How my political alliance shifted from Opposition to PAP

The upcoming election is steadily becoming one of those non-events in my life. I believe next Friday, I will just walk over to my daughter's primary school and cast a vote to keep PAP in power in my constituency. I suspect my wife, who is Malaysian turned Singaporean will do the same.

I have not always been such a big PAP supporter.

When I started out in the workforce, I was largely a victim of our foreign talent policies that made me compete against foreign engineers to earn my keep. In fact, for my first year in the P&G IT department, there were only 4 Singaporeans in our intake of around 10-15 and even HR was concerned. The ruling government under Goh Chok Tong did not even save me from victimhood.

I saved myself by asking my dad for $1,000 to start investing in the stock markets after getting my first paycheck.

My bitterness against PAP compounded when I was recalled for reservist within 2 months from graduation. It was crazy trying to balance my career with reservist and RT and we're effectively handicapped against the foreign workers here. Worse, I had really some really unpleasant encounters with the scholar caste. A government worker who was my classmate in my Finance class, mockingly 'exhorted' me to stand up against the global competition to "make Singapore Proud".

At this point, you may think that the foreign talent issue was big after Y2K but I mixed in with some WP members and no one really understood what it was like to be an engineer in the early 2000s. Around 2002, I told WP that displacement of local engineering workers will be the biggest issue of our generation but no one saw that coming then. 

There was, in fact, one moment I almost wanted to enter politics on the WP side because I had a meal with Low Thia Kiang three times and was impressed with his earnestness to fight for a better Singapore. Unfortunately, by then, I thought I'd figured out how the Singapore capitalist system works. So I actually told WP that I prefer Money over Power. If I have capital, I can always emigrate to a country that is closer to my political inclinations. Hilariously, I remember asking Sylvia Lim why don't she just settle down in Australia if she hated the system so much.

If you are bitter engineer who just focused on your day job, you'd obviously hate the government. It's no fun doing change windows and upgrading servers and going to do RT in the evenings. But if you have been investing regularly, managing your CPF, you will find that you have a huge advantage against foreign talent. Most FTs barely have a local brokerage account. My foreigner bosses, all super-smart IIT-IIM types, still work for a living in Singapore today.

My dividends and CPF gave me a cash cushion very early in my life, in my 20s, even a top performer in P&G would not have a total income comparable to mine once we factored in my dividends which was not taxed by the Singapore government.

I slowly adopted the balanced approach, being paid both as an IT worker and a rentier.

A significant shift happened when my portfolio reached critical mass. I can grow my capital without listing a finger after 14 years of work. Then I realised that Singapore is really a haven for folks who amass capital. Even my reservist training became fun because I no longer competed at work - instead 2 weeks of leave on a high key exercise is much appreciated. Becoming a parent helped because there are so many tax benefits given to us.

Years later, I vaguely recall seeing that asshole scholar classmate again when I was at MAS for a quick meeting. I remember thinking to myself as my dividends starting to reach my earned income that, in spite of all his fucking brilliance, exhorting me to keep Singaporean competitive, he's finally become my bitch and running the system that enriches me every quarterly basis.

I think in summary, all of us have a thing in common with WWE Wrestlers.  The best part of wrestling is the occasional turn from a face to a heel. As my alliance shifts from Opposition to PAP, I also see the reverse occur among my friends.

Some ex-public servants friends do not transition well into business or private sectors. Many jobless friends have started ranting about the evils of the current government even though they spent the greater part their professional career's sucking off the teats of the few mighty statutory boards. They're suddenly turning into liberals have been foreshadowed since the day they gave up on the iron rice bowl. Today they champion cardboard aunties, migrant workers and alternative lifestyle.

Regardless, I will see them at the ballot box next week.