Singaporean Matters: When smart people say and do dumb things

The case of Leong Mun Wai

I have been following, with great interest, the debate on housing affordability. Not so much about NCMP Leong Mun Wai’s proposal to exclude land costs in the pricing Housing Board flats, but the response from political commentators and activists.

From the lens of a communications professional, the WHITES just don’t get it. They have failed to understand the political landscape they are operating in:

1. Politicians win or lose elections based on recognizability. Hence all publicity is good and people like Leong Mun Wai and the Marjorie Taylor Greene’s of the world do all they can to be in the news.
2. In Singapore, elections turn on the middle 40%. This is because 30% of the electorate either love or hate you. For the former, you can do no wrong and for the latter you can do no right. As the 30% extremes vote along “party lines”, there is no need or point in targeting them.
3. The middle 40% vote based on logic. According to political scientists, the middle-ground is rational and vote for their own best interest weighing past and possible future performance. What people forget is that rational people consider the future and they believe in the importance of intangibles like respect, compassion, and fairness.