Weekly column written for the Singapore Unbound newsletter. Sign up here.
On Tuesday, 33-year-old Zohran Kwame Mamdani won the Democratic nomination for the New York City mayoralty, and he is now the firm favorite to win the election in November. Against billionaire donors and the Democratic establishment who supported the corrupt and scandal-ridden ex-NY governor Andrew Cuomo, Mamdani ran an inspiring, grassroots campaign, firmly focused on making NYC affordable for all, which won the votes not only of the young college-educated, but also of working-class neighborhoods such as Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Dyker Heights, Sunset Park, and Brighton Beach – all areas that swung rightward in the 2024 presidential election, according to the Guardian.
The size of his victory in November will determine how far he can overcome the city's powerful vested interests and enact his election promises of free childcare, free buses, rent stabilization, and subsidized groceries. Once he is in the hot seat, he will have to win over his skeptics and opponents in order to bring about an economically vital and viable city. But for now, his victory brings hope not only to NYC but to progressive movements throughout the US and, dare I say, throughout the world. As I did back in March, I continue to support Mamdani's vision for a fairer world. The people united will never be defeated.
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In a published Opinion, our Editorial Board urged Singapore's Elections Department (ELD) to drop the residency requirement for overseas Singaporeans to vote. We're pleased that Chinese-language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao picked up on our Opinion and reported on the issue, interviewing Eunice Lau and me from the Editorial Board as well as two legal scholars who agreed with us. Dr. Kevin Tan, an adjunct professor at the Faculty of Law at the National University of Singapore, was quoted as saying, "... if an overseas voter is willing to take the initiative to understand the election situation and apply to vote, this in itself shows a high level of concern and willingness to participate" (our translation). Dr. Eugene Tan, associate professor of law at Singapore Management University, concurred and was reported as saying that the exclusion of such overseas citizens "may weaken the inclusiveness and representativeness of the [election] system" (our translation).
The sole dissenting voice in the article came from Dr. Mustafa Izzuddin, senior analyst of international affairs at Solaris Strategies Singapore, a policy and business consultancy. Dr. Izzuddin opined, "If there is enough public opinion, [the residency requirement] can naturally be reviewed; but if it is just individual experience or complaints, it is not enough to promote institutional reform" (our translation). We think that it is wrong to subject citizenship rights to public opinion; there must, instead, be compelling reasons for retaining a residency requirement. However, there are none. The right to vote is a right of citizenship. Overseas Singaporeans decide consciously to keep their Singapore citizenship year after year. They do not have the luxury of dual citizenship. To deprive them of the right to vote because of a technical, and economically inequitable, requirement such as residency is unfair.
To the newspaper's inquiries, ELD responded, "We have taken note of the feedback from overseas Singaporeans and will take it into consideration during the next round of review of the electoral system" (our translation). We thank ELD for doing so and urge them to do the right thing by dropping the residency requirement for overseas voting.
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Tonight, at KGB Bar in the East Village, NYC, Jeremy Tiang launches his own novel State of Emergency and his translation of Hai Fan's Delicious Hunger. Both books bring to light the Communist insurgency against British colonial rule in Malaya (present-day Singapore and Malaysia. See you there!
Jee Leong Koh
June 26, 2025 |
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