated against. This is what the Government has spoken about for a long time, foreigners are here as a spur, LKY said this. He was trying to say foreigners are a spur for Singaporeans to keep them moving faster. People are people. People keep talking in these terms because you [Government] keep using these terms – CMIO, Chinese, Malay, Indian, Others. I don’t think a lot of Singaporeans are xenophobic. They have been speaking that language of “bringing in foreigners” for many years.

I think a lot of people who come from India or China they will be more supportive of PAP. For Chinese they have one-party system and it’s easy for them to imagine one party. Indians might think Singapore prospered because it is a one-party not multi-party state. It may take a generation for most of these people to realize a one-party state is not good. They will begin to realize the injustice, the unfairness, the lopsidedness. The sad thing is there is no room for negotiation, everything has been decided. What is so wrong in hearing others’ views and modifying your plans so that more people will be happy? If you go to any company, every company will have to be audited. Who audits Singapore Incorporated? This is why you need more voices in the parliament.

KJ: What do you think will happen in the upcoming by-election in Hougang SMC?

RP: I think it will be a two-corner fight and WP will win. See my article on Facebook.

KJ: You don’t think PAP has a chance to win it back?

RP: No, I don’t think PAP can win it back. WP’s percentage may be lower [in Hougang], 4-8% lower. No other party could do better than WP there.

KJ: Do you think the WP brand has been adversely affected?

RP: I think the WP branding has not suffered much. I think it’s very unfair to put the spotlight on the opposition. You have eight opposition and 80 PAP MPs in Parliament but spotlight should be on the PAP. The [media] focus should not be on the opposition. I’m all for opposition unity but let’s be realistic. The opposition has yet to find unity for thirty years but they have not been able to find unity like in Malaysia where they can come together to find unity. Even SDP, the most “different” party, they are not all that different from WP. I’m sure no party is advocating for Islamic state or Confucian state. In Malaysia they had their ideological differences but they came together for the unity of the country. It’s important not to engage with people who will sidetrack you and make you worked up.

KJ: What are your comments about the PAP Government’s treatment of the disabled and disadvantaged?

RP: The disabled have been asking for subsidies for public transport fees for the last thirteen years at least. They were very hopeful they would get it this year. The Transport Minister said they would consider all requests this year but they gave S$1.1 billion to a private company-public company operator. He said he is “sympathetic” towards the people with disabilities but what does your sympathy count for?

For the disadvantaged, as unhappy as they are with certain Government policies, when it comes to election many will vote for PAP because of how the system works. If [you are] appealing for HDB flat and MP wrote in on your behalf HDB say we reconsider because MP wrote for you. It makes you beholden to that MP. The HDB should listen regardless of whether an MP appeals or not. If you are poor and need help with public transport you get those voucher subsidies from the MP not the transport operator. The Government’s hand is in everything. They find opportunities to remind you that “you owe all this to me”. The worry is there that if you vote [against] PAP you may lose one or more of those benefits. I helped JCA [Jeanette Chong-Aruldoss] on her campaign. Someone said [to JCA] she was afraid if she voted against PAP her flat would be taken away from her. I think these fears are irrational.

KJ: I know you have a meeting coming up and we are fast running out of time. Have you got any other comments you want to make on any topic?

WP campaign poster, Aljunied GRC, May 2011 GE

RP: The one person I have a lot of respect for in opposition politics is CST [Chiam See Tong]. I think in the years he has been in public service he has contributed tremendously to the political process even giving to Singapore people such as CSJ {Chee Soon Juan]. The differences they have had are, in my point of view, negligible. You always have different views, that’s beside the point. I think, despite his failing health, how he fought the last election showed dogged determination to give Singaporeans an option. With that sort of health he had the courage to contest and that speaks volumes about him. You don’t know the party situation as to why Lina [Chiam] had to go there [Potong Pasir SMC contest]. Perhaps she was the best choice the party had at that time. If you look at the prominent parties in Singapore – WP, SDP, NSP, and SPP – I think the SPP is in the most difficult situation because of the people moving away from the party. I don’t want to see CST’s legacy ending with him not being around. I certainly hope that more people will begin to see that that’s another option they have in SPP and, more importantly, that they will try to capture the dream and vision of that man. Seeds of vision and dream can be passed on from one generation to another before it comes to pass. People choose to oppose in different ways, there is not just one way that is right. What is my character? What are my own boundaries that I’m comfortable in dealing with? LTK [Low Thia Khiang] is opposing in the way he is comfortable in opposing and his party feels [is the way] that works for him. CST has been effective using his style for over 25 years. JBJ opposed in the way he thought was best. Whose method is correct? CST is as much of a legend as JBJ although there is no comparison as they are two different people.